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Tag: collapsed buildings

  • Collapsed buildings: Lagos declares zero tolerance on building collapse

    Collapsed buildings: Lagos declares zero tolerance on building collapse

    WORRIED by the spate of incessant collapse of buildings in the state, the Lagos State Government has read the riot act to house owners, declaring zero tolerance for any violation of the building codes and the unwarranted loss of human lives usually recorded. Speaking at a media interactive session, the General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, (LASBCA), Dr. Abimbola Animashaun, said the target of the agency is to achieve a zero incident of building collapse in the state every month through strict monitoring and enforcement of the appropriate building codes.

     In apparent reference to the rising death toll that followed the collapse of a six-storey building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Ikotun, where over 80 persons have been confirmed dead and several injured, she vowed that government would be stricter in ensuring that property owners and developers adhere to global best practices across all the phases of building construction. She said, “We’ll seal any construction site where the work is not being done properly.

    We’ll seal any defaulting structure where the builder has no approval. We will seal any site whenever we see a dangerous structure being constructed, and we can seal for a lot of reasons. ‘‘Even if you have approval and you are not complying, we will shut your site. For example, if someone was granted the approval to build a bungalow and now has a storey building, we will not hesitate to take action; we will seal it immediately.

    ” Animashaun further berated builders and developers who are in the habit of short-circuiting laid down procedure, warning them to desist from such conduct as government would no longer tolerate them.

    “People don’t like to abide by the rules, they like to deviate from the approval and this is where we stand that no one can do that. When you are caught, you will be penalised and it can also lead to the removal of your structure. If a foundation has been designed to carry a specific weight and now you are overloading it, definitely there will be a collapse. We are here to ensure that there is no collapse and no loss of life. This is something that we are strictly going to enforce,” she said.

  • Collapsed buildings: Ahmed urges sanctions for engineer, others

    The Kwara state Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, has recommended stiffer punishment for contractors, engineers and others in the construction of any building that collapses.

    The governor also wants a law that will criminalise those found culpable of collapsed buildings.

    Ahmed spoke at the 44th Builders’ conference/Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB).

    He said such punitive measures, if adopted, would reduce the menace of collapsed building.

    The conference has as theme: “Construction industry development: Collaborations, innovations and capacity building.”

    Ahmed, who was represented by the state Housing and Urban Development Commissioner, Olabode Olayemi, said for safety, economics and aesthetic reasons, a  policy, which includes a building code that will be binding on builders and others in the sector, be put in place.

    “I therefore recommend that a law be put in place to ensure that only trained professionals and artisans are allowed to construct buildings in the country, based on the proposed building construction code. This will ensure minimum construction standards across the country so that no matter where you are in the country you can be assured of the quality of your buildings,” Ahmed said.

    He said the sector is one of the most visible indices of measuring development, and a means to know the quality of life from the quality of houses that people live in.

    The governor emphasised the importance of developing the industry, saying it is a catalyst to improving the economy as well as enhance the welfare of the people, adding that the industry will be the first to suffer when an economy goes into recession.

    He said the spate of collapsed buildings is enough to stimulate the agitation for a robust construction policy, which should aim at reversing the trend. He charged the NIOB and other stakeholders to sensitise the public on the need to avoid engaging quacks for their building projects, ading that this will help them avoid wastage and tragic loss of lives.

    “I am convinced that these incidents are caused by untrained builders and unscrupulous developers, who jeopardise lives and properties while trying to cut corners,” he said.

    He lamented the poor quality of work being done at some construction sites.

    Ahmed said as part of his administration’s shared prosperity programme, the government was partnering with the private sector and the body to provide low cost housing to the citizens through a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative backed by cheap mortgage services.

    Already, a committee has been put in place to work out the modalities on mass housing in Kwara State.

  • Expert blames cases of building collapse on fake materials

    A construction consultant, Mr Toyin Fidudusola, on Wednesday blamed the recurring cases of collapsed buildings on substandard materials and structural defects.

    Fidudusola, an architect, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo.

    He said it was high time that government and professional bodies devised ways of punishing builders found culpable in such incidents.

    ‘’ Apart from the fact that it is a dent on those of us in the construction industry, the number of lives lost in these unfortunate incidents are alarming.

    ‘’ The lives of promising young people are being cut short, most times, due to  no fault of theirs but for defects and low quality projects.

    ‘’ Special attention and monitoring must be given to storey buildings right from the drawing stage because most of these affected structures are multi-storey buildings,’’ Fidudusola said.

    The architect said the use of substandard materials and incompetent artisans was the major challenge facing the industry.

    “Many of the collapsed buildings could have been stopped if town planners and professional bodies are living up to their billings.

    ‘’Collapsed buildings have no doubt become a challenge to all,’’ he said.

     

  • Stakeholders trade words over collapsed buildings

    Stakeholders trade words over collapsed buildings

    ARTISANS, professionals, some government agencies and manufacturers are trading words over frequent building collapses.

    Speaking at a workshop for concrete managers and artisans in Lagos, the stakeholders said if the decisions reached earlier by them were implemented, the nation might have experienced fewer cases of building failures.

    Several cities in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have witnessed building collapse, but Lagos probably because of its large size, seems to have more cases.

    This, perhaps, was why the workshop for concrete managers and artisans was organised by the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) and the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning & Urban Development.

    BCPG Chairman, Mr Kunle Awobodu, said the collapse of buildings under construction and older buildings indicated a lag between the rate of development and monitoring and an evidence of dwindling observance of standard practice and dominion of quacks in the sector.

    He observed that though Lagos has been in the forefront of confiscating land of collapsed buildings to serve as a deterrent to reckless developers, the government also witnesses collapse in its own government buildings.

    Noting that the negative attitude that leads to the collapse of buildings owned by individuals also exists in the government system, he called for a closer working relationship between professionals in public service and those in the private sector to achieve desired results.

    He called for the recognition of concrete workers, saying though they occupy an important position in the sector, they are not well paid.

    He said a day of massive concrete at site could be a nightmare for the site manager and client as some of the concrete workers are intractable, difficult to control, behave irrationally and prone to violence.

    A former lecturer in the Department of Building of the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Mr Siraj Bokini, said blamed artisans for buildings collapse, saying they have no liability except to the contractor who employed them.

    He also blamed clients, who insist on half measures and some professionals who compromise their ethics in a bid to make make extra cash.

    He observed that some people build without taking into consideration weather conditions, site communication, mixing rate, design interpretation.

    President, Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Mr Haruna Ibrahim, said 10 years ago, there were fewer cases of collapsed buildings. He called for the reduction of cement price and the auditing of the structural integrity of buildings. The NIA boss called for the punishment of building control contraveners to serve as deterrent to others.

    In an address, the Commissioner of Physical Planning & Urban Development, Mr Toyin Ayinde, said the government has structured the monitoring of the physical development of the state into 57 sectors.