According to a report by the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, the collapse of a seven-story building in Banana Island, Lagos State, was caused by a number of issues, including the hiring of non-professionals, the use of subpar materials, and others.
Following an evaluation of the collapsed structure on-site, the guild, which is composed of experts in the building and construction industry, made this statement in its report.
According to the research, 326 buildings collapsed in Lagos State between 1974 and 2023, including the building that collapsed on April 12, 2023.
Thus, 59% of building collapse occurrences in the nation during the past 50 years have occurred in Lagos State alone.
The guild outlined circumstances that led to the collapse of the structure and emphasized the lack of a project board that would have shown the type of construction being done, the client, architect, and engineer in charge of the project.
The assessment also revealed that the developer’s planned number of floors could not be supported by the size of the utilised columns.
According to the report, there was also disagreement about the number of stories that were stated in the building drawing, which, at the time of the collapse, had not yet received approval.
The report read in part, “It seems that it is only in Nigeria that the practice of building engineering services is thrown to all and sundry and the consequences of the absence of effective control mechanism are the menace of incessant building collapse in the country.
“While the BCPG highlights the above possible causes of the seven-story building collapse at Banana Island, it throws its weight behind the action of the Lagos State Government for an immediate investigation into the collapse of the building and BCPG being an independent body of qualified professionals highly recommends that at least three members of the BCPG be part of the investigation committee set up by the state.”
The lack of engagement of trained and experienced building experts may have contributed to the collapse of the structure, according to the guild’s further explanation of the causes of the collapse.
According to the report, the flat slab’s punching shear stress as a result of inadequate structural study and design also contributed to the building’s collapse.
The guild also mentioned the use of subpar building materials and potential foundation issues.
The report read further, “The BCPG also supports the suspension of all on-going construction works on Banana Islandtoenable thorough investigation of the structural stability of the buildings through forensic tests and prevent recurrent collapse of buildings.
“BCPG recommended that the process of auditing of on-going construction work should be completed within four weeks in collaboration with the owners and developers of the buildings.
“For the benefits of research, and the share of knowledge among the professionals in the building industry, the State Government should make the result of the investigation known to the members of the public and the professionals.”
Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with The PUNCH, a representative of Joe Faraday Limited, and the Chief Security Officer in charge of the Banana Island site, Anthony Onama, had said the building was duly approved.
Onama said, “The report that the building was not approved is false. There are no building plans to the best of my knowledge that Joe Faraday handles that we don’t do the needful. At every stage, we also do integrity tests. We have our external consultants who are experts, including our internal engineers and these people follow every articulated step to get through every process of our structure.”
Onama responded, “Nature,” when asked what may have gone wrong with the structure. Given that accidents can occur, let’s just assume that it could be caused by nature.
It rang out when the spectator called Joe Faraday twice using the official phone numbers listed on its website and Instagram.
