Some building professionals on Saturday called for the enforcement of building construction manual to check cases of building collapse.
They spoke under the aegis of the Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPD) Igando-Ikotun Chapter, at the inaugural awareness campaign/seminar organised for stakeholders in construction sector to check building collapse.
The manual contains professional specifications of building construction and maintenance guidelines at every stage of construction and maintenance.
The professionals said that the non-application of building manual was responsible for collapse of buildings.
BCPD is an initiative of Lagos State Building Professionals recently established to counter the menace of building collapse and its attendant loss of lives and property.
The Guest Speaker at the event, Mr Olusegun Fadeyi, listed the importance of the use of the manual in the erection and maintenance of buildings.
Fadeyi, a construction engineer said if the tenets of the manual is adhered to, no matter the age of a building, it will not collapse suddenly.
“Like a car, if one because of the cost of a durable car go for a cheaper one, then the person will end-up disappointed.
“The same applies to a building and its maintenance. If one follows the manual in construction and maintenance, the building will remain as erected and the incident of collapse structure will not occur,’’ he said.
The Principal Technical Officer, Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), Mrs Abiola Lawal said the use of building artisans for site supervision should be stopped.
Lawal, a structural engineer noted that most times while on construction routine supervision, she often came across unskilled persons administering building constructions, while the skilled builder that owns the job would not be around.
“This practice is unethical and smears of professional incompetence on the part of the construction engineer in the case of any mishap in the building even years after completion of the building.
“If you give out sites to artisans, the tendency of them using inferior materials and unspecified quantity of materials is high in order to make undeserved money,’’ she said.
According to her, the enforcement of the building manual should be the combined effort of both the government agencies and the professionals, in order to achieve the desired objectives.
The Secretary of the group, Mr Friday Ikechukwu, said that if the measures must be impactful, enforcement must begin from building design in relation to the texture of the soil of the area where the structure would be erected.
Ikechukwu, a Structural Design Engineer, noted that many of the incidents of collapsed houses could be traced to faulty design and erection on unapproved soil texture.
He called on building developers, especially in Lagos, to employ the services of professionals who would heed the recommendations of the professional building manual in construction of buildings.
Ikechukwu said that the organisation would henceforth sanction any erring builder who does not put his or her professional seal on building papers he is handling.
He said that the measure would check the excesses of members within their fold, while government is expected to do its best too.