The National Construction Authority (NCA) has cemented a partnership with Savannah Cement to promote technical training programmes for contractors. The agreement signed today 30th May will enable joint nationwide training and certification for contractors and construction supervisors.
Speaking at the partnership signing ceremony, NCA Executive Director, Dr. Arch. Daniel Manduku said the programme will also provide an outreach programme to enhance the technical skills for the almost half a million construction workers in all the 47 counties.
The NCA Boss, who is also the Registrar of Contractors, confirmed that the authority’s recently launched Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training programmes for contractors had taken off to a good start.
“At NCA, we are excited to have Savannah Cement on board this journey to ensure all contractors in the country are duly registered and enjoying continuous training programmes to guarantee quality service provision,” Dr. Manduku said.
The NCA contractor training schedule for financial year 2016/2017 comes to an end in June, while the next commences in July. The trainings are a pre-requisite for renewal of the annual practicing license, and a component of the CPD programme.
Savannah Cement Managing Director Ronald Ndegwa said the firm will be deploying its full-fledged Research & Development Department to train skilled and unskilled workers seeking to acquire skills in basic masonry, excavation, foundation setting, concrete mixing, Mortar application and related techniques.
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The training modules, to be delivered at an estimated cost of Ksh30 million are also designed to raise the artisans’ knowledge to appropriately use concrete mixes for various applications.
Due to technological advancements touching on concrete mixing and introduction of new cement products, Ndegwa said, the training sessions, will play a key role in uplifting the artisans’ skills and capacity to work with a variety of cements including Rapid Strength development cement products.
Use of rapid strength development cements, which are normally marked as “R” on the bags, Ndegwa said, allows local masons and contractors to achieve more than 70% High Early strength concrete properties, in as little as 7days, which ultimately translates to significant cost and time savings in a project.
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