BUILDING COLLAPSE – THE STRUCTURAL ENGINEER POINT OF

VIEW

By
ENGR. VICTOR O. OYENUGA
(HND, BSc(Hons), MSc, DIC, PGD(Comp. Sc.), FNSE, FNIStructE, FNICE, MNIOB
Managing Director: Vasons Concept Consultants Ltd (Consulting Engineers and Town Planners)

Lecturer and Acting Head of Todays’ Fortran 77

Department of Civil Programming 2). Simplified
Engineering. His design work Reinforced Concrete Design, 3).
include: Teslim Balogun Concise Reinforced Concrete
Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Design 4). RCD2000
Reconstruction of Petroleum Reinforced Concrete Design
Products Jetties Apapa, Ikeja Programs and 5) Design and
Plaza and the various projects of Construction of Foundations.
Babcock University, Ilishan
Remo, his town of birth. He is a Engr. Oyenuga is the current
Fellow of the Nigerian Society Deputy President of The
of Engineers and the Nigerian Nigerian Institution of Structural
Engr. V. O. Oyenuga became a
Institution of Structural Engineers.
Partner of M/S Vasons Concept
Engineers and Corporate
Group in 1991 and currently the
Member, The Nigerian Institute Engr. Oyenuga is married with
MD/CEO. He worked briefly with
of Building. children and they are members
Yaba College of Technology and
of the Seventh-Day Adventist
Lagos State Polytechnic, Isolo,
Engr. Oyenuga is the author of Church in Nigeria.
Lagos, where he resigned his
the following publications: 1).
appointment in 1989 as a Senior

ABSTRACT
The paper opens with the definitions of the relevant words associated with the subject under
consideration including the professionals in the building industry.

Causes of building collapse are fully discussed including the modes of failure. The role of the
Federal Government and its agencies, professional bodies, manufacturers of building materials,
constructors and Regulatory Agencies in preventing building collapse is elucidated.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
To do justice to this paper the following basic words are defined:

1.1 DEFINITIONS:
A Building: is a structure built to accommodate man, materials and machines in a safe manner.
Buildings are either purpose built for a particular user (for example, a stadium, an auditorium) or
are speculative (for example an open office space). In either case, the first step is to complete an
agreed brief setting out the basic requirements of the projects covering:
 Purpose, function and scope including proposed activities, cost and time for construction.
 Design factors including equality of materials, environmental factors and general fitness of
the structure within the larger community.
  Other factors such as internal and external traffic, factor affecting type of construction,
future expansion and alteration.

A Structural Engineer: Prof. D.N. Nwokoye an erudite Prof. of Structural Engineering, University
of Benin, and former President, The Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers (NIStructE) defined
a Structural Engineer as: “An Engineer who having attained the prescribed academic standard in
the field of Structural Engineering or cognate fields and who having reached professional maturity
in the practice of Structural Engineering is recognized as such by the Regulating Professional Body
or bodies”, in his book titled The Philosophical Bases in Education and Practice of Structural
Engineering.

The Structural Engineer rightly earns the description of the Engineer given by President Herbert
Hoover, former President of the United States of America and I quote “The great liability of the
engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all men
see them. His acts step by step are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like
the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot like
the architect cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot like the politician screen his
shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply
cannot deny that he did. If his work do not work he is damned. That is the phantasmagoria that
haunts his nights and dogs his days. He comes from the job at the end of the day resolved to
calculate it again. He wakes in the morning. All day he shivers at the thoughts of the bugs which
will inevitably appear to jolt its smooth consummation. On the other hand, unlike the doctor he is
not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer
quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science
with life comfort and hope. But the engineer himself looks back at unending stream of goodness
which flows from his successes with satisfaction that few professionals may know”

Design Philosophy.
A building is structurally designed for the two states of serviceability and ultimate

Serviceability Limit State: The limit state of serviceability ensures satisfactory behavior under
service (that is, working) loads. The principal criteria relating to serviceability are the prevention of
excising cracking, fatigue, vibration and durability.

Ultimate Limit: this is the limit state that ensures that the probability of failure is acceptably low.
The above definitions stress the complexities involved in the process of structural design of
buildings and hence the science and art of design of building structures cannot be left in the hands
of unprofessional designers.

