When dream houses crumble

By Ferdinand Mwongela

When Alice Muigai bought a house for Sh9.5 million in one of the posh areas of the city in 2009, she thought her housing woes were over. That was until her "perfect" house on Riara Road started falling apart before her very eyes, plunging her into a life of uncertainty and fear.

Muigai’s miseries started immediately she moved in to her new home. It quickly dawned on her that the home was quite different from the promises outlined by the developers.

A section of the apartments where Alice Mungai lives.

"My troubles started almost immediately after I realised some of the things installed in the house were not consistent with the show house I and other buyers had been shown," remembers a distraught Muigai.

As more developers sell their properties off plan, as a norm, show houses are built first as a sample for potential buyers to see what to expect once their house is complete. But for unscrupulous get-rich-quick developers, the show house is only a fancy version of the real house once it is complete.

Now Muigai’s house is calling for huge repairs barely a year after she moved in after water leakages from the tanks above seep into her wall, destroying the paint and threatening the stability of the entire apartment block.

As she took the Home & Away team round her house, the bitterness in her is evident. "I feel cheated out of my hard earned money. For my efforts I deserved better," she says in anger.

Various parts around the house, her bedroom, her daughter’s room and mainly the kitchen tell tales, as marks of water seepage are clear. With the leaks sometimes running along electricity outlets, Muigai has every right to fear for her life. Her boiler is faulty and the connection is fangled. She claims she can get hot water even with her boiler off, this coupled with the fear of the boiler bursting enough cause of worry.

"When it (the boiler) starts hissing we rush to the living room so that we can quickly rush outside should anything happen," she says.

The boiler is positioned between the bedrooms and the living rooms, which would make it impossible for the occupants to get out if it started spewing hot water.

Fruitless struggle

Muigai has been struggling to get the developer to do some of the repairs but her cries have so far borne no fruits. She says she is now only left with the option of going to court.

The developer on the other hand, claims the houses were handed over in good condition and any complaints should be referred to the estate management.

Alice Muigai shows the faulty boiler at her new house.

"The project was built in 2006. This particular development is over two years old and the developer cannot give an indefinite warranty as the building contractors liability also expired," says Ian Martin the chairman of Riara View Development Company Ltd, the company in charge of the project.

According to Martin the company gave the buyers a six-month grace period, which has since elapsed. He, however, acknowledges having received complaints, which were referred to the estate management.

He asserts that the problems were fixed and that Muigai’s unit had some minor water leakage issues, which had also been attended to.

"You must appreciate ‘any’ new development bound to have some issues and this is why developers give a six months defects liability period," he adds.

Such incidences serve to bring into the spotlight issues of regulation that have persistently dogged the construction industry for a long time with some buildings collapsing and claiming lives and properties.

According to the Architectural Association of Kenya, 65 per cent of Kenya’s urban buildings are sub-standard.

An umbrella regulatory organ is, however, still in its formative stages leaving different professional bodies to oversee their members. In January, the Cabinet approved the National Construction Authority Bill 2009 to be presented to Parliament.

The Bill proposes the establishment of a National Construction Authority. If passed, this body will be mandated to oversee the industry and enhance capacity building and standardisation of building materials.

It will also preside over the accreditation of contractors as well as register and accredit other players in the construction including skilled workers and supervisors.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing Tirop Kosgey says that legislation to regulate the housing industry should be in operation soon.

Moulds on the wall as a result of leaking. PHOTO: MARTIN MUKANGU

"We continue to face numerous housing challenges," said the PS explaining that the draft Planning and Building Bill would assist the sector by ensuring that there are "certain minimum standards."

The Planning and Building Bill if passed will pave way for the formation of a planning and building authority bringing approvals of designs and building plans as well as overall regulation of the industry under one body.

Kosgey said, in this case the approval and regulation of developments would not be left in the hands of local authorities many of which do not have the necessary capacity.

Meanwhile individual organisations and professional bodies have directed efforts to try and instil professionalism in the industry. Dr Laila Macharia, the Kenya Private Developers Association (KPDA) chair says the association has its own regulatory mechanisms that apply to all of its members.

Code of ethics

One of the requirements for membership is that a developer has to be credible, which the association vets. To be a member one "should have an intent to operate for the longer term and not the one off kind. They should have an interest to pursue it as a serious and consistent business," she says.

A code of ethics then binds the members. According to Macharia, the association has also begun doing a background check on new members before allowing them to join. Complaints involving members can also be dealt with speedily.

"We encourage the public to bring complaints to us, because often mediation by the association can work better than a lengthy legal process," she says.

She, however, says buyers sometimes pose a challenge to the association when they fail to follow the laid down channels.

"When buyers feel aggrieved, they often complain and badmouth the developer. But when we invite them to make a formal complaint in writing to the association so that we can help, they shy away," says Laila.

In a speech during the Property and Home Living Expo at Nairobi’s Sarit Centre, Minister for Housing Soita Shitanda said developers ought to follow the laid down regulations. They must put up signboards showing the project details including the contractors.

"Responsible developers follow the building code and put up the board," he said.

Apart from the developer, architects are also to blame. The Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) oversees activities by its members and its chairperson Steven Oundo points out that in a development the architect is supposed to be involved to the end to ensure that everything is done as per the plan and the building code.

an architect’s role

However, some developers may choose to go on without the architect after all the plans have been approved, in which case then the architect should write a letter copied to the local authority showing the level of which he has been involved and to what level he is not involved in implementation. It is then left to the local authority to find out who is supervising such a development. Failure to do this on the side of an architect would mean he bear part of the blame should something go wrong.