Category: A4architect

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Lead paints.
According to research done by Cecilia Nganga here http://ipen.org/iccm3/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Lead-in-Kenyan-Household-Paint.pdf
Kenyan paint contains Lead 165 times higher than acceptable standards by the USA health department.
In USA, Lead is banned to be used in paint. This is because of the health hazards it posses to humans.

Kenyan Law.
In Kenya, there is no law regulating use of Lead in paint. Kenya Bureau of Standards does not enforece any standards regarding Lead use in paint. This leaves Kenyans susseptible to Lead poisoning.

Architectural solution.
Architects can specify non Lead based paints or use natural textures instead of paint eg dressed stone.

Need for law to regulate use of Lead in Paint.
Kenyan parliament needs a law to regulate and criminalise use of Lead in paint, similar to the USA. USA passed such laws in 1978.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau,Architect.

REAL ESTATE COMMISSION AGREEMENT
Parties
a. (“Landlord”).
b. Real estate brokerage company, (“Broker”),
represented in this transaction by , himself/herself a licensed agent.
Commission
Based upon 3% of Total land sale price.
Payment Date
Landlord shall pay Broker the first one-half (1/2) of the Commission Ten (10) calendar days
following the Lease Commencement Date
Landlord shall pay Broker the second one-half (1/2) of the Commission Ten (10) calendar days
following the date that Tenant has:
a) Paid the remaining amount of land purchase cost.
b) Not breached the Lease.
Date of Agreement; Signatures
This Agreement is made in Nairobi, and is dated as of ……… and is signed by
Landlord and Broker as follows:
ACCEPTED AND AGREED BY:
Landlord:
Broker:

Witness.

Ground floor area=300m2
Cost of construction assuming kes 21000 per m2 =6.3m

Number of 1 bedroomed units per floor=5
Rent per month for 1 bedroomed =5 x kes 8000=kes40,000
Rent per year =kes 40,000 x 12=kes 480,000
Construction cost of 5 no. 1 bedroomed=150m2 x kes 21000=kes 3.15m
ROI =6.5 years.

Number of bedsitters per floor=5
Rent per month for bedsitters=5 x kes6500=kes 32,500
Rent per year=kes 32,500 x 12=kes 390,000
Construction cost for 5 no. bedsiters =130m2 x kes 21000=kes 2.73m

ROI=7 years.

Total construction cost for all =5.88m.

Average Return on Investment =6.7years.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.

1. Lavington.
1.1 acres along Hatheru road. Click here to view map.

2. Kiambu road/Runda/Paradise lost.
7.5 acres.
Click here to view map.

3. Parklands 6th avenue.
0.5 acres.
Click here to view map.

Using Architectural Design to protect buildings from fire.

Fire escape.
A good architectural design should include fire escapes easily accessible and located at the farthest corner from each other.
For high rise commercial building, the fire escape stairs must be easily accessible and should terminate at the ground floor level without any ambiguity.

This is to prevent people moving from upper floors into the basement instead of ground floor to safety.
This requirement is usually enforced by the Local Authority during architectural plan approvals.
Most county approval systems don’t have fire officers to give their input during the approval process. For Nairobi City county government, the Chief fire officer ensures that the building design has included the fire escape appropriately. Older buildings done before the 90S had this enforced to the letter. these days, it’s not common to see buildings approved without fire escape stairs. The current new residential flats around Nairobi are a good example.
Registered architects will design buildings complete with fire escapes since their training enables them to.
Currently, infiltration of quacks within the building industry has resulted in sub standard buildings coming up which are not safe in case of fires.

Fire Hydrants.
These are water points provided by a Local Authority so that in case of fire, the fire brigade can easily get a source of water to quell fires within the vicinity.

Dry Riser.

These are included in the design in conjunction with the project Mechanical Engineer for Building services.

This is a pipe laid down in readiness for the Fire Brigade to connect their water pipes up into the building.
In case of fire, the fire brigade will force water up through the dry rise into sprinklers on each of the building floors.

Wet riser.
This is a series of pipes inside a building that are permanently kept filled up with water from the buildings water storage tanks.
The tanks are designed such that the exit for the building water usages is higher than for the wet riser. This way, when the water level in the tank is low, the building will lack water for use but will not lack water for firefighting use since the exit can only be through the sprinkler system.