To conclude these basic definitions, the two types of buildings are herby considered. These are:

Buildings on Load Bearing Walls:

A non-framed building is a building that is supported on load bearing walls and they are limited to
two-storeys only (that is, with rooms at ground floor and one suspended floor). When a building is
to be of three storeys or more, there is the tendency for the lower walls to crumble under load.
Hence, such buildings must necessarily be framed. On the other hand, a bungalow or two-storey
buildings to be built on a marshy soil must be framed since the foundation would be either a raft
foundation or a pad foundation. A building on load bearing wall means simply that the loads are
transferred through the load bearing walls to the foundation structure. Such walls should have
good strength and preferably machine moulded with number of blocks per bag ranging between 25
and 30. The sand should be sharp and not too coarse. Very coarse sharp sand can be mixed with
ordinary sharp sand in the ratio of 3:1 in favour of the coarse sharp sand. Experience has shown

2
that very coarse sharp sand develops early strength but relapses later. This is perhaps due to the
tiny holes which may have been created during moulding.

Framed Buildings:
A framed building consists of slab carried by the beams, which are in turn supported by the
columns. The columns transmit the load through the foundation to the soil. For all practical
purposes, any building exceeding two-storeys must necessarily be framed irrespective of
foundation type or soil bearing capacity. In the framing operation, the load path must be
considered as well as the wind-resisting elements. That is, are the columns and beams robust
enough such that they can resist the wind loads? Or shear walls around staircases, lift shafts etc
need be introduced to resist the effects of lateral forces? In addition, the geometrical symmetry of
the building could be very important especially when raft foundation is to be considered. To avoid
uneven ground pressure, the building must be structurally symmetrical as much as possible.

The erection of a non-framed building starts from the foundation, which is either strip or wide strip
and the building of the walls up to the soffit of the floor slab. The slab is then placed on the walls
acting as permanent supports. The slab must be allowed to mature for at least 28days before
loading. Experience has shown that one or two weeks old slab is loaded with the props in position.
This can lead to collapse of the slab since the strength developed, the props notwithstanding, might
not be strong enough to withstand the stresses proposed by the early loading. In addition, the slab
may develop uneven soffit making finishing nearly an impossible task.

Contrariwise, the frames, that is, foundation, columns, beams, slab, staircases, shear walls etc, of a
framed building must be constructed prior to the building of the infill walls. The lower slab and
beams must be allowed to mature (at least 28days) before the erection of upper floors and beams.
Construction loads that may be due to equipment, prop and fresh floor loads must be born in mind
during the design. A high rise, may necessitate the planting of a crane on one of the floors. Such
floors must be designed to ensure that the weight of the train, its contents and frequency of
operations (fatigue) can be supported by the floor.

These two broad categories of buildings should be noted since their failure modes differ and a
building built on load bearing walls but ought to be framed (for example, a 3 storey building) can
actually fail because of that single reason.

1.2 BASIC BUILDING PROFESSIONALS.

The building process requires the services of

THE ARCHITECT who initiates (based on the design brief by the client) and produce the building
plans, sections, elevations and schedules of windows, doors e.t.c., and generally sees to the
successful executions of the project as the head of the design team.

THE STRUCTURAL ENGINEER who sees to the structural stability of the building by producing the
necessary structural drawings after due analysis of forces and based on the characteristics of
materials to be used.

THE QUANTITY SURVEYOR who sees to the cost management of the project.

THE SERVICES ENGINEERS that sees to the design of both mechanically and electrical services of
the building such as lighting and power, air conditioning, mechanical lift e.t.c.

THE BUILDER who is the works and production manager.

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Failures of structures generally result from instability due to poor structural design, poor quality
materials or poor workmanship. Few failures result from electro-mechanical faults. Poor
architectural designs can never lead to failure but only to inconveniences of occupiers. Hence, the
bane of building failure is improper design or poor materials or poor workmanship. This calls for
proper handling.

2.0 CAUSES OF BUILDING COLLAPSE

There are many causes that can lead to the collapse of a building either during construction or
during its life span. The general life span of a building is 50 years. These causes of collapse can be
categorized into:
i.) Design and Detailing
ii.) Materials and Construction and
iii.) Change of use

2.1 DESIGN AND DETAILING

It is mandatory or should be made mandatory that all structural designs must be carried out by
structural engineers. Not all civil engineers are structural engineers. Collapse of building can be as
a result of the following, from design and detailing point of view:

a. Load Tracing: The designer must be able to trace every load from the roof through the various
structural members to the foundation. Any load not traceable to the foundation will not hang in
the air but will end up in an unexpected location causing an undersigned overloading of that
member which will end up in ultimate collapse.

