75% of inspected buildings fail required standards, MPS told

What the report says

Kampala, Uganda — The National Building Review Board (NBRB) told Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) that only 25% of the building developments it inspected in Uganda met required construction standards, leaving 75% non-compliant. The remarks were made by NBRB Executive Secretary Eng. Flavia Gutto Bwire as the board responded to issues raised in the Auditor General’s report for the year ended June 30, 2025.

According to the report cited by The Independent Uganda, the board inspected 11,492 developments nationwide during the financial year. Bwire linked the low compliance rate to weak enforcement by local governments, limited staffing and funding, and delays in constituting building committees at district and urban authority level. She said an assessment of 102 committees found that only 12% were fully constituted, while most were only partly formed.

Bwire also told MPs that building collapses had become less frequent, but fire incidents remained a serious concern. She said many fire cases investigated by the board were attributed to arson, which falls outside normal engineering regulation. She added that the NBRB is pushing a new strategy focused on digital approvals, GIS-based monitoring and smarter inspection tools to improve oversight in a sector that includes more than 12 million buildings.

The committee also pressed the board on the safety of Parliament’s own construction projects, with members asking whether the buildings were independently inspected and whether permit requirements were being properly followed.