Smoke detectors.
These are devices fixed onto the building ceiling and trigger an alarm and sprinkler system activation in case of fire.

There are 2 types
1.Ionisation
2.Optical.
Ionization .
This type uses a radioactive isotope, Americium 241. This type is more sensitive than optical.
Optical.
This uses light beam which becomes diverted by the presence of smoke hence triggering the alarm/water sprinkler.

Fire retardant balloons.
Balloons fixed in the building ceiling filled up with fire retardant air such as CO2 can also be used to quell fires. Once a fire begins, these balloons can be programmed to trigger the release of such fire retardant gasses.
Luminous Signs.
Luminous paint that glows in the dark should be used to mark the entry/exit points in case of fire. During a fire, rooms tend to be dark hence need for luminous glowing paints for signs to direct occupants to safety.
Smart Buildings.
Software that remotely communicates to the fire brigade on the sizes of fire, exact locations is also a good measure to use for fire protection.

Conclusion.
In a well designed building where the architect is working together with a Mechanical Engineer of Building services, such fire fighting technologies can be hard coded into the building construction.
Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.
0271410684
info@a4architect.com

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Bangui

Melbourne

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Nairobi
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Using Architects to maximise ROI and Profits for Real Estate in Kenya.

In a competitive real estate world eg in Nairobi, a customer who buys into sub standard services will not realize full potential and Return on Investment. Customers who know how to identify if consultants are well trained and registered benefit from better services hence push the customers who paid for sub standard services out of the market.

Currently, the threat of loosing Real Estate income is mostly into customers who pay for substandard services.
See comparisons between customer A and B below for a hypothetical site in Ongata Rongai.

Customer A.

For example, customer A, pays a registered architect to design for him an apartment in Rongai. He gets benefits of feasibility study in which room size,1,2,or bedsitter units have higher demand. He also gets good budget estimate to enable him plan. He gets good advice on how to hire a contractor. He gets good advice on how to resolve problems during construction.

Eventually, his building will have 100% occupancy since its well designed and cooupants more comfortable. Renters feel comfortable in his building since the building offers them privacy, good views, unique architecture/aesthetics, ample services e.g. car parking, clothes hanging lines, balconies etc.
Rental income will flow constantly and owner will be able to increase rent without his tenants moving out since the neighborhood does not have such well designed building hence no competition.

Customer B.

Customer B goes ahead to procure architectural services from a quack i.e a person not registered by Government of Kenya to offer architectural service.
Since the quack has no capacity to do a feasibility study, he copies a neighboring apartment and like everyone else, goes for a 2 bedroomed unit.

The 2 bed roomed unit size internal dimensions will mostly be out of proportion since it’s not custom made to fit within the plot, target income group and owners budget. This will result in a very high cost of construction hence the owner will be forced to charge a higher rent than the market for a substandard building. The result is that the building will stay empty for years before getting a tenant. This is a loss to the owner.
Here is such an example in Rongai. A sizeable number of the 2 bedroomed units in this block have been empty for years .

This one, in the same neighbourhood, has 100% tenancy for 2 bedroomed units.

Dispute resolution.
Since the owner does not have the benefit of a registered architect to help him out in negotiations with contractor/foreman/builder, simple decisions eg repair of poor workmanship in paint , plaster r or tiles will go to become a loss to owner. In a situation where there is a registered architect offering supervision, he will be able to guide the owner into a contract whereby poor workmanship goes into a loss to the foreman/contractor profits.
This will make the contractor more responsible, resulting in a better house which will fetch good rent.
Disagreements between owner and contractor/fundi where there is no registered architect to guide can quickly get out of hand and move to litigation and or extra judicial methods through criminal gangs. This is again a loss to the owner and can be resolved if the owner uses registered architects for supervision.

A registered architect due to experience, will be able to resolve issues fairly to both owner and contractor/fundi due to his vast knowledge in arbitration .

Conclusion.
In a competitive world, land owners who choose to pay for sub standard services form quacks will lose out to land owners who choose the straight path. Land owners who choose to use registered architects will in the long run enjoy higher , more consistent rental income.

Francis Gichuhi Kamau, Architect.
info@a4architect.com
0721410684