Enforcement at the Market Redevelopment Site

The team should treat the electrical installation as an imminent danger and stop electrical work immediately. The combination of no earth electrode, undersized conductors on 32 A breakers, unmarked cables and no approved drawings creates a real risk of electric shock, overheating and fire in a building that will be occupied by traders and the public. “Certification after commissioning” is not a control: once concealed and energised, defects are harder to find and the occupants bear the risk.

The team should issue a written stop notice for the electrical scope, identify the affected distribution board and circuits, and take photographs and measurements before anything is altered. It should require the contractor to isolate and lock off the installation, and should consider sealing the distribution board where that is necessary to prevent re-energisation. Non-electrical work need not be stopped unless it interferes with evidence or safety. The team should record the contractor’s cost and delay claims, but those are not a lawful reason to permit unsafe work. The enforcement decision should be reviewed by the appropriate COREN officer promptly.

Enforcement must be proportionate, documented and reviewable. The team should:

1. Record authority and identity: note the inspection mandate, date, time, team members and persons present.
2. Collect evidence: photographs of the board, conductors and terminations; cable sizes; breaker ratings; absence of earth bar and electrode; statements from workers and the contractor; copies of drawings, if any; and the supervising engineer’s registration and licence details.
3. Identify the duty holders: the contractor, the supervising engineer, the electrical crew and the client/developer. Establish who engaged the unregistered crew and who issued instructions.
4. Issue written notice: state the contraventions, the required remedial actions, a compliance deadline, and the right to make representations. Hand it to the site manager and retain proof of delivery.
5. Allow a response: the contractor should have a short but real opportunity to contest facts or propose a remediation plan, except where immediate isolation is required to prevent harm.
6. Escalate: refer the engineer’s expired licence and the unregistered practice for disciplinary or prosecution consideration; involve the state electrical inspectorate where local approvals are also affected.
7. Record the decision: include why the stop was necessary, why lesser measures were insufficient, and what must be done to lift it.

Safety is the non-negotiable objective, but proportionality still matters in how the team achieves it. The team should confine the stop to the electrical installation, allow safe non-electrical work to continue, and give the contractor a fast route to compliance: a licensed engineer to take responsibility, approved drawings, a remediation plan, and re-inspection within days rather than weeks. That reduces the delay without lowering the standard.

The ₦4.5 million claim and the traders’ payments are relevant to the client and contractor, not to whether the installation may be energised. The team should not trade safety for speed, but it should avoid unnecessary whole-site stoppage and should communicate the specific conditions for resumption in writing. If the contractor produces a credible plan and a licensed engineer, a partial release may be possible for circuits that are verified safe. The team should also notify the client/developer so that commercial pressure is directed at compliance rather than at the inspectors. The record should show that the least restrictive effective measure was chosen.