Transforming a Nation from War to Prosperity!
In the first half of 2010 turnover in construction activity grew by 28.7% from USD 64m to USD83m. In Kigali alone, demand for housing is 8,000- 10,000 units per annum. The combined demand for housing countrywide is estimated to be 25,000 units per annum.
The House Ownership Equation in Kenya
The playing ground for Real Estate has been broadened by the incentive triggered by the government blueprint of a New Metropolitan Region (NMR). This is a major move by the Government of Kenya in Spatial Planning and Urban Rejuvenation involving the City of Nairobi and 14 local authorities.
ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS
Advertise with us. We seek to partner with those whose services will complement our core business. This could be real estate services, mortgage lenders, property for sale, contractors et cetera
Ujenzibora On the African Story
Africa is our continent. This is our home! It is very important that we begin to think seriously and act positively because our children and our Children’s Children will be spending 50% to 100% of their life in Africa.
How the use of a Project Charter could save your firm money!
As part of its launch programme, the new Construction Project Managers Chapter is hosting a learning breakfast forum at the Strathmore business school themed "Construction project Managers in the 21st century"
Nairobi Metropolitan Region (NMR)
Nairobi Metropolitan Region(NMR) is the connecting point of North-South and East-WestTrans African Highway (TAH). It is strategically located and can thus play a significant role in the economies of the region and Kenya as a whole. The North-South TAH is 8,860 Kilometres long and runs from Cairo to Gaborone to Cape Town
?ASK UJENZIBORA
Do you have any Questions on Real Estate, Construction, Procurement or Infrastructure Matters you would like to seek
Ceramica Cleopatra: Setting new standards in tilework
At Ceramica Cleopatra the philosophy is to treat each ceramic wall and floor tile, porcelain tile and sanitary ware piece as a work-of-art – designed to turn your living space, bathroom or kitchen into a masterpiece. With more than one million Italian-inspired designs in 55 different sizes, Ceramica Cleopatra caters to a wide variety of tastes and styles.
Understanding the Ujenzibora Way: 5 Easy Steps
In general, the building approach taken by Ujenzibora can be broken down into 5 easy steps as follows: Design & Client Brief, Documentation, Procurement, Construction Project Closure and Handover
The $300 House : the ultimate bottom-of-the-pyramid challenge
Local Solution It would be a great thing to see our local Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors and other professionals pick up the Challenge. This will help fill the demand gap in the housing sector. Professional Bodies like the IQSK (Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Kenya), AAK ( Architectural Association of Kenya) and KABSEC (Kenya Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors) can also be of great help in championing such causes.
FIND PROPERTY
TRUSTED PROPERTIES:: Properties that have been verified to ensure clean ownership records and a safe transaction.
OUR WORKSHOP
We are pleased to announce that we have established UJENZIBORA WORKSHOP for production of Architectural Engineering and Ornamental Works.
PROJECTS PORTFOLIO
I engage in various projects personally both as a Registered Quantity Surveyor and through my other Companies, Davethan Consult and Ujenzibora Investments Limited. Here is a brief preview of the selected few:-
Construction Supply Chain : Is there room for improvement?
Innovation could be a major step out of what Sir. Harold Emerson said in 1964, that "In no other important industry is the responsibility for the design so far removed from the responsibilities of production".
RESOURCES
This page covers useful links to resources and websites whose content we reccommend. It covers leading information providers, organisations, and leaders in the industry...
Basic Factors to Consider When Cost Planning Your Building Project
Upon completion of the design and comprehension of all factors affecting the cost plan, the tasks, timings and costs are summarized in a Developers Budget or a Project Baseline Plan that will set out...
Taxes and Real Estate in Kenya : Part 1 of 6
This First deposit of a 6 Part series is to provide a general overview on the various taxes, fees and levies affecting real estate developers/clients in Kenya. This is a 6 Part series that spans the entire Life Cycle of a Real Estate Development Project.
DESIGN & BUILD
Compared to the traditional building process, the client gets to save up to 40% of the construction time and savings of cost up to 20 % of the traditional approach budget. We have signed Strategic Alliance Agreements with Other companies to take care of the rest of the business including Construction, Project Management, IT Consultancy, Interior Design, Mechanical and Electrical Installations and Architecture.
