“RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS SHOULD NOT BE CONVERTED TO COMMERCIAL USE, TO AVERT COLLAPSE” – LSMTL 

Experts in the building industry have identified a high propensity of subpar services common in construction processes as a major reason for buildings’ collapse across Lagos State. 

Speaking during a collaborative meeting with Executives of the Nigerian Institution of Geotechnical Engineers (NIGE) on Tuesday, the General  Manager of the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory Agency (LSMTL), Engr. Olayinka Abdul, who led a Seven-Man delegation of the Agency, stated that to make Lagos safe and devoid of buildings’ collapse, collective inputs by built professionals remain pertinent. 

She said, “Every collapse is evidence of defaulting foundation that shows badly coordinated parameters being interpreted and implemented wrongly from mismatched exponential transformations”. 

“That is why the State Government has prepared levels of checks to make all specifications align, using LSMTL to analyse samples on proponent structures to conform with what the designer (architect) have done for re-evaluation and realignment”, she added.

While pointing out the major culprits that aggravate crumpled buildings in the construction industry, the General Manager ascribed such anomaly to the ineptness of professionals to consider safety lives as a paramount factor, regardless of social strata or status.

 
She averred, “Every success commences from individual input that transcends to a globally safe environment. There has never been an incidence of buildings caving in without thorough professionals being involved in their construction processes. Quite noteworthy, however, these team of professionals often compromise their integrity to the detriment of people’s lives for money. Technically, they do not exhibit what they preach”. 

Speaking further, the General Manager harped that buildings should be solely used for the purpose in which they were constructed – commercial or residential – to avoid overwhelming the capacity of load on the structural balance of such edifice. 

She called for detailed assessments of structures, as most materials are being produced substandardly, thus jeopardising the safety of durable structures that will stand the test of time. 

In his address, the Chairman, Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Geotechnical Engineers (NIGE), Engr. Ebenezer Ologuntoye called for collaborations that will foster professional supervision of structures by Geotechnical Engineers, using best practices of workshops and technical training programmes. 

He said, “There should be Geotechnically-Generated Reports from construction sites to ensure quality assurance to existing and newer structures. This will enhance coordinated positions of Land Mass in identifying defective foundations that aggravate buildings’ collapse”. 

“This collaboration will include running Forensic Research on collapsed buildings in averting other future disasters, as most structures are in variance to each land mass, especially considering Lagos Gorge”, Engr. Ologuntoye noted. 

The Chairman of NIGE, Engr. Sebastian Ozomalu identified Geotechnical processes as unique to core professionals of the Geotechnical field since they can solely clarify the Geotechnical tests from its core research principles. 

He said, “Soil behaviour is knowledgeable to experts in the Geotechnical field, which requires constant synergy with built experts for inherent understanding of its unique features. However, subpar services are often recruited, leading to money valued over expertise at the detriment of a noble profession such as Geotechnical Engineering which constitutes codes and sound coordinates for articulation”. 

The National Chairman reiterated that incessant building collapse undermines the educational quality and the professional prowess of experts in the built environment.  

Hence, he advocated for core practical sessions in tertiary institutions to encourage a full understanding of every engineering profession within the Built Industry to avert disasters.

According to him, “Engineering defects affect multiple lives, so collaboration with core professionals is essential in the development of a safe built system. I strongly recommend we work together in curbing issues of collapse across the Lagos metropolis”.