Authorities and professionals in the built environment are trading tackles over the rising cases of building collapse and the attendant colossal loss of lives and resources. The government blames unscrupulous developers and professionals, but the operators insist that the government is culpable, citing weak regulations. The blame game appears to be frustrating efforts to stem the tide. It has also left those who bear the burden of building collapse, with little or no hope of respite soon, writes Assistant Editor OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE.
It is a clear and present danger. About 36,000 buildings are waiting to collapse in Lagos State and other parts of the country. The Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), which gave out the scary figure, raised the alarm that most buildings in Lagos are not constructed by professionals.
The BCPG, an umbrella body of all construction professionals in the country, said construction experts had been reduced to mere onlookers in the industry. Specifically, he said professionals participate in less than 20 per cent of the total volume of construction in the state.
BCPG President Mr. Akinola George gave more bloodcurdling details of the impending disaster. He said, for instance, that a survey revealed that over 45, 000 building sites existed at a time in the state. Twenty per cent of this translates to 9, 000. Hence, by deduction, quacks are responsible for the balance.
The implication: “A whopping 36, 000 potential collapses are waiting to happen,” George warned, urging the Lagos State Government to pay serious attention to buildings on Lagos Island, Oworoshoki/Bariga, Somolu, Ebute Meta, Mushin, Ajegunle, among others, to identify all precariously standing buildings.
The BCPG chief said the government should set up a committee, comprising government officials and private sector professionals, which would employ the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory to check the integrity of buildings in these areas.
BCPG Secretary, Lagos State, Mr. Friday Chukwu, is no less worried. He said it had become necessary for stakeholders to focus more attention on the quality of materials and workmanship. According to him, this could help end building collapse, as the quality of building materials and how they were applied had huge impact on buildings.
Chukwu also cautioned residents to be cautious of developers or landlords who renovate or paint distressed buildings to make them look new, without carrying out structural integrity tests.
The Guild’s unsettling revelations and subsequent call for more stakeholders’attention on the quality of materials and workmanship came on the heels of series of building collapse that hit Lagos State and indeed, other parts of the country recently, claiming several lives and destroying property worth millions of naira in the process. The latest and perhaps, most disheartening was the Wednesday, March 13, 2019 collapse of a five-storey building in Ita Faaji, Lagos.
The collapse of the building, which housed a private primary school and other businesses, snuffed life out of dozens of school children and left several others severely wounded. The public outrage that came in the wake of the incident was understandable, considering that innocent school children were involved.
But more importantly, the incident once again brought to the fore the incessant building collapse across the country and the need to nip the embarrassing situation in the bud. Sadly, however, rather than the government and stakeholders in the built industry to forge a closer collaboration to find a lasting solution, they are trading blames over who is culpable.
For instance, the Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Lagos Chapter, Fitzgerald Umah, said the government should be held responsible. According to him, the lack of resolve by the government to stem the tide of building collapse shows that bureaucracy and the need to accommodate certain interests were counterproductive in this regard.
He said the school building that came down in Ita-Faaji had been marked for demolition before the incident.
Umah said the Lagos NIA had canvassed the option of assisting the relevant authorities and agencies at all levels on the often-repeated intention of the government to sanitise the unwholesome built environment and to monitor buildings under construction for both compliance with statutory requirements, design suitability and structural stability. He, however, said this had not yielded the desired result.
The NIA chairman wondered why it had been difficult to implement the enacted laws and proffered solutions spanning over a decade, even with the ratification of the National Building Code, which okayd the minimum standards for the construction industry and development.
Fitzgerald called on the Lagos State Government to, without delay, start the implementation of enacted laws and solutions proffered by relevant professionals. He said such laws had been rendered ineffective due to weak implementation by the relevant government agencies, flagrant abuse and deliberate flouting by the general public.
Similarly, the First Vice -President, Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Kunle Awobodu, said many buildings on Lagos lsland may collapse, as they are not professionally designed nor built. He said such buildings were constructed by developers who are business men with little knowledge of the complexities in construction.
He did not mince words when he said the collapse could have been prevented if the government and her regulatory agencies adhered to their responsibilities. He stressed that buildings handled by developers could never meet stipulated standards as their first motive is driven by profit. “Most developers do not understand the complexities in the building process, but are mostly driven by profit in total disregard to regulatory provisions and lives.
“The regulatory agencies need to double their efforts to investigate buildings under construction and those already constructed to ensure that they are built according to laid down regulations. From our studies, we have over 1, 000 buildings unfit for human habitation in Lagos lsland,” he said.
The NIOB boss also said, unfortunately, there were too many interests over small portions of land on the lsland. According to him, the buildings have inadequate air space, and are very close to one another, with too many interests on macro space among family members.
