Conference of the International Journal of Arts & Sciences,

CD-ROM. ISSN: 1943-6114 :: 09(01):99–108 (2016)

BUILDING COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Adebowale Philips Akinyemi, Gambo Makanju Dare, Ankeli Ikpeme Anthony

and Daniel Ibrahim Dabara

Federal Polytechnic Ede, Nigeria

The spates of building collapse in Nigeria in the past twenty years have assumed a very worrisome
dimension as many lives are lost and huge investments wasted. This paper is set to examine the causes
and effects of building collapse on the nation’s economy with a view to providing information that will
forestall future occurrences in the study area particularly and other developing nations in general.
Several causes of building failure had been attributed to either natural or man-made phenomena, in
Nigeria surveys carried out have shown that the use of substandard building materials; poor
workmanship, the use of quacks instead of professionals, non-enforcement of building codes or
construction regulations, corruption in the building industry etc. have contributed immensely in most of
the recorded cases of building failures. Consequently, these often results to building collapse which has
adverse effect on both people and investments in the building industry. In the year 2014 over one
hundred and twenty deaths related to building collapse was recorded in Lagos. Similar stories goes for
cities like Port-Harcourt, and Abuja. Empirical data suggested huge loss of investments in areas with
cases of building collapse in Nigeria. This paper provides relevant information on the state of the
nation in respect of the incidences of building collapse and the tendency for the situation to persist if
adequate measures are not urgently taken. It was recommended that to curb or eradicate the incidences
of building collapse, all the stakeholders in the construction industry should adhere strictly to the
provisions of the building code, the SON (Standard Organization of Nigeria) should ensure that only
certified building materials are allowed in the market. Similarly, government should put in place
machinery for strict monitoring of construction sites by enforcing relevant laws to sanitize the building
industry.

Keywords: Building, Building materials, Loss, Investment.

Introduction

Building collapse, though a common phenomenon all over the world is more rampant and devastating in
the developing countries. The Rana Plaza tragedy of 24th April, 2013 where an eight-story garment
factory collapsed in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh will quickly come to mind. The building’s fall
which killed nearly1, 200 people and injured hundreds of others were not caused by an earthquake or a
terrorist attack, but rather by poor construction and a lack of oversight.



99

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2784266

100 Building Collapse in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges ...

Plate1. Source: Wikipedia (2015)

Also recently, a factory collapsed in Lahore, Pakistan. The incident, which took place near the
Punjab’s provincial capital on Wednesday November 4, 2015, with casualty figure of about 45 people
was as a result of poor construction and poor safety standards in the country.
The incidence of building failures and collapses has become major issues of concern in the
development of Nigeria as the frequencies of their occurrence and the magnitude of the losses in terms of
lives and properties are now becoming very alarming. In fact, building collapse has now become a
familiar occurrence, even to layman on the street in Nigeria (Fagbenle & Oluwunmi, 2010). Natural
forces outside the control of man can also be responsible for failures and collapse such as earthquakes and
tremors, landslide, flooding, high wind velocities like hurricane, etc.
Alamu & Gana (2014) added that the menace has casts a slur on the competence of the nation’s
building community of professionals responsible for designing and monitoring construction works at
building sites. Experts have also suggested that professionals should not bear the blame alone. This is
because, firstly, it has been proved that owners of building under construction derail from their approved
plans relying more on imagination and fantasy. Secondly, the approving authorities are also known to fail
to monitor compliance with approved plans. Thirdly, some building owners shun professionals in order to
cut costs. Fourthly, the high cost of building materials has led greedy contractors with eyes on profits, to
patronize substandard materials. These short-cut measures have contributed immensely to the occurrence
of failed buildings in the country.
Fadamiro (2002) opined that the concentration of population in cities due to migration created the
specific problems of providing adequate building structure. The resultant effect of this is the upsurge of
various building projects from various contracting firms of doubtful competencies. Nnaedozie (2005) also
added that the Development Control units (DCU) in most states play a limited role as they lack the
requisite number of staff with expertise to supervise the many developments in progress concurrently
across their areas of jurisdiction.
Ede (2010) carried out analysis and evaluation of the death rate involved in the 47 reported cases of
building collapses verified between 2000 and 2010 and over 300 deaths were recorded for Lagos, Abuja
and Port Harcourt which are the three major areas with high rate of casualties, the relationship between
the number of collapsed buildings cases and the rate of casualties were expressed in the chat below with
Lagos State leading the rest on the issues of building collapse and casualties.

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2784266

 Adebowale Philips Akinyemi et al. 101

Figure 1. Casualties verified in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Source (Ede 2010)

In the Stakeholders forum of Nigerian Building & Road Research Institute (NBRRI) in May 2011,
the following grim statistics were given:
i. Building collapses are more common in cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt.
ii. 60 percent of the collapses occur in Lagos State alone.
iii. 70 percent, 23.3 percent and 6.7 percent of collapsed buildings belong to private, public and
corporate organizations; respectively
iv. Use of poor materials as well as poor workmanship by quacks is also responsible for building
collapse.
v. Seventy percent of collapsed buildings do not have government approval prior to the building
development.