A building of load bearing structure must have the loads traced from the roof through the first
floor/walls to the ground floor walls and to the foundation. On the other hand, a framed
building must have its load traced from the roof to the roof beam to the floor slabs/beams and
each of them passing through the columns to the foundation. All loads must get to the ground.
It is only God that established and founded the earth on air. No structural engineer has that
prerogative for now.

b. Under-sizing of Members: Due to inexperience the designer may have undersized the member
and the result from flexural members is that such members yield before even the design load is
reached.

This is the major reason for collapse of structures shortly after the props had been removed.
Such structure yields under the dead weight only. Hence, structure must be robust enough to
support the intended load.

Another aspect of under sizing is failure to carry out soil test for the determination of the soil
bearing capacity. A value that may be in excess of actual value may be assumed and the design
based on this. Obviously during loading the building may sink leading to a major collapse –
bearing failure.

c. Over-sizing of Reinforcements: Over reinforcements lead to early yielding of the concrete

while the reinforcements are still strong enough. This leads to brittle collapse, that is, collapse
without warning. Hence, excessive reinforcements are not good enough apart from the
economic waste. This is a message for in-experienced professionals.

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d. Detailing: Poor or inexperienced detailing has lead to many collapse. A common case is the
reinforcement of a cantilever slab as shown in Figure 3.1

Top Reinforcements
Cracks developed right round the
cantilever.

Figure 3.1

The correct detailing is shown in Figure 3.2(a).

Figure 3.2a Figure 3.2b

x 1.0 to 1.5x Bending
Moment

Cantilever Span

The Bending Moment diagram is as shown in Figure3.2 (b). Involving at Figure 3.2(b) the need to
extend the reinforcement to between 1.0x and 1.5x, where x is the cantilever span, is very obvious.
Another bad detailing is to lap beam bottom bar in the middle as shown in Figure 3.3. The
maximum

Figure 3.3

Crack

Max.
Bending
Moment

maximum bending moment is at the middle, hence, bar continuity is important. The removal of
formwork after the concrete casting will definitely lead to a major crack and final failure.

Bar detailing should take into consideration the position and dissipation of the flexure (bending,
shear). Poor detailing may lead to deep crack (unserviceability) or imminent collapse.

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2.2 STRUCTURAL SUPPORT OR FORMWORK
Some buildings collapsed as a result of poor design or construction of the wet concrete supporting
system - the formwork.

Generally, the design of the false work (formwork) is taken for granted, either due to ignorance or
due to non-availability of the strength of the materials being used. For example, what is the
compressive strength of 100mm diameter bamboo or that of 100 x 50mm ‘opepe’ tree plank? This
information, if available, is very scarce to most users. In view of this limitation several bamboos
are used as props and some results in either over-design or under-design. Should any of these props
collapse the loads are transferred to others which may not be strong enough to bear them. The final
result is collapse of the concrete under construction.

Failure of the support work is not a ‘Structural Failure’ of the work but it leads to lack of
confidence in the contractor/designer as well as loss of money.

Excessive vibration of the concrete gang can also lead to the displacement of some of the props and
in the process some may yield leading to uneven load distribution or imminent collapse. Due
attention must be paid to false work design especially when major structures are involved. The
revenue loss can be enormous and the psychological trauma unbearable.

2.3 MATERIALS
Collapse can be as a result of poor materials. Poor in terms of quality or in terms of sizing. Size of
coarse aggregates, for example, must be related to the work under consideration; the following are
guides:
 Foundation work-up to 25mm
 Beams/Slabs/Stairs/Columns-up to 20mm
 Heavily reinforced work-up to 16mm.
The general rule is that the size of the largest aggregate should be lesser than the space between
reinforcements. Failure to achieve this will result in honey-combing and ultimate collapse
especially of bending structures (beams, slabs, stairs e.t.c.)

Structural engineers should desist from specifying concrete strength by volume, e.g. for example,
1:2:4 mix. This is purely meaningless. Concrete characteristic strengths are the average 28days
strength and this should be the yardstick of specifying concrete strength. As a general guide we
have:
 Grade 20 – For buildings of not much of Structural importance such as bungalows, two
storey buildings and so on.
 Grade 25 – For general structure of importance and recommended for all concrete works
including road culverts.
 Grade 30 – For more complex structures such as bridges, earth retaining structures, harbor
works (jetties, quay walls, shoreline protections, wharves e.t.c.)
 Grade 40 – For prestressed concrete works and concrete structures where real great strength
is required.

