Nigeria’s construction industry is vital to growth and job creation but remains constrained by
fragmented regulation, uneven enforcement, payment delays, and an alarming record of building
collapses. This paper argues for a Nigerian Construction Act that consolidates existing instruments
and introduces targeted statutory interventions to improve safety, governance, payment certainty,
and bankability. Drawing comparative lessons from the United Kingdom’s Housing Grants,
Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended) and Security of Payment regimes in
Australia and Singapore, the paper proposes five co-equal, interdependent and mutually
reinforcing legislative pillars: (a) contractor registration and grading; (b) health, safety &
environmental standards, (c) governance and anti-corruption safeguards, (d) payment timelines
and statutory adjudication; and (e) skills transfer and local-content obligations. The analysis links
these pillars to development finance norms used by multilateral development banks (MDBs) and
development finance institutions (DFIs), showing how legal predictability lowers transaction costs
and expands access to capital. The paper concludes with a pragmatic roadmap, stakeholder
consultation, legislative drafting, and federal-state coordination acknowledging constitutional and
political economy constraints. A Construction Act, tailored to Nigeria’s context, would align
incentives across clients, contractors, regulators, and financiers, reduce disputes and collapses, and
strengthen investor confidence in the built environment.