The Nigerian Institution of Surveyors (NIS), on its part, called for the regularisation and re-certification of buildings within the Lagos metropolis, especially the Lagos Island and other areas, such as old Yaba and Ebutta- Metta areas that are prone to collapse as a result of the terrain and construction error.
The Chairman, Lagos Chapter of the Institution, Mr. Adesina Adeleke, made the call in a forum on “Incessant building collapse in Lagos State’’.
According to Adeleke, almost all the structures within these areas were built without the requisite approval plan or due regularisation with the government, and as a result, do not conform to the building specifications and standard of the location.
He also supported the the state government’s decision to remove defective structures in the affected areas. He said it had become necessary to remove such defective structures to avoid building collapse
Adeleke emphasised that the government’s lack of will to enforce rules led to cases whereby owners and developers of previous building collapses did not receive appropriate penalties.
He advised every owner or developer in the state whose property was not covered by a valid building approval plan to regularise the property and ascertain the structural stability of their buildings.
Adeleke said the regularisation and re-certification and validation of the buildings were necessary to ensure they conform to the purposes they were being used for and building plan of the locality.
The NIS chairman said the suggestion, if taken, could be a proactive step in curbing the building collapse in Lagos. He commended the government for demolishing distressed buildings in Lagos Island.
“To prevent recurrence of building collapse, the institution has declared support for the state government’s decision to remove all the defective structures hitherto marked and served the necessary statutory notices. In as much as we support the government to remove the earmarked buildings for demolition, we strongly advocate a re-certification for buildings in designated parts of the state, particularly Lagos Island.
“We discovered there is usually no geo-survey information, and where such information is available, it does not usually conform to the development earmarked for the land. Built survey should form part of the requirements for re-certification.
“This is with a view of not just probing the structural integrity of buildings, but also to determine if the information contained in the building approval is adhered to in the development,’’ Adeleke said.
The Chairman, Association of Private Practicing Surveyors of Nigeria (APPSN), Mr. Akomolafe Ademola, asked the state government to enact a policy that will ensure that every new building be monitored from foundation to completion.
He regretted that some developers have various designs for approval and another for the construction. He called on regulatory authorities to do a lot more in insisting that the right things be done and further asked the government to fund the agencies to check corruption and undue influence from the public.
The Nigeria Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), Lagos State chapter, also asked regulatory authorities in the built-environment to implement stricter regulations to sanitise the sector. It urged the government to do much more to ensure that regulatory authorities are empowered to discharge their duties and punish infractions.
But NICE Chairman, Lagos branch, Mrs. Lola Adetona, absolved engineers of culpability in building collapse in the state. Rather, she blamed quacks, who, according to her, venture into the sector without the prerequisite knowledge of its complexities.
Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, Mrs Adetona maintained that a quack would never know the right mix of ratio and aggregates of concrete and sand nor be able to supervise a construction site effectively and should, therefore, not be allowed under any condition to superintend such process.
The NICE chair lamented that quacks had taken over their jobs as some would-be clients prefer to deal with them citing costs. She wondered how a school could have been allowed to be situated in such an environment and how they got the approvals from the government ministries and agencies.
Mrs Adetona revealed that from NICE’s investigations, the building was a residential building and wondered how it was allowed to accommodate a school and other businesses. She noted that there is a difference between a residential and a commercial building.
Her words: “The load design for residential buildings is different from commercial buildings and if the order is changed without the necessary adjustment, the result will turn out ugly as we are witnessing.
“To check incessant building collapse, the government, professionals and the public should synergise by sharing information and ensuring proper regulation and implementation of available laws.”
However, the synergy and information sharing being sought by Mrs Adetona appear to have taken the back seat, as various stakeholders in the built industry continue to trade blames over who is culpable.
While putting the blame squarely on the government’s doorstep, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors President, Mr. Obafemi Onashile, said the increased cases of building collapse was because of defective construction laws.
He said as an anti-dote to the carnage, the National Assembly should expedite action and pass the bill on ‘Construction Industry Health and Safety’ sent to the lawmakers by surveyors and subsequently assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Onashile spoke at the institute’s southeast zonal workshop with the theme, ‘Construction industry health and safety management.’ According to him, the Factories Act of 1974 as amended cannot solve the modern needs in the industry.
He urged Buhari, to establish a Construction Industry Board, which will comprise experienced professionals in the industry to ensure decisions and implementation of related issues are carried out.
Onashile said: “We have told President Buhari that we need to have Construction Industry Board. It will form part of the approach towards solving this problem. We have Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with relevant ministries and departments. That is the last threshold of it.
“The issue of building collapse is because the construction industry and laws in our country, especially the Factories Act of 1974 – 2004 are defective. That is why we are having incessant collapsed building.”
