When buildings collapse people get severely injured and in some cases, some even lose their lives. It is a terrible thing and Lagos has seen quite a number of buildings collapse.
Buildings collapse for various reasons. Some collapse after they’ve been completed and are in use, some collapse during the construction stage. The different reasons that may cause a building to collapse include;
Weak Foundation
Some developers prefer to erect weak foundations because setting up strong ones is expensive. There are certain things that need to be considered before one sets a building foundation which includes how the soil is and how the building would look like.
In a city like Lagos for instance where there’s so much water, it is important for a building to have a very strong foundation. However, in a bid to cut costs people still erect weak foundations and this is one of the reasons for building collapse.
Fake or substandard building materials
Another reason for building collapse is when fake or substandard building materials are used. In a bid to make quick gains and lure people, building contractors result in using sub-standard building materials. This can be seen in the high rate of building collapse in the country. However, the fake materials can be checked through the implementation of proper quality control by project site supervisors.
No soil test
Soil test is very important in any building and construction activity. It helps builders to determine soil strata, foundation type and where to lay the foundation for the building proper.
As stated earlier, places in Lagos with swampy grounds and the rest need very strong foundation and without a soil test one would not know the soil type. Absence of soil tests lead to building collapses.
Structural Design Handled by quacks
Another reason for building collapse is when a building’s structural design that is supposed to be handled by qualified and certified structural engineers is handled by quacks.
Building designs are meant to be handled by only engineers duly registered by relevant professional bodies like NISE and COREN. This is a fundamental aspect of every building and construction process.
Absence of these means a lot can go wrong from the very beginning and cause structural damages that can lead to lost of life and other unintended consequences.
Lack of adherence to building specification by personnel.
For every building and construction project there are normally sets of design specifications that the professionals ought to adhere to. Some of these design specifications include architectural design, M and E design, structural design and the survey plan.
Adhering to the specifications contained within these documents, will ensure that the building comes out exactly the way it should and is not subjected to abuse by future builders. If done otherwise, it could lead to building collapse.
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Bad construction practices
Bad construction practices and mistakes of workers is another reason for building collapse. It is important that only building professionals are contacted to build houses. It is equally important for these building professionals to adhere to the standards of the industry and for the industry regulators to do their job, in ensuring that every building and construction projects in this part of world, follows all the rules within its book.
There is no doubt that when all this is done, lives would be saved and it would prevent needless lost of lives and property that we witness all over the country.
What you should know: There are also other reasons that cause building collapse such as natural disasters like earthquake and tsunami.