Concrete strength should be specified by the concrete grade and not by volume. Concrete designer
should also recognize the available technology of the constructor. It is not prudent to specify grade
25 for a building to be erected in a village where achieving grade 20 will be but an arduous task. As
a guide when the engineer is not sure of the constructor he is strongly advised to design to concrete
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grade 20 and insist on 1:2:4 mix. On the average, a good 1:2:4 mix will produce at least a grade 20
concrete.

A serious problem that is currently being faced in the country is the strength of reinforcing steel. In
most market the so called 12mm bars are at most 11.5mm instead of 12.57mm (1/2 inch). The
strength of the rods is another issue. The code recommends a minimum of 460N/mm2. During the
construction of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, in 1987/88 some 12mm bars were tested
and were found to be 290N/mm2 instead of 410N/mm2. They were simply used as mild steel bars.
This paper calls on the organizers of this forum to work in conjunction with the Standard
Organization of Nigeria (SON) and ensure that steel produced carry a certificate bearing the real
dimension and the actual steel strength. The manufacturers should produce steel rods of 8mm,
10mm, 12.5mm, 16mm, 20mm, 25mm, and 32mm and not few millimeters lower. These are the
standard dimensions known to designers. They are to produce what we required not us to buy what
they have produced. Many structures collapsed as a result of poor steel strength but in many cases
such failure is never recognized.

2.4 CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISION

The quotation from “Man on the Job Pamphlet (a Cement and Concrete Association, UK,
publication) titled “It depends on you” says “A good concrete job is only good, strong, long
lasting, good looking and economical to build, if every man on the job shares in making it so. A
good concrete building or road or bridge does not only depend on a good designer or a clever
engineer; it depends on good materials, accurate batching, the right amount of water and thorough
mixing; it depends on well-placed reinforcement, well-made formwork, careful compacting, it
depends on good finishing. No stage is unimportant. One man’s carelessness can let down the
whole job; every man’s care can make it a job to be proud of. So it really does depend on you.”

Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) are the two major tools that can ensure safe
structure from the point of view of construction methodology and supervision. Some structures fail
because of poor construction methodology, others because no adequate attention was paid to the
quality of concrete being used. In real structural works, slump test must be carried out consistently
to maintain the consistency of concrete and cube test to determine the strength of the concrete. Any
concrete that fails the cube strength test must be demolished. A 7-day cube strength is
approximately equivalent to 67% of the overall cube strength.

The supervisor must be well versed in the work and should be able to take a decision on the spot
when such is required. Construction supervision is an important aspect of construction works and
should be taken serious.

3.0 FAILURE MODES

Depending on the method of construction, buildings fail in several ways and this include bearing
failure, column buckling or crushing, failure of supporting walls, beam/slab failure and so on.
Some of these issues are discussed.

3.1 LOAD BEARING WALLS BUILDINGS

These are structures that depend on the walls as load carrying members as discussed earlier.
Buildings of this nature should be limited to two-storey (ground and one suspend floor). Storeys
higher than this may result in the crushing of the walls and ultimate collapse of the structure. The
strength of the blocks is also important even when the storey is limited to two. It is recommended

7
that the blocks from a single bag should be between 25 and 30 and well compacted. Since the
edges are not well restrained large span slabs should be avoided as much as possible. Where large
span is required that portion of the building can be framed and appropriate foundation used.

3.2 BEARING FAILURE:

When the bearing capability used for a structure is much higher than the actual soil bearing
capability, the bearing failure occurs and the sign is as shown in figure 4.1.

Cracks of the
surrounding soil
depicting the extent of
the foundation concrete

Figure 4.1: Bearing Failure

The good news here is that such failure, in most cases, is not sudden and the building can be
remedied. The implication of this failure is that the ground is carrying more loads than expected
and the solution is simply to introduce more columns and more bases to relieve the existing
columns/foundations of their loads. If this is done such collapse can be arrested.

The greatest remedy, however, is to carry out soil investigation and design structures according to
the recommendation of the soil engineer. It is misleading to believe that raft foundation is a
solution to bad soil problems. Buildings on raft foundation can collapse by sinking or by tilting.
However, because it is rigid structure such building may not develop cracks. Raft foundation
should be used as an option based on the soil strength, the building structure and the total load to be
carried. Failure to carry out soil investigations is a major contributor to bearing failure in
buildings.

