This was revealed by the Financial Secretary, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Lagos State Chapter, Mubarak Gbajabiamila at a workshop organised recently by Ikoyi-Obalande, Building Collapse Prevention Guild [BCPG] Cell in Lagos State while speaking on the topic: “Preventing building collapse through responsive procurement system,”
According to Gbajabiamila, the quality of materials used in construction of a building to a great extent determines its structural stability, thus, it is more economical to apply the best quality of building materials irrespective of its costs, than to use the cheap ones and spend extra money for replacement.
Gbajabiamila noted that inferior/sub-standard material was a major causative factor of building collapse, stressing that it must be given adequate attention by the governments, professionals and the clients if the issue of building collapse would be curtailed.
“A building constructed with sub-standard materials stands the risk of collapse. Therefore, It is not advisable to apply the cheapest building materials and spend much money for repair and replacement, while endangering lives and properties at the occurrence of collapse,” Gbajabiamila said.
In line with this, the Chairman of Lagos State branch of BCPG, Mr. Yinka Ogunseye noted that the rate of building collapse had reduced to a great extent, but, more efforts needed to be made until a zero per cent building collapse was attained.
Ogunseye added that, it is not until a building collapse, before provision will be made for remedies, preventive measures and solutions are required.
Also present at the workshop was the Secretary of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Samson Akinyosoye, who spoke extensively on “Proactive Measures for Building Collapse Prevention”.
According to Akinyosoye, the quality of materials and workmanship needed to be given adequate attention to avert collapse.
Akinyosoye however identified three components of a building as the structure, fabrics and the system, adding that all components must be functional for a building to be confirmed as structurally stable.
In his words he said, “collapse occurs when a building can no longer support loads. So, it is not until a building physically falls down that it can be classified as been collapsed,”
In line with the proactive measures for building collapse prevention, Akinyosoye implored the state government, building experts and professionals not to relent on its advocacy for the use of quality building materials, saying investigations had revealed that sub-standard building materials were a major cause of building collapse.
