Representatives from stakeholder organisations, institutions and relevant Government Ministries were invited to be part of an Advisory Group to develop a Construction Quality Assurance Mechanism CQA), as part of the Programme. These included the Bankers’ Association of Grenada, Grenada Co-operative League Ltd., National Insurance Scheme, Housing Authority of Grenada, Ministry of Communications, Works and Transport, Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Health and the Environment, National Disaster Management Agency, the Physical Planning Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Association of Grenada Insurance Companies, Grenada Society of Architects, the Construction Association of Grenada and the Grenada Institute of Professional Engineers.

The inaugural meeting of the Advisory Group was held today (June 28) at the ARD Board Room.

ARD Director of Physical Infrastructure Patrick Noel chaired the meeting, and stressed the need for the construction of stronger housing structures to decrease the negative outcomes of natural disasters.

“We need to mitigate for future disasters by designing better structures and making sure we have better quality control,” Mr. Noel said.

The CQA Mechanism will provide homeowners and builders with useful information on design and construction standards; ensure periodic inspections by trained engineers during construction; and certify the building as hurricane resistant upon completion.

Mr. Terrence Smith has been appointed by the OAS as Technical Consultant with direct responsibility for the formulation of a detailed work plan and the establishment of institutional arrangements for the
implementation of the CQA Mechanism.

The Advisory Group is expected to provide a mutually productive environment for consultation and feedback, as well as an opportunity for stakeholders in Grenada’s residential construction sector to bring the perspectives of their organisations to bear in the CQA Mechanism development.

OAS Country Representative in Grenada, Mr. Francis McBarnette, stressed the need for more to be done in ensuring that the “build back better” slogan does not become a cliché.

“We are of the consistent view that the absence of an effective quality assurance system for the design and construction of residential and other buildings appears to be the weakest link in the whole construction process,” Mr. McBarnette said.

The OAS has had success implementing the CQA Mechanism in Barbados and other countries where the insurance industry, engineers, contractors and other stakeholder have established similar Advisory Groups to ensure adherence to quality standards.

The Grenada Hurricane Resistant Home Reconstruction Programme is expected to be implemented in 2006. Funding for the Programme is provided by the OAS and the Canadian International Development Agency.