Why buildings collapse

About 100 people are reported to have died recently, following the collapse of the new church building of Reigners Bible Church, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, during a special service attended by Governor Udom Emmanuel with senior officials of the state government. Prior to the collapse of Reigners Church, Synagogue Church building collapsed in September 2014, […]

About 100 people are reported to have died recently, following the collapse of the new church building of Reigners Bible Church, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, during a special service attended by Governor Udom Emmanuel with senior officials of the state government.

Prior to the collapse of Reigners Church, Synagogue Church building collapsed in September 2014, when a guest house located within the church’s premises, around Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos State, collapsed leaving many people dead. This prompted the Lagos State government to take the engineers who supervised the construction of the collapsed six-storey guest house owned by the Synagogue Church of All Nations to court.

Also recently, six persons escaped death in Abuja when an office building located on Plot 444 in Gwarinpa district collapsed. The building served as residence for some workers, raising the vital question of what is responsible for the high rate of building collapse in Nigeria?

Experts identified causes of building collapse as follows: 

1. Old buildings: Many buildings are old and have not been renovated since they were built.

2. Buildings are not periodically renovated: Most landlords do not make any effort to renovate houses occupied by tenants. They often depend on tenants to do the repairs. Many buildings are left for years without re-touching only for them to collapse in later on.

3. Sub-standard building materials: Building contractors make use of sub-standard and inferior building materials. This often leads to building collapse.

4. Poor regulatory control: Corruption is the reason behind why most buildings collapse. The building contractors and developers often give bribe to regulatory agencies.

5. The nature of building sites: To erect a building often requires a strong foundation especially in the coastal areas, and this costs money. Not many people can afford to do this. So the buildings are erected on weak structures.

6. Shylock landlords: Some landlords are often greedy, rather than spend part of tenancy on improving the structure of the building. They do not play by the rule nor respect existing building regulations.

8. Building in haste: Many buildings are hurriedly erected. People even move into them before they become habitable. This often leads to collapse.

9. Illiterate population: Significant parts of the people who rent or build houses are not informed. Even if they notice that a building is about to collapse, they may just ignore it.

10. High cost of rent: People often resort to desperate means to rent or build a house. This desperation can lead to cutting costs or engaging in practices not in line with building regulations.