As a Ghanaian professional working in the United Kingdom’s construction and real-estate industry, I have seen first-hand what happens when safety, regulation, and accountability are treated as secondary considerations. The UK learned this lesson painfully following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which exposed deep systemic failures in design, material selection, construction oversight, and regulation within the construction industry. Ghana does not need to experience a comparable tragedy to take decisive, preventative action.

Growth Without Safeguards Is a Risk

Urbanisation in Ghana is accelerating at pace. Demand for housing, offices, hotels, and commercial developments continues to rise, driven by population growth and both local and foreign investment. While this expansion is necessary, it also increases risk when not matched by strong oversight and enforcement.

In many developing construction markets, safety failures are often described as isolated accidents. In reality, they are usually symptoms of broader structural weaknesses relating to outdated regulations, inconsistent enforcement, blurred professional responsibilities, and limited independent inspection.

The repeated fires at Kejetia Market in Kumasi, and earlier at Makola Market in Accra, and the most recent at Madina Market, Accra illustrate this clearly. These incidents were not unpredictable events. They reflect overcrowding, unsafe electrical installations, limited fire separation, and restricted access for emergency services. The economic losses were severe, but the underlying lesson is more important to understand that rebuilding alone does not resolve systemic risk without proper design, regulation, and management.

Lessons from the UK: Regulation Saves Lives

In the wake of Grenfell, the UK undertook sweeping reforms to its building safety regime. New legislation placed legal responsibility firmly on those who design, construct, and manage buildings. Fire safety and material performance are no longer treated as box-ticking exercises, but as core design and delivery obligations.

Crucially, accountability now extends across the entire building lifecycle from design concept through construction and occupation. Independent oversight, documented decision-making, and clear professional responsibility are central to this approach.

The lesson for Ghana is not to replicate the UK system wholesale, but to recognise the principle behind it. This means strong regulation and consistent enforcement to protect people, not to slow development.

Why Fire Safety Must Be Taken Seriously

Fire safety is often misunderstood as a specialist issue relevant only to emergency services. It is a fundamental design and construction concern. Decisions about building layout, escape routes, material selection, and workmanship all influence how a building performs in a fire.

The unreported cases of residential compound house fires in Accra, Kumasi, and other cities demonstrate that risk is not confined to large commercial developments. Overloaded electrical systems, single escape routes, lack of basic detection measures and poor building maintenance continue to put lives at risk, often affecting the most vulnerable.

Fire does not discriminate between luxury developments and domestic housing. Safety failures affect everyone.

The Role of Professional Accountability

One of the strongest safeguards in the UK system is professional accountability. Architects, engineers, surveyors, and contractors operate within clearly defined scopes of competence, with independent professionals engaged to inspect and verify work at critical stages.

Strengthening professional accountability in Ghana would significantly improve outcomes. This includes enforcing professional registration of qualified professionals, clarifying roles and responsibilities on projects, encouraging independent inspection separate from contractors, and promoting ethical practice and continuous learning. It is true that competence is not about titles but about ensuring the right people are making the right decisions.

Acting Now, Not After a Crisis

Ghana is at a crossroads. The choices made today regarding regulation, professional standards, and safety culture will shape the quality and resilience of the nation’s built environment for decades.

The UK’s experience shows that reform driven by tragedy is far more painful than reform driven by foresight. Ghana has the opportunity to act early, decisively, and intelligently.

The goal is not to halt development, but to guide it responsibly. As we build the homes, offices, and cities of tomorrow, we must ask a simple but powerful question: are we building in a way that truly protects human life?

If the answer is uncertain, then the time to act is now.

Author Bio

Michael Austin, also known as Oheneba Nasei Bonsu, MSc MRICS AIFireE, is a UK-based Chartered Building Surveyor with over a decade of experience in the construction and real-estate sector. He specialises in building safety, fire-risk assessment, façade remediation, and regulatory compliance, and has advised on complex residential and mixed-use developments across the United Kingdom. He is an RICS-accredited External Wall Systems (EWS) assessor and an Associate Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers. A proud Ghanaian, he is passionate about sharing international best practice and supporting the safe and sustainable development of Ghana’s construction industry.