Stakeholders in the construction industry say an effective enforcement of building regulations and involvement of professionals in building and construction will stem cases of building collapse in the country.
They spoke against the backdrop of the recent collapse of a three-storey building on Massey Street, Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island, which claimed the lives of 20 people, including pupils of Ohen Nursery/Primary School which occupied one of the floors of the building.
The stakeholders drawn from registered professional bodies, gathered at a one-day public hearing on the Massey Street building collapse, organised by Lagos State government, to brainstorm on ways of ending incessant building collapse in the state. The state government had last week inaugurated a five-man investigative panel headed by Wsiu Olokunola, and empowered it to dig into the causes of the Ita-Faaji disaster.
The professional bodies include Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA); Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB); Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE); Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP); Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV); Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) and Nigerian Institute of Surveyors (NIS).
The representative of Building Collapse Prevention Build (BCPG), George Akinola, who spoke at the public hearing, identified among others, lack of comprehensive subsoil investigation before designs are done; non-adherence to designs and professional advice during construction as the cause of building failures.
‘’Lack of effectiveness of government agencies charged with the monitoring of the building procurement and production process, quackery at both pre- and post-contract stages, use of substandard materials, poor workmanship, professional incompetence, lack of maintenance, greed by developers and contractors are major reasons for building collapse,” he said.
He also listed unrealistic construction timelines, unrealistic desires of clients, nocturnal concrete work, improper, illegal or unprocessed and unapproved change in use, lack of proper supervision during construction by relevant qualified professionals, lack of coordinated phased inspection by relevant government agencies and non-compliance to building codes as well as corruption by government officials.
Proffering solution the BCPG boss called for the involvement of architects, civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, builders and land surveyors in all building construction work in the state.
Tiammiyu Adeshina, the general manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), said the government will begin to take in displaced persons from collapsed and marked buildings to its resettlement centre at Igando. He called for a law to empower LABSCA to demolish marked buildings within five months instead of leaving it for the owners who may not be willing to bring down the structure until it collapses and kill people.
Wasiu Olokunola, chairman of the committee on the Ita-Faaji building collapse, told stakeholders that the committee would look into the submissions and reports and come up with a recommendation to the government to tackle the menace so as to avert further loss of lives and property.
JOSHUA BASSEY
