CROWDRISING

Saturday, 24 September 2016

BUILDING COLLAPSE/QUACKERY AND ITS EFFECTS

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In recent times, collapse of buildings in Nigeria has been a source of concern to many particularly those associated with the building industry. This is because
there are series of cases of building collapse in Nigeria and the world at large. Most of these cases had resulted into unusually large economic losses in terms of
lives and property. This trend has created serious concern to
all the professionals in the industry such as the Structural Engineers, Architects, and the Builders. The government also is worried about the incessant collapse of buildings in the Country.

However, It is common knowledge nowadays that every mason, carpenter, painter, electrician and iron bender wants to be known as an engineer. This trend has made the operations of quacks in the construction industry so rampart in recent times. A quack is someone who pretends to be an engineer, architect, a physician or who claims to posses professional knowledge that he does not have. They lack the principles, standards, codes and ethics of the profession they fraudulently represent.

The activities of quacks in the construction industry has led to the incessant collapse of buildings across the country. This development has brought about loss of lives and properties worth billions of naira. The fear of loss of life and property has caused the public to ask: “Who is to blame when buildings collapse?” There are several factors responsible for collapse of buildings, but first on the list is the active involvement of quacks in the industry.
The construction of any engineering project is to be managed by qualified professionals such as engineers, architects, surveyors etc to ensure quality control of all the materials used and compliance with standards. Therefore, none compliance by quacks results in poorly finished projects which eventually fail.

Also, inadequate site supervision by quacks leads to collapse and failure of engineering projects. Adequate site supervision is very critical for preventing collapse/failure of projects. Therefore, understanding and implementation of engineering drawings can only be guaranteed by professionals and not quacks.
The activities of quacks in Nigeria has given

the engineering profession a bad image as members of the public ignorantly cast blames on engineers for any project constructed poorly or that fails. Except proper monitoring is done to reduce their activities, this menace would continue.


The global concerns for sudden collapses of buildings across the world, and in Nigeria in particular demand that construction and especially design of buildings be carried out with great care.

The following table shows cases of building failures and their causes for the period 1974-2011 in Nigeria  - By J.A. Tanko

