CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Since
independence, the Nigeria government has desperately continued to make
concerted effort in the area of quantitative (but not qualitative) supply of
mass housing through huge budgetary and policy provisions but, surprisingly,
the rate at which existing ones are collapsing calls for an urgent attention.
The site of building collapse scattered across the length and breadth of Nigeria
is quite alarming that it is unimaginable what effects it will have on the
building industry and Nigeria economy as a whole. One could imagine what
edifices these buildings would have been if only they were constructed
accordingly. It has been reported that Nigeria, especially Lagos State has
become the “world’s junk-yard” of collapsed buildings worth billions of naira
(Famoroti, 2005). It is quite unimaginable that a county blessed with so great
potentials in its construction industry can experience such magnitude of
building collapse Fadamiro in 2002 defined building as “an enclosure for spaces
designed for specific use, meant to control local climate, distribute services
and evacuate waste”. Buildings can be defined as structural entities capable of
securing self by transmitting weights to the ground. More so, buildings are
defined “as structures for human activities, which must be safe for the
occupants”(Odulami, 2002). However, these same buildings have been posing
treats and dangers to people either during or after construction as a result of
its collapse. Collapse as a whole occurs when part or whole body of a structure
fails and suddenly gives way, the structure, as a result of this failure, could
not meet the purpose for which it was meant for. Building collapse is an
extreme case of building failure. It means the super-structure crashes down
totally or partially (Arilesere, 2002). Building failure occurs when there is a
defect in one or more elements of the building caused by inability of the material
making up the components of such building elements to perform its original
function effectively, which may finally lead to building collapse. Buildings
are meant to provide conveniences and shelter to the people, but the same
building has been a danger trap to the same people. Building is expected to
meet certain basic requirements such as buildability, design performance, cost
effectiveness, quality, safety and timely completion (Olusola, Atta &
Ayangade, 2002). Generally, buildings are expected to be elegant and functional
but many projects are constructed that do not meet any of these basic
requirements. The recurring incidence of building collapse, some of which
claimed innocent lives is a consequence of this. Many studies has been carried
out and various workshops organized in major cities of the country by various
bodies, government agencies and institution in order to look into causes of the
incidence of building collapse in Nigeria, but none has been able to come out
with how each of the determined factors directly lead to building collapse in
the country. There are many factors that cause building collapse in Nigeria and
they are structural design and quality management according to Olusola
(2002).The quality management entails material variability, testing
variability, judgment factor, contractors’ variability, poorly skilled workmen
and unprofessional conduct. The study aimed at examining the cases of
residential building collapse in Nigeria with a view of identifying the causes,
effect and solution.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Building
collapse is a defect or imperfection, deficiency or fault in a building element
or component. It may also be as a result of omission of performance. The degree
of building collapse can therefore be related to the extent or degree of
deviation of a building from the “as – built” state which is in most cases
represent the acceptable standard within the neighborhood, locality, state or
country. (Ikpo, 1998). However, building collapse can simply be defined as a total
or partial/progressive failure of one or more components of a building leading
to the inability of the building to perform its principal function of comfort,
satisfaction, safety and stability. The incessant buildings collapse in Nigeria
has become a great concern to all the stakeholders – the professionals in
building industry, government, private developers, clients and users, as well
as the neighborhood residents. Fall out of the researcher’s concern about the
increasing incidents of collapse building nation-wide form the basis for this
study to find out the major causes, effects and probable remedial measures to
collapse of buildings in Nigeria.
1.3
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
To
examine the causes of building collapse in Nigeria.
To
identify the effects of building collapse in Nigeria.
To
identify the remedial measures or approaches to building collapse in Nigeria
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What
are the causes of building collapse in Nigeria?
What
are the effects of building collapse in Nigeria?
What
are the remedial measures or approaches to building collapse in Nigeria?
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
The
outcome of this study will educate the general public and the government of the
day on the causes, effect and solutions to the cases of building collapse in
Nigeria.
This
research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers
interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if
applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study on residential building collapse in Nigeria with careful examination of
the causes and the effects with a view of finding a lasting solution to the
issue of incessant building collapse in Nigeria.
LIMITATION
OF STUDY
Financial
constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher
in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process
of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time
constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other
academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the
research work.
REFERENCES
Arilesere,
D. (2000). The role of professionals in averting building collapse.
Proceedings of a workshop on Building collapse: Causes, prevention and
remedies(pp. 60-68). The Nigerian Institute of Building, Lagos State.
Fadamiro,
J.A. (2002). An assessment of building regulations and standards and the
implication for building collapse in Nigeria. In D.R. Ogunsemi (Ed.), Building
Collapse: Causes, prevention and remedies (pp. 28-39). The Nigerian Institute
of Building, Ondo State.
Famoroti,
F. (2006, March 30). Before the next building collapse. The Punch (p. 9)
Ikpo,
I. J. (1998). Application of the Weibull Distribution Technique in the
Prediction of the Times between Failures (MTBF) of Building Components,
Nigerian Journal of Construction Technology and Management, Vol. 1, No 1, P. 79
– 87
Odulami,
A.A. (2002). Building materials specification and enforcement on site. InD.R.
Ogunsemi (Ed.), Building Collapse: Causes, prevention and remedies (pp. 22-27).
The Nigerian Institute of Building, Ondo State
Olusola,
K.O. (2002). Structural stability of building structures. In D.R.
Ogunsemi(Ed.), Building Collapse: Causes, prevention and remedies (pp. 50-73).
The Nigerian Institute of Building, Ondo State.
Olusola,
K.O., Ata, O. & Ayangade, J.A.(2002). Quality and Structural Strength of
sandcrete Blocks produced in Ile-Ife: A preliminary Investigation. Journal of
Environmental Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure,1
(1&2):136-142