Department Of Building Engineering Services

About Department Of Building Engineering Services

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development (MIH) was established in October 2016 as a result of the re-organisation of Government portfolio responsibilities. The Ministry previously operated as the Ministry of Infrastructure Science and Technology (MIST) made up of Department of Building and Engineering Services, (DBES) Radiation Protection Inspectorate (RPI) and Department of Research Science and Technology (DRST) and two parastatals, Botswana Institute of Technology Research & Innovation (BITRI) and Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH).

MIST ceased to exist as a result of this re-organisation as DRST and RPI together with the two parastatals, BIH and BITRI were transferred to the newly established, Ministry of Tertiary Education Research Science and Technology (MOTE).

The remaining functions, i.e. DBES and Department of Corporate Services were augmented with the housing function, comprising the Department of Housing together with its parastatal, Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) from the then Ministry of Lands & Housing to form Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development (MIH), where Infrastructure Development relates to construction and maintenance of government buildings while Housing Development is mainly to do with facilitating citizens to have access to housing or shelter by promoting home ownership through affordable housing schemes. The Ministry is currently undergoing restructuring which has seen the DBES ceasing to exist and new departments being created as indicated in the section on departments.

Therefore, the mandate of MIH primarily is to provide policy direction in the development of sound and quality built infrastructure; and promotion of dignified livelihood on one hand and creation of an enabling environment for others to undertake built infrastructure development, on the other. To enhance the latter, three professional regulatory bodies were established, namely Engineers Registration Board (ERB), Architects Registration Council (ARC) and Quantity Surveyors Registration Council (QSRC). These bodies, collectively level the ground for the construction industry to deliver the quality infrastructure alluded to above, through registration/accreditation of professionals in their respective construction disciplines.