KEY CAUSES AND MEASURES TO PREVENT BUILDING COLLAPSES IN NIGERIA

By ESV UGO PEACE UDO

INTRODUCTION

Building collapse is a phenomenon characterized by the compromise in the structural integrity of a building’s component elements, resulting in its eventual failure. Structural failure refers to the loss of load carrying capacity of a structural component or structure itself that is, failure of the structural component to perform as designed. This failure in many cases renders the building unsafe for habitation or continuation of construction activities and could eventually lead to collapse, damage to property and loss of lives.

Building collapse risk can be described as an event or action that could cause negative impacts or consequences on the building users, investors, stakeholders and the general public, and hence affect the project objectives. From this perspective, building collapse risks can be observed as “threats to success.” The collapse of buildings is primarily attributed to natural occurrences such as a rainstorm, earthquakes, flooding and typhoons. In the pre-colonial period, building construction was carried out by our forefathers with local building materials and the type of buildings prevalent within the period are mud houses, with thatched roofs. A conservative way to avert the building collapse that is impeding the economy’s growth and restore success to the Nigerian construction industry would solely depend on both the clients and contractor going for quality first instead of looking at the overall project cost. It means the building developer should consider delivering a sustainable building worthy of merit, and should be ready to pay the right price for it. However, the use of quality materials for construction, standard tools and equipment’s, skilled labour and strict supervision should be carried out by the site supervisor, on a daily basis with the Government performing routine checks periodically, during the project life cycle would help eradicate this increasing occurrence of building collapse.

Statistics show that in every one month 3-5 buildings collapse in the metropolitan city of Lagos only. These colossal economic losses associated with building collapses in terms of human lives, property damage and cost of medical care to the national economy is unacceptable. It is disheartening to note that the causes of building collapse are often attributed to a single factor, but more often there is a combination of multiple factors. The collective leadership roles of the key project participants give rise to building failures and disasters.

Poor leadership and unethical behavior in terms of commitment, collusion, bribery, negligence, fraud, dishonesty, and unfair practices are prevalent in the Nigerian building industry. Failure in buildings can occur during construction and during use. Any types of failure resulting from construction activities could be traceable to poor leadership and lack of commitment by the key participants. The following factors are identify as contributing to poor building quality and performance, poor leadership and lack of commitment existing in clients organizations, inadequate provision of financial resources for the project; lack of certified skilled labour; poor equipment; inadequate enforcement of building regulations, and use of inferior materials.
Key causes of building collapse
Weak/faulty foundation:
The findings show that the top-rated cause of building collapse in Nigeria is weak/faulty foundations. This is because strict measures are not put in place to ascertain if the right foundation is adopted.
Inefficient stringent quality control in material utilisation and management:
This was the next top rated prevalent cause of building collapse in the industry. It is essential for monitoring quality control in projects, so that they comply with the standards of the built environment, facilitate adequate and well-structured buildings that are reliable, with durable materials and operating systems for long lasting and sustainable buildings. The lack of stringent quality control in the management of the industry is inefficient, due to the disregard of the professionals who have not earned themselves some credit because corruption, and design inefficiencies exist concurrently.
Boycotting the professionals:
Another top-rated cause of building collapse is boycotting the professional. Boycotting the professionals is a major concern in the Nigerian construction industry and needs addressing because it is linked to the willingness of the client to cut cost, corruption and bad practices. However, clients dodge from involving the right personnel on projects just to make extra profits and reduce cost. In Nigeria, there is no active legislation on sanctioning the professional, so it makes it easy for discrepancies in the construction process which could lead to building collapse.
Absence of proper site investigation:
The incessant occurrence of building collapse has