DEMARCATION OF DUTIES FOR ARCHITECTS IN PIPELINE

ZULWINI - It is imperative to the construction industry that service providers are recognised and categorised based on experience and qualifications.

This allows financers who may intend to procure their services to easily identify them, and in turn, indemnify them accordingly.The Chief Executive officer(CEO) and Registrar of the Council of the Registration Council for Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Allied Professionals (AESAP) Lwazi Mthimkhulu yesterday said they were in the final stages of developing regulations embedded with the duties of architects locally. Mthimkhulu was speaking during AESAP 3rd Council Commissioning at Esibane Hotel conference room.

Mthimkhulu said they were in the final stages of developing their regulations wherein they proposed a demarcation of duties for architects under the different categories which will provide a guideline to the general public as to who is qualified and capable of designing buildings of different complexities and sizes. He said it would also assist municipalities when enforcing the amended Buildings Act. The CEO said they had successfully registered and issued out 227 Registration Certificates to both candidates and professionals respectively and held the first ever Professional Practice Assessments locally.

Relationships

“We have successfully visited our counterparts in South Africa and established working relationships and proposed MoUs with the view of having reciprocity agreements signed between Eswatini and South Africa in the near future that will allow for free trade of professional services between the two countries. The MoUs will also make it possible for information sharing so that AESAP does not reinvent the wheel in Eswatini,” he said. Mthimkhulu also mentioned that they have engaged also municipalities, government ministries mainly The Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and The Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, government parastatals such as The Micro-projects Coordinating Unit, Eswatini Environmental Authority, Eswatini National Housing Board and Eswatini Electricity Company and other big industry players in the sugarbelt, such as The Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation and Montigny on issues of compliance and that process was still ongoing.

He said the purpose of these engagements is to address the need and necessity of the regulations of the councils within the construction industry.
“A challenge has been regulating a previously unregulated industry and failure in some quotas to appreciate the existence of AESAP and its mandate,” he said. Minister of Public works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe said AESAP had the responsibility to seize this window to accelerate the transformation of the sector. The minister attested that the only way to do that was by ensuring that they produce unmatched qualities of skilled professionals within our borders.

“Though it is true that we still search for expertise outside our borders, there is need to reduce our reliance on migrant workers and move decisively away from outsourcing construction services that we can otherwise acquire within the kingdom,” he said. Ndwandwe added that there was a great need to enhance the environmental sustainability of the built environment sector, especially in the face of the serious threat posed by climate change.
He said this would enable them to be more resilient to future challenges such as floods, storms or strong winds that may come our way, consequently ensuring a more productive and sustainable built environment sector.

The minister added that it was for this reason that the issue of assessments could not be taken lightly. He said skills development attracts new talent and investments, therefore stimulating job creation in the country.“This is aimed at a transformed and competitive sector that reflects the Kingdom of Eswatini as a whole and contributes to the establishment of an equitable society, which is highly skilled in construction work in order to produce safe and world-class end results,” he said. The minister further mentioned that they were hopeful that institutions of higher learning in the country, organised businesses, as well as the banking sector would all contribute to alleviate the critical skill shortage and financial challenges facing the construction sector.

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