The general premise I would wish to take emanates from the intriguing question, “If a man wants to build a house, does he not first sit down and estimate the cost?”
It is thus imperative that one needs to “sit down” and contemplate or wrap his mind around the entire building project to determine whether it is worth his while to embark on the journey of construction.
While undertaking Cost Planning for your building project, it is important to keep in mind that the final cost of the house will be affected by both Design Factors and Economic Factors.
Design Factors
The design factors like shape and size of the building, complexity of the design, circulation space of the building, the height and the structural design of the building will have a bearing on the final cost.
Acacia Dining Hall, Naivasha
It is also worthwhile to note that the workmanship and quality of materials to be used as determined by the specifications will have an impact on the cost. Most persons wishing to build are surprised at how varying one item like the type of finishes can have a high impact on their construction budget.
As an example, wooden floor finishes have a higher long term running cost as compared to simple screed finishes comprising of cement and sand mortar.
Economic Factors
There are other hidden factors that will have an effect on the final cost of doing the building project. For instance, the interest on borrowed funds and price fluctuations caused by inflations or market forces can affect an initial cost plan of a project.
The source of the building materials, that is, whether available locally or imported will also affect the overall cost plan. There are some designs that may necessitate sourcing of skilled laborers and this would add to the overall cost.
Political Factors
There are Political factors in terms of how stable a neighborhood is or the safety index of a neighborhood. One can readily tell that a high-end zoned neighborhood where the development is controlled could be cheaper in terms of security measures to be incorporated in the cost plan but relatively expensive since one has less free-play in the design variables.
We cannot escape from its multitudinous dimensions that unfold once a decision is made by a man to sit down and build.
Upon completion of the design and comprehension of all factors affecting the cost plan, the tasks, timings and costs are summarized in a Developers Budget or a Project Baseline Plan that will set out for you the roadmap towards home ownership. The Developers Budget will have a breakdown of the following items:
- Construction Cost
- Cost of Land Purchase
- Cost of Finance
- Professional Fees
- Legal Fees
- Preliminary Costs
- Management Costs
- Marketing Costs (If Development is for Sale)
- Anticipated ROI (Return on Investment)
The Construction Project Workflow will also be reflective of all the factors that will affect the Building/Infrastructure Project from Inception to Completion.
Below is a panoramic view of what professions may help such a man to “sit down”. These mainly consists of the “Design Team” and the “Construction Team” who ought to work hand in hand in realizing the dream of the client.
One truly needs to be meek and confident enough to “sit down” when it comes to making a decision to build a House!
I trust that in your meditation to build, you shall consider the aforementioned lest people pass by your incomplete Building Project quoting Scripture:
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”- Jesus Christ, Luke 14:28
Qs. David Nahinga
Twitter: @UjenziBora / @dnahinga
Welcome to Ujenzibora Investment Limited!
Greetings,
We are confident you shall find timely word on Real Estate, Construction, Procurement and the General Conduct of Life.
Our ambition is to create, invent and develop solutions that create better lives in the built environment. We provide lasting solutions for the built environment so that the family of man can fully enjoy the right to affordable accommodation.
Our Ambition is to create solutions that provide ordinary people and organisations opportunity to:-
1.) Have access to useful information on the built environment
2.) Enjoy the right to affordable accommodation
3. ) Have access to professionals to build their homes or undertake their infrastructure development projects
4.) Work with us to live their lives in a more meaningful way and reach their maximum potentialQs.David Nahinga, RQS, M.I.Q.S.K | m:+254 720578632 t:@dnahinga | @Ujenzibora
(Dann Mwangi interview Qs.David Nahinga on NTV PMLIVE on 27th March 2012)
Disclaimer of Professional Advice:
The information provided through this website is not a substitute for legal and other professional advice where the facts and circumstances warrant. If any user/reader requires legal advice or other professional assistance, each such user/reader should always consult his or her own legal or other professional advisors and discuss the facts and circumstances that apply to the user.
Greetings,
In the final analysis, we all realize that we have a responsibility to live wholesome lives in this civilized hour.
In Kenya, we just completed an engaging electioneering period.
Am happy for all Kenyans, for the Peace and for the path of democracy which tests the ideals our fathers fought for.
Umoja ni nguvu- by Mutua Matheka
There is a verse in the good book that says, “…and the Government shall be upon his shoulders”.