3.3 COLUMN FAILURE

Perhaps the most common building collapse that are sudden and disastrous is collapse of the
vertical members (Columns). Most of them are inappropriately sized by inexperienced designers.
Over 80% of designers will assume that all columns are axially loaded whereas over 70% of
columns in buildings are loaded either uniaxially or biaxially. All columns carry axial loads but
most are subject to bending in one or two directions. These bending moments require additional
bars. Slender columns also develop additional ‘bending moment – Madd’ due to their nature and
all these must be taken into consideration in the design.

When a column is subjected to loads higher than the designed value such column fails and passed
its load to other columns that are in the same danger zone and they also give way. These take place
within few seconds, hence, the rumbling noise of collapse.

This failure mode can only be prevented when structural designs are handled properly and the
construction quality is assured. Column failure is total and very disastrous. It should be avoided
like plaque as much as possible. Columns should be robust enough for the intended load and
proper estimation of loads and moments carried out before the actual reinforcement is determined.
It is erroneous to assume that all columns are axially loaded. Except in symmetrically arranged
office buildings or high rise 70% of Columns are either uniaxially loaded or biaxially loaded.

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3.4 FAILURE DUE TO INCREASE IN NUMBER OF STOREYS OR CHANGE OF USE
When the number of storeys of a structure is abruptly increased without the improvement in the
founding members the load on the members is increased and the tendency is for the supporting
columns to fail or the pad foundations fail in bearing. Such failure will be sudden and very
disastrous. In other to increase the number of storeys of an existing building, the Structural
Engineer must expose one or two foundations to determine the area of bearing and calculate the
new load with a view to determining the possibility of the new load being supported by the existing
foundation. Checking the soil bearing capacity via penetrometer test would not be out of place for
certainty.

Analogous to this is framing an existing load bearing building by inserting columns at corners of
the building. The Structural Engineer should be contacted and he must convince himself through
tests and proper analysis that such conversion is possible. Failure to carry out these investigations
and load analysis may result in eventual collapse of the structure.

4.0 WAY OUT OF INCESSANT BUILDING COLLAPSE

Collapse of structures abound every where, even structures that are designed by highly experienced
consultants and being handled by first class Contructors do collapse. What is worrisome is the type
of structures that are collapsing and the frequency of such occurrences? In the context of this
gathering, the following organs can put an end to building collapse. They are
 The Government especially Federal.
 The Professional Bodies – The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE) and
The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB).
 The Federation of Construction Industry which I feel should include the Contructors and the
Manufacturers of Building Materials – namely Cement and Iron rods.

4.1 THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT

The taking over of collapse property by the Lagos State Government as we often read in the papers
is just begging the issue. The reason for collapse is never in the ownership but in enforcement of
proper law and order. For example, how many Certified Structural Engineers are in the
employment of the Government? In the Ministry of Physical Planning how many of the Engineers
approving plans all over the Federation are Certified Structural Engineers? Perhaps less than 5%.
It should be noted that not all Civil Engineers are Structural Engineers. It may, therefore, be
advisable to take the bull by the horn and start from the training of the Structural Engineers.

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) was established to regulate the
practice of engineering including certification of engineers. In the United Kingdom and the United
States of America, every Structural Engineer sits for the 7hour or 8hour Professional Engineering
Practice before certification. This is never done for the Civil Engineers even in these two giant
countries. The COREN Council should therefore recognize the 7hour Part III Professional Practice
Examination of The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers as a step in the right direction and
direct all would be Structural Engineers to be so registered. This definitely will sift the wheat from
the shaft. It is on the recognition of this Professional Practice Examination that made the UK
Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
NIStructE. The COREN legislation brought sanity into engineering practice, at least, reasonably.

9
An act of the National Assembly empowering COREN through NIStructE to take absolute
responsibility for Structural Engineering matters will reduce to the barest minimum building
collapse and wanton destruction of innocent lives and properties. Enough is enough. The Nigerian
Institute of Building is so empowered in the Council of Registered Builders Act (CORBON).
Hence, we are not saying something that is not heard of in the country. We have over 42 branches
of Engineering, hence, The Nigerian Society of Engineers, may not be in a position to technically
oversees all Engineering matters in the country. The matter of Structural Engineering is a matter of
life and death. Life when the building is safe and death when it collapses and so many lives are
lost.

