The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business

Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMIAN Contractors Association's (BCA) president says safety and resilience must take priority over increased costs in reforms to the Bahamas Building Code.

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business the Association has been collaborating with the Ministry of Works from the outset over revisions to the Building Code. He added that nothing onerous is expected once the reforms have been finalised.

Concerns over a rise in construction costs are misplaced as well. “In response to climatic conditions and the desire to further ensure the life and safety of the public, if the changes are necessary then the costs associated with those changes will become necessary,” Mr Sands said.

“We wouldn’t want to continue building structures in instances where they are inadequate. I think this is the most important thing we have to keep in mind; that the ministry is charged with the responsibility to ensure that they're not providing codes that are outdated.”

Prices for building materials increased sharply during COVID-19 and have remained stubbornly high, Mr Sands said, but whether they fall back to levels seen before the pandemic remains to be seen. It is “possible” for building materials prices to come down in time, “but not for another 12 months", the BCA president said.

Mr Sands added: “There is still an ongoing war [in Ukraine] which is affecting everything related to construction and the procurement of construction materials, and until that war ends I don’t see prices going down.

“That is the number one trigger because most people don’t realise that the war in the Ukraine is affecting oil, and oil is in the use of everything. Factories run on oil, and if they are being starved for oil and the price of oil goes up and fluctuates, so will the price of construction materials that are made from those factories.”