Surveyors, valuers react
Estate Surveyors & Valuers, Lagos State Chapter, urged the government to package a robust public enlightenment programme as part of the initiatives to end building collapse.
The Chairman of the branch, Mr. Olurogba Orimalade, said it had become apparent that ignorance had a major role to play in the rising cases of building collapse in Lagos and other parts of the country.
According to him, radio jingles and television commercials, such as those developed to create awareness on polio, HIV/AIDS and other social issues, should be used to educate the public on the dangers of patronising quacks, using substandard construction materials and evading regulatory agencies when building a house.
Orimalade said: “In our view, the solution must begin with public enlightenment that is thorough, so that the public can appreciate the essence of adherence to law. There is a need for the Lagos State Government as well as the Federal Government to come out aggressively through a robust enlightenment strategy.
“It will awaken the imagination of an average Nigerian. We have been trading blames and accusing the government, but each of us has a role to play. We must take responsibility as Nigerians.”
He said construction education for professionals as well as for those in regulatory agencies should be repackaged.
Orimalade explained that, in particular, artisans should be trained regularly and incentives built into training to encourage compliance while construction materials should be inspected at every stage of a project.
“The point about materials inspection arises because many imported building materials are substandard and because they are often not tested before they are put in the market for sale, builders use them, believing they are of the right specification, only for them to fail,” he added.
According to him, lots of wrought irons are being brought into the country for construction and nobody cares about their quality. He criticised the government for putting square pegs in round holes, insisting that estate surveyors and valuers have not been given their rightful position in the built environment.
Orimalade maintained that if the process is wrong, the end result will be poor as has been witnessed where non-professionals were made to occupy sensitive positions meant for surveyors.
He stressed that buildings collapse was as a result of ill-qualified people manning sensitive positions in the sector, in addition to poor funding of relevant agencies resulting to low morale of workers.
He said: “There is the need for the government to equip and properly fund relevant agencies while the cost of obtaining approvals should be reduced to encourage compliance. Building collapse had become a national problem, having spread beyond Lagos to other cities and must be tackled holistically.
“From our findings, we discovered that major causes of building collapse were poor designs and specifications at planning stage due to reliance on uncertified architectural technicians, poor adherence to construction standards and alleged corrupt practices among building enforcement officers who approved substandard plans and collected gratification”.
Orimalade’s call for an aggressive and robust enlightenment strategy to curb the rising cases of building collapse across the country was not lost on BCPG. The group said enlightenment remained a key part of eradicating the menace of building collapse in Lagos State and the country at large.
The Coordinator, BCPG Badagry Cell, Mr. Olajire Olaniyi, during the group’s visit to the palace of Akran of Badagry Kingdom, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi 1, said the guild had started a campaign for zero tolerance to building collapse.
He said: “Fortunately, there has not been incidence of building collapse in Badagry, but more efforts need to be put in place to ensure no such incidence will be experienced. This can be achieved through grassroots sensitisation of the residents to use standard building materials, obey codes and conducts and always engage the services of professionals in their housing construction.
“Badagry is the next point of development because after completion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, lots of local and international investors will come into Badagry. It is not until a building collapses that we start shedding tears. We need to sit up and continuously push for proactive measures to ensure zero per cent building collapse.”
Olaniyi said the guild would not relent in its advocacy and efforts towards attaining a zero per cent building collapse across Lagos State. He also revealed BCPG’s plans to collaborate with all local governments and local council development areas of Lagos State to create awareness against building collapse at the grassroots.
Govt: we’re doing our best
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has initiated moves to curb the building collapse across the country through the regulation of the accuracy of weights and measurements of building materials.
Its Director-General, Mr. Osita Aboloma, made this known at a workshop on the importance of metrology for quality assurance of products, services and industrial development held in Abuja.
Represented by SON’s Co-ordinator, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Gambo Dimka, Aboloma said some buildings collapsed because the right measurements and weights of building materials were not adhered to.
“When you have the wrong measurement, things will go wrong in a building. Sometimes, buildings are not supposed to carry the weight they carry because people under-use the type of rods or the thickness of the blocks they are supposed to use. But when these are accurate, you are sure of what you are doing,” he said.
The SON chief said architects, building engineers and other workers on any building project must be sure that the measurements given were what they used. “If the architect says you should use four-by-five windows, don’t go to a lay man who will construct less than what the architect specified,” he advised.
Aboloma said metrology laws (the laws that guide measurements) are the SON Act No. 14 of 2015, an d the Weights and Measures Act on legal metrology.
“The SON Act covers all aspects of metrology to ensure the protection of business, safety, wealth and every other aspect of Nigerians’ lives,” he said.