S/N
Building Type
Location
Collapsed in
Cause(s)
Lives Lost
1
Multi-storey (UB)
Ibadan, Oyo
1974
OL/SF/Q
27
2
Hostel Building
O.A.U. Oyo
1976
SF
Nil
3
Residential Building
Barnawa, Kaduna
1977
FD/Q
28
4
School Building
Makarfi, Kaduna
1977
CLSS
7
5
3-Storey RB
Barnawa, Kaduna
1980
FD/Q
6
6
K/Hyatt Regency
Lagos
1981
OL/Q
113
7
Storey RB
Allin, Ikeja, Lagos
1985
OL/Q
Nil
8
Residential Building
Adeniji Adele, Lagos
1985
OL/Q
2
9
Residential Building
Ojuelegba, Lagos
1985
RS
Nil
10
4 Storey RB (UB)
Iponri, Lagos
1985
SF
13
11
Residential Building
V/Island, Lagos
1985
OL/Q
13
12
Residential Building
Gboko, Benue
1985
CLSS
1
13
Residential Building
A/Avenue, Lagos
1985
CLSS
Nil
14
Residential Building
Adeniji Adele Lagos
1985
FD/Q
2
15
High Court Building
Imo State
1986
SF
2
16
Mosque Building
Oshogbo, Osun
1986
SF
2
17
Residential Building
Ona Street, Enugu
1986
NI
2
18
2 Storey Building (UC)
Agege, Lagos
1987
SF
2
19
Residential Building
Idumota, Lagos
1987
NSD/Q
17
20
Commercial Building
Ikorodu Rd, Lagos
1987
CLSS
4
21
Residential Building
Calabar, C/River
1987
CLSS
3
22
6-Storey Building
Mende Lagos
1987
FD/Q
Nill
23
School Building
Port Hacourt, Rivers
1990
NSD/Q
Nill
24
6-Storey hotel complex
Maryland, Lagos
1993
SF
Not Known
25
Sports Complex, Storey
Area 10, Abuja
1993
PW
NR
26
MS-SHB Nicon-Noga
Karo, Abuja
1993
Q
NR
27
MB (UC)
Abeokuta, Ogun
1995
Q
2
28
Storey Building (UC)
Central Lagos
1995
PW
10
29
3-Storey CB
Lagos
1995
SF
6
30
School building
Ibadan, Oyo
1995
PW
Nill
31
Storey building
Ibadan, Oyo
1995
SF
6
32
UCSB, CB (UC)
Oshodi, Lagos
1996
UCSB/Q
7
33
SB (UB)
Lagos State
1996
SF
Injury only
34
6-Storey (UB)
Lagos State
1996
Q
1
35
2 Storey building
Mushin, Lagos
1997
PM
Nill
36
Duplex building
Gwarinpa, Abuja
1998
SF
2
37
3 storey RB
Ibadan, Oyo
1998
FD/Q
Several
38
4 Storey CB (UC)
Akure, Ondo
1998
PS
8
39
2 Storey RB
Abeokuta, Ogun
1998
PM
Nill
40
3-Storey RB
Surulere Lagos
1999
PM
4
41
1 Storey RB
V/Island, Lagos
1999
RS/Q
NR
42
3 Storey RB
Oko-Oba, Lagos
1999
SF
Nill
43
3 Storey RB
CB, Abuja
1999
FDI/Q
NA
44
1 Storey RB
Agege, Lagos
1999
SF
Nill
45
3 Storey RB
Iju-isaga, Lagos
1999
RS/Q
35
46
2 Storey RB
Ifo, Ogun
1999
RS/Q
20
47
STOREY RB
Mushin, Lagos
2000
FD/Q
NA
48
Estate Building
Lekki Rd, Lagos
2000
SF
Nill
49
2 Storey MB
Mushin, Lagos
2001
UCSB/Q
7
50
1-Storey RB (UC)
Iwoye-Ijesa, Osun
2001
SF
7
51
Multi-storey CRB
Ebute-Meta, Lagos
2007
UCSB/PS/PM/Q
Several
52
Multi-storey Building
Kano
2007
FD/Q
Several
53
PB Nurs./Prim. Sch.
Ibadan, Oyo
2008
PM
13
54
5 Storey PB (UB)
Wuse Area, Abuja
2008
PW
2-I, 100-T
55
2 Storey RB (UC)
Abeokuta, Ogun
2008
NC/PM
2
56
6 Storey LATH (UB)
Ogbomoso, Oyo
2009
PM/PS/PW
5
57
A Wall FENCE
GRA, Enugu
2009
NPD/Q
1
58
Uncompleted Building
Itamorin, Abeokuta, Ogun
2009
PM/HC
3, 11-I
59
Building (UC)
Oshodi Lagos
2010
PM
4, 12-I
60
Storey Building (UB)
V/Island, Lagos
2010
PM/NC/WS
1, 2-I
61
4 Storey UB
Abuja
2010
PM/NC
23, 11-I
62
4 Storey Building
V/Island, Lagos
2010
OL/Q
3
63
2-Storey Building
Mararaba, Nasarawa
2011
SF
2, 9-I
64
5-Storey Building
Ikeja, Lagos
2011
SF
NR




















The summary of reported building failure and their causes in Nigeria.

Failure Causes
Frequency of Failure
Prevalence
Expected
Structural Failure (SF)
16
05
48
Carelessness (CLSS)
05
02
15
Poor Workmanship (PW)
05
02
15
Poor Supervision (PS)
03
01
09
Poor Materials (PM)
11
04
33
Quackery (Q)
26
08
78


Data copied from J.A. Tanko ET AL( Scientific Research)

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