SECTION 1: CITATION AND COMMENCEMENT

PREAMBLE

The need to evolve a National Building Code arose from the following existing conditions of the cities and built environment:

Planlessness of our towns and cities;

Incessant collapse of buildings, fire infernos, built environment abuses and other disasters;

Dearth of referenced design standards for Professionals;

Use of non-Professionals;

Use of untested products and materials;

Lack of adequate regulations and sanctions against offenders.

In view of the above, the National Council on Housing and Urban Development deemed it necessary to initiate the process of evolving a National Building Code with a view to proffer a lasting solution to the hazardous trends in the building construction industry.
Bearing in mind that the draft document approved for the review is based essentially on foreign codes-some of which may not have direct relevance to our environment, another salient objective of the exercise is to encourage Professionals in the building industry to produce the most appropriate Code suited for our environment for subsequent use and application.

TITLE, AIM AND SCOPE
Title: This Code shall be known as the “National Building Code" hereinafter referred to as “This Code”.

Aim: The aim of this Code is to set minimum standards on building Pre-design, designs, construction and post-construction stages with a view to ensuring quality, safety and proficiency in the building industry.
Scope: The provisions of this Code shall, subject to its adoption by the States, apply to and control all matters concerning the design and specification, costing, construction, alteration, addition to, moving, demolition, location, repair and use of any building or structure, for existing or proposed building works within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The standards specified in this Code shall constitute the minimum requirement from which other regulations may be derived.