Construction safety must become professional obligation – Works and Housing Minister

The Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Ahmed Ibrahim, has called for stronger professional accountability and institutional enforcement to address safety concerns in Ghana’s construction industry.

He said construction standards must be upheld at every stage of project delivery to prevent structural failures and accidents that threaten human lives, undermine public confidence and undermine national development.

Mr Ibrahim made the call on Wednesday when he joined engineers, architects, planners, surveyors, contractors, consultants and academics at a three-day roundtable on advancing construction safety through the Global Engineering Capability Review (GECR) 2026.

The meeting, organised by the Engineering Council in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering, United Kingdom, and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, seeks to identify practical measures to improve safety and sustainability in the construction industry.

The Minister said safety should not be treated as an afterthought in construction but incorporated into project planning, design, execution and supervision.

He stressed that compromising professional and technical standards had consequences beyond damage to physical infrastructure, as it exposed people to danger and weakened confidence in the institutions responsible for ensuring public safety.

The discussions come amid growing concerns about building collapses, structural defects and preventable construction accidents in the country.

A preliminary investigation into the Adenta building collapse in June 2026 by a joint technical committee of the Ghana Institution of Engineering, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Ghana, and the Architects Registration Council identified regulatory breaches, structural deficiencies and unsafe construction practices as contributing factors.