The Government rests upon the shoulders of men. I trust we shall all take our Noble ideas, shoulder them and at once embark to build a Better Kenya.
Build the Families,
Build the Schools,
Build the Cattle Dips and Bee Hives,
Build the Laws if you are one of of our Representative Men,
Build the Institutions and the Bonds of Brotherhood,
Build the Football Teams, and The Rugby Teams and all Sports that make us Proudly Kenyan.
Build the Code that will pioneer new frontiers for the Knowledge Economy,
Build your Portfolio for a lot of work remains to be done.
If there is one truth i find comforting and indeed a common ground for all of us, it is that we must continue to work diligently in our respective Works. Indeed this is the true channel of blessings that God has apportioned unto all of us equally in hours, chance and opportunity.
Whatever your hand finds to do, if it be just and truthful, do it with all thy might!
The Government is Upon Our Shoulders, Each and All.
In the words of His Excellency Patrice Lumumba,
“I ask all of you to forget your tribal quarrels. They exhaust us. They risk making us despised abroad.” – Patrice Lumumba, June 30, 1960
- Qs.Nahinga David | 02. 04. 2012
Posted in Quantity Surveying by .
Mar 13
31
The Index of High Civilization
Greetings this fine morning.
I have been reading a series of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and found something quite insightful to remember as we journey through this civilized existence.
It explains how “all things can work together” for our good. Mr. Ralph wrote some of the best essays i have come across and they form part of my greater indoor occupation at moments like today when am on holiday. Here is the piece:
“The skill that pervades complex details ;
the man that maintains himself;
the chimney taught to burn its own smoke ;
the farm made to produce all that is consumed on it ;
the very prison compelled to maintain itself and yield a revenue,
and, better still, made a reform school and a manufactory of honest men out of rogues, as the steamer made fresh water out of salt, – all these are examples of that tendency to combine antagonisms and utilize evil which is the index of high civilization” – by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Chapter II (Civilization), Society and Solitude (1870)
I trust that we shall be inspired to combine antagonisms and new knowledge going forward. It is the “Index of Civilization”
Happy Easter Holidays
-Qs. Nahinga David | 31. 03. 2012
In the year 2010, we did a blog post on becoming a contractor in Kenya. In that post, we had stated some requirements which have since been overtaken by events since we now have the National Construction Authority Act,2011 (No.41 of 2011) which is mandated to regulate the industry.
To this effect and subject to provisions under section 15 and 16 of the Act, a person or firm shall be eligible for registration if the person:-
a) Holds a certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of companies either as a limited liability company, partnership or sole proprietorship;
b) In case of a limited liability company, the Memorandum and Articles of Association is certified by the Registrar of Companies
c) Has a technical director who shall be authorized by the Board through Board resolution to take responsibility on all technical matters.
d) Provides the Authority with the curriculum vitae for each Director/Partner
e) Provides the Authority with the PIN, VAT and Tax Compliance Certificates.
f) Provides evidence of existence of a bank account in the name of the construction company.
It is worthy to note that the National Construction Authority requires the application for registration as a contractor be made in the prescribed form and on payment of a prescribed fee depending on the category of registration.
Mandatory Requirements for Various Categories:
Construction Site Supervisor
Small construction works up to a maximum of Kshs. 5,000,000.00 can now be undertaken by accredited persons i.e. Construction Site Supervisors mandated by the NCA. However, the accreditation of construction site supervisor and construction worker shall be valid for a period of 36 months (renewable).
Conclusion:
The requirement that every contractor have one of its director as the technical director with full responsibility for construction/technical matter is bound to see a re-aligning of many construction companies.
The previous registration of contractors by various line ministries and Public Works shall no longer be used
including the Classifications into category A to H. We now have class NCA 1 to Class NCA 7 as tabulated above.
There is also bound to be a greater streamlining of the sector since we now have a single body (the NCA) to co-ordinate all the affairs touching on conduct and practice of contractors.
Further Reading: www.nca.go.ke
-Qs.Nahinga David 21.03.2013
“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.
The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson , Essay – Self Reliance
Posted in Decision Making Inspiration Leadership by .
-
Qs.David Nahinga, MIQSK
-
Arch. Godfrey Okoth,MAAK
-
-
-
-
BLOG OF THE WEEK!
WE ARE ON NOKIA OVI STORE!