4.2 THE PROFESSIONAL BODIES

The major Professional body to be charged with this responsibility is The Nigerian Institution of
Structural Engineers. Buildings do not collapsed because of poor building management or electro-
mechanical fault. As mentioned earlier, a would be engineer after his membership of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers apply and sit for the 7hour Professional Practice Examination of The Nigerian
Institution of Structural Engineers. The examination is practical oriented and it is open book. The
candidate can come to the examination hall with published works – text books, journal, codes etc
and with computers including printers.

The current examination covers the following areas:

 Concrete – Building,
 Water Retaining Structures,,
 Composite Structures – Bridges and
 Structural Steel – Industrial Buildings.

Each candidate is to pick on of the questions, carry out the design. The success of this examination
gives a level of confidence to the Institution that the candidate can at least solve most practical
structural problems in the related field. It beholves the Structural Engineer to note his limitations.
The author for example will not lay claim to Bridge design.

The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers should therefore be encouraged to continue these
examinations. Efforts are also on by the Institution to include such areas as:
 Mast design for Telecommunications
 Platform design for the Oil and Gas and
 Hydraulic Structures such as wharves, Dams, Jetties etc.

The Builder is the resources manager of the Building Process. The Nigerian Institute of Building
(NIOB) should be encouraged to further its interest in the development of Building Process as well
as maintain the emphasis on quality assurance and qualify control (QA/QC). The builder is versed
in the building materials specification and he should assist other Professionals to ensure that correct
materials are used appropriately. The NIOB is empowered by its recognition in the CORBON Act
of the National Assembly. The body should use the power in the right direction.

Professional bodies should evolve a process of training and re-training practitioners. This can only
be possible if such bodies are founded. Funding will come if practitioners are mandated by law to
join. Membership of Professional bodies should be mandatory and professional development made
compulsory. Once a Structural Engineer may not necessarily be always a Structural Engineer.

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4.3 THE FEDERATION OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.
By mine definition I want this to include the Designer, the Constructor, the Manufacturer of
building materials and the Standard or Codes Regulators.

Engineering is a regulated Profession and it is only in this country that we buy whatever is
available even when such is detrimental to our development. The Standard Organisation of Nigeria
(SON) should enforce the attachment of delivery certificate to all building products especially
cement and iron rods. Iron rods in the country should be manufactured to the standard required in
terms of diameter and strength. The diameters current in practice are 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12.5mm,
16mm, 20mm, 25mm and 32mm. Such sizes as 11.5mm should not be permitted. Tensile
strengths test should be carried out by the manufacturers and the value boldly written on the
certificate of delivery. Manufacturers should be made to identify users whenever, their products
fail and the users suffer unduly. Imported steel should also be accompanied by test certificates and
the importers held liable for any damages caused.

The Federation of Construction Industry should unite to establish concrete and steel testing
laboratories, at least, one in every geo-political zone of the country and such centres should be
adequately equipped and funded for research works.

The SON should encourage Professional bodies to develop standards and Codes of Practice for
their profession. These are expensive and SON should make representation to government during
budgeting for funding. No foreigners will develop our country for us. Construction of buildings
should recognize our local materials, available technology and home based expertise.

5.0 CONCLUSION
Incessant collapse of building is preventable. It takes a disciplined government, professional
bodies and all interested parties to fight the monster. The parties in charge must be empowered
through legislation. Manufacturers are to ensure that their products meet the standard set for such
product. The products of defaulters should be confiscated and destroy. An organ of government
has brought sanity, at least, reasonably into the drug industry the same can be applied to the
construction industry.

The Construction industry should not be seen as an all-comers affairs and the avenue for cheap
money. The Nigerian Professionals need to be empowered through proper remuneration and
prompt payments for services delivered.

The quotation from the Cement and Concrete Association titled “It does Really Depend on You”
should be our watchword.

Thank you for your attention.

REFERENCES

1. Simplified Reinforced Concrete Design by Victor O. Oyenuga, Asros Ltd, Lagos,

Reprinted 2008.
2. The Philosophical Bases in Education and Practice of Structural Engineering by
Prof. Daniel N. Nwokoye, University of Benin, Benin City.
3. Design and Construction of Foundations by Victor O. Oyenuga, Asros Ltd., Lagos,
2004.
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