The outcome from the 14th Professional Development Workshop of the Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria, held at Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu from 21st – 22nd March , 2018.
Theme of the workshop: Contractual Obligation and Public Perception of Town Planning Practitioners.
The 2day workshop was attended by 57 participants from member firms of the Association including the National President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners Tpl. Luka Achi fnitp, representative of Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC) Tpl. Ogbonna Chime fnitp and the Igwe of Ibagwa Kingdom Nike HRH. Dr. Emmanuel Ugwu.
The workshop was declared open by the Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC) representative Tpl. Ogbonna Chime fnitp. In his goodwill address, Tpl. Ogbonna Chime enjoined Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) and Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC) to work in collaboration with Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) with the view to improving Urban Planning Professional Practice in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners National President also delivered a goodwill message where he conversed for stakeholder’s engagement and capacity development among the communities and the town planning practitioners. He also pledged the support of Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) for Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON) in collaboration with Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria (TOPREC).
Three papers were presented at the workshop namely:
- The obligation of Town Planning Practitioners in Building Collapse.
- Principles Undergirding Remuneration for Professional Services in Physical Planning Projects.
- Contractual Obligations in Planning Project Execution.
The papers were exhaustively discussed by the participants. The highlights of the observation from the presentation are as follows:
- Building collapse was identified as one of the challenges facing professionals in the built environment and that building does not collapse on “Paper” but rather issues of design, material, structural stability and safety in construction process which constitute bulk of the causes.
- Remuneration for professional services of planning practitioners is not always appreciated by the clients because the services are usually perceived as intangible and that diverse approaches are presently adopted as basis for remuneration of various categories of professional services.
- That relationship between planning practitioners and clients are based on contractual obligation in planning project
- That contract is not in most cases executed between planning practitioners and the clients to justify obligations and right from such contractual obligation.
- That enforcement of contractual obligation in planning project is usually at the disadvantage of planning practitioners.
In view of the above, the participants recommend as follows:
- The government at all levels should formulate legal and institutional framework to address the issue of building collapse.
- The professional bodies should collaborate to produce effective building code and or building regulations in line with global best practice to be domesticated at the appropriate level of government.
- The authorities should distinguish between Planning Law and Construction Law in other to properly situate quality and safety in construction.
- Planning projects is multi dimensional in nature therefore this should form basis of remuneration of Planning Practice.
- Services of Planning Practitioner are based on contractual obligations which are enforceable in law, therefore practitioners and clients should always ensure execution of enforceable contracts.
