Grappling with challenges of building collapse

It was reported that the six-storey building suddenly caved in, burying hundreds of persons in the rubble.Building collapse over the years have become a major concern and a monster that keeps rearing its ugly head in the country and many reasons have been given for it.Despite efforts by professional bodies to curb it through seminars, […]

It was reported that the six-storey building suddenly caved in, burying hundreds of persons in the rubble.
Building collapse over the years have become a major concern and a monster that keeps rearing its ugly head in the country and many reasons have been given for it.
Despite efforts by professional bodies to curb it through seminars, sensitizations and frequent sites inspections, lives and properties are being lost in a situation that could be prevented if proper building ethics are adhered to.  
 Director  General of  Nigerian, Building and  Road  Research  Institute,  NBRRI, Prof. Danladi S. Matawal, said that  building collapse is  due to use of low quality building materials, incompetent artisans, weak supervision, non-compliance with specifications/standards, poor design, poor maintenance and weak foundations.
Corruption amongst government officials who are tasked with building regulation and control has also been identified as a major reason for rampant cases of building collapse in the country.
These unscrupulous government officials allow builders to erect structurally weak buildings that may eventually end up collapsing when subjected to natural or man-made stress.
Also cited as a cause is the change of design and specifications by adding new floors to the one initially approved by government officials.
Many professional bodies such as the Council for the Regulations of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, Council Of Registered Builders Of Nigeria (CORBON), Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG) and Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) amongst others have come up with investigations committee to unravel the actual cause of the collapsed buildings.  
Chairman of CORBON, Professor Kabir Bala, said that it is high time we rise up as a nation to stop the avoidable loss of lives and national embarrassment due to failure of our infrastructure by doing the right thing in the right way and at the right time.