Regulators should do well to enforce building codes
Within a period of 24 hours last week, there were two fatal building collapses in Rivers and Lagos States. First, a five-storey building under construction collapsed in the Woji area of Port Harcourt, trapping several persons. A day later, a three-storey structure similarly collapsed in the Alakija area of Lagos. While no fewer than nine people have been reported dead from the two tragedies with dozens of others wounded, industry data reveal that between 60 and 75 major construction-related accidents occur in the country annually, with Lagos State accounting for half the number. As experts continue to cite weak regulatory oversight and non-compliance with approved building standards as factors for these building collapses, authorities in the sector must find a solution to this menace.
In other climes, buildings don’t just collapse every other day. That is because there are procedures to follow when constructing a building. But in Nigeria, these conventions/regulations are hardly adhered to because of poor enforcement of laws. “Most building collapses are not sudden incidents. They are known risks. The failure is not in detecting the problems but in enforcing the laws that should prevent them,” a chartered quantity surveyor and construction contracts administrator, Bolarinwa Dejonwo, said. “Buildings are designed for specific purposes. Once you change the use without proper structural assessment and regulatory approval, you expose occupants to serious danger.”
Cases of building collapse cut across offices, schools, residential areas, churches, and business premises. Yet, the construction of a building, according to the Nigerian Society of Structural Engineers, “is expected to be managed by qualified professionals including structural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, architects, quantity surveyors,” among others. Authorities at all levels should therefore be concerned that too much blood is being spilled needlessly in Nigeria’s building industry for all sorts of reasons that even professionals in the sector recognise as avoidable.
When 22 students died in Jos following the collapse of a two-storey building, the preliminary report of an investigating panel instituted by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) was quite revealing. Headed by Frederick Job, a professor in the Building Department at the University of Jos, the panel revealed that the physical observation of the building looked distressed while weak materials were used for the building. The report also observed that the quality of the concrete used to construct the two-storey building was in doubt, as there was no boundary between the concrete and the steel reinforcement. Besides, the report noted the slab reinforcement anchorage provided for the structure was inadequate.
Meanwhile, lack of professionalism in the industry has led to unethical dealings like the use of cheap and inferior materials, improper supervision, distortion of original building plans. For instance, a 10-year-old two-storey building had five floors added to it without approval. According to a statement by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), preliminary information on the Port Harcourt tragedy “suggests that approval was reportedly granted for a three-storey building, while the ongoing construction had allegedly exceeded the approved design through the addition of extra floors.” This is a recurring story for most of the building collapses that we have witnessed in recent years.
As we have consistently advocated, there is an urgent need for a complete overhaul of the nation’s building and construction regulations. A policy should be put in place whereby any professional connected with a collapsed building should forfeit their license and face the full weight of the law. The land upon which the collapsed building was erected should be forfeited to the government. Buildings marked for demolition by town planning authorities should be demolished without delay. Unless drastic steps are taken and building codes implemented to the letter, the nation will continue to witness these avoidable serial disasters.
