BUILDING FAILURE AND COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

It is evident that in life, shelter remains the second basic necessity of human needs after food, and as such, many individuals act desperately to have their own personal dwelling. Therefore, the need to erect solid and functional building to avoid unexpected collapse is very essential. Building Collapse occur as a result of the following factors, factors such as; Poor workmanship, bad design, use of sub-standard building materials, foundation failure, faulty construction, extra-ordinary loads, among other factors such as negligence, design flaws, ageing, material fatigue, extreme operational and environmental conditions, accidents, terrorist attacks and natural hazards. Therefore, there is need to eradicate building collapse in Nigeria, most especially, the study area which is Lagos-Island as it is believed to have the highest number incidents of building collapse and require immediate attention. In view of the aforementioned therefore, this research work shall look into the problems that result into collapse of building in Nigeria whether design or construction or other related problems. However, having identified the problems of building collapse in the country with special focus on Lagos-Island, possible solution were thereafter proffered to solving the identified problems

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY: The frequency of collapse of building structures on Nigeria in the past few years and recently had become very alarming and worrisome. Many lives and properties have been lost in the collapse of buildings mostly in Port Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos respectively. Many property owners have developed high blood pressure and some have been sent to an early grave. A visit to the collapsed scenes were as revealing as they were pathetic and one could not but wonder why such contraption could have been allowed to stand or to what extent people can go to cut corners at the expense of respect for safety and respect for lives.

Unfortunately, there are still a number of buildings of similar circumstances dotting the skyline of many cities in Nigeria. That building collapse incidence are still regularly occurring despite increasing diffusion of engineering knowledge over the years calls for some re-examination of development in building production and control process (Dimuna, 2010).

Development and construction of property is very necessary to every individual in life, as such, many individuals involve themselves in construction of property for either personal uses or for investment purposes. In Lagos State, every investor will like to acquire a property due to the rapid economic development and nature of investment, while some are of prestige. No investor or property owner will be happy to see his/her building collapse. Therefore, the need to follow the required due process before embarking on development of property is important.

Building collapse is becoming a serious problem in Nigeria in general and Lagos in particular as it has a lot of effect on the economy especially the development industry. Many investors today has failed due to their ways of developing property and thus lead to waste of many lives and properties worth millions or billions of naira in some cases. Building collapse does occur as a result of greed, incompetence and corruption on the part of the contractors and developers in building industry. The regulating authorities and concerned professional bodies need collaboration to ensure adherence to building regulations in Lagos State (Chika, 2008).