Literature Review

Failure is an unaccepted difference between expected and observed performance. Limited deflection in a
floor which causes a certain amount of cracking/distortion in partitions could reasonably be considered as
defect but not a failure, whereas excessive deflection resulting in serious damage to partitions, ceilings
and floor finishes could be classed as a failure.
Collapse is a state of complete failure, when the structure has literally given way and most members
have caved-in, crumbled or buckled; the building can no longer stand as originally built. It can be seen
therefore, that collapse is the very extreme state of failure. Ayininuola & Olalusi (2004) noted that failure
can be considered as occurring in a component when that component can no longer be relied upon to fulfil
its principal functions. According to Obiechina (2005), the term failure can manifest in three forms in the
structure, namely: Ultimate limit state, which results in collapse; Serviceability limit state, which has to
do with deflections and cracks, and finally; Durability, which has to do with deterioration of the elements.
The design of any structure must guard against the structure attaining any of these states. Furthermore,
failure can occur in the sub or superstructures or both and can result from: poor design, use of substandard
materials and poor quality control and supervision.
102 Building Collapse in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges ...

Problem of the Sub-Structure and Super- Structure

The foundation of a structure can fail from wrong estimation of the bearing capacity of the soil resulting
from wrong interpretation of geotechnical investigation or assumption. It may also arise from under-
estimation of the load imposed on the soil. Similarly, failure may result from the quality of the material
used for the foundation, which may be of low quality or sub-standard. On the other hand, the
superstructure concerns all the parts of the structure above ground and includes columns, beams, slabs,
and roofs. These components may fail because of the following: Poor design; Use of wrong construction
methods and procedures; use of substandard materials and the absence of proper supervision that will
ensure total quality management.
Oloyede, Omoogun & Akinjare (2010) pointed out that different soil types pose varying problems
for built foundations and the structural integrity of an entire building. Therefore to design a foundation, it
is necessary to calculate the loads on the foundation and determine the nature of the sub-soil, its bearing
capacity, likely behaviour under seasonal and ground water level changes and the possibility of ground
movement. Similarly, the components of the structure should be able to resist deformation under loading
conditions. Deformation implies a change in size and shape when a body is subjected to stress. This
means that the component should possess adequate stiffness. Thus; the stiffness of a beam or column is a
measure of its resistance to bending or buckling.

Methodology

To achieve the aim of this study which is to examine the causes and effects of building collapse on the
Nigerian people and the nation’s economy with a view to providing information that will forestall future
occurrences, to achieve the objective, secondary data obtained from dailies, reports and other similar
research works were used.

Table 1. Some reported cases of collapsed buildings in Nigeria for period of 20 years (1995 till date)
s/n Location Date Building type Suspected cause(s) Casualty
figure
1 Oke Igbala October Three Storey Church Building Faulty Design/ 15
Mosadoluwa Close, 1995 Carelessness
Ogba, Lagos
2 Central Lagos October Story building under construction Poor workmanship/ 10
1995 structural failure
3 Olowookere Street, May Church Building (Earlier approved as a Conversion/ Structural 7
Oshodi, Lagos 1996 bungalow) Weakness
4 Lagos State October Six Storey Building being used as Use of Quacks/ Structural 1
1996 Nursery/ Primary School Failure
5 Amu Street, Mushin, June Two Storey Building Use of poor material, Nil
Lagos 1997 structural failure
6 Gwarinpa Area, FCT, 1998 Residential Duplex Structural Failure 2
Abuja
7 Ibadan Oyo State 1998 Three Story Residential Building Faulty DEesign/ poor Not
Workmanship Available
8 Akure, Ondo State October 4-Storey Church Building (Under Structural Failure/ Poor 8
1998 Contruction) Supervision
9 Road 3, Plot 10, Novemb Two Story Residential Building Use of poor materials/ Nil
Funbi Fagun Str., er 1998 Structural Failure
Abeokuta, Ogun State
 Adebowale Philips Akinyemi et al. 103

10 Ojuelegba, western 1999 3- storey residential building Carelessness/ use of poor 4

avenue, surulere, material
lagos
11 Iju-ijesa, lagos August 3-storey residential building Structural fault/ rainstorm 35
1999
12 Dawodu October 2-storey residential building Rainstorm 20
street,ifo,ogun state 1999
13 Idi-oro,mushin,lagos 2000 Residential storey building Faulty design/carelessness Not
available
14 21, buhari street, April 2-storey mosque building Unauthorized conversion 7
mushin, lagos 2001 of former bungalow to
storey building
15 Iwoye-ijesa, osun 2001 1-storey residential building Structural failure/ use of 7
state quacks for supervision
16 Port Harcourt, Rivers 2003 Two-Storey school building Not available Not
State. available
17 10, Elas street, Lagos 2004 Two-Storey Residential Building Dilapidated structure Unknown
18 No. 4 princess Street, July Three-story building Undisclosed 1
Tinubu. Lagos 2005
19 GRA Phase 3,Port July Five-Storey Hotel building under Undiclosed 30
Harcourt, Rivers 2005 construction
State
20 53, cemetery Road, January Four floor residential building Ignorance/ greed 7
Amukoko Lagos 2006
21 Ikpoba-Okha, Edo April Two-Storey School Building Undisclosed 2
State 2006
22 FCT, Abuja June Three Floors Housing Offices and Undisclosed None
2006 Churches
23 Ebute-Metta, Lagos 2007 Multi-Storey Commercial/ Residential Unauthorized Several
Building Conversion/poor people
supervision/ use of poor
quality building materials
24 Kano, Kano State 2007 Multi-Storey Building Faulty design/ structural Several
failure people
25 Olomi Area, Ibadan, March Building used as nursery/primary Use of poor material/ 13
Oyo State 2008 school carelessness
26 Ogudu, Ojota, Lagos April Three-Storey Building Under Undisclosed Unknown
2008 Construction
27 Wuse Area, Abuja August Five-Storey Shopping Complex Under Structural Failure/ Poor 2 people
2008 Construction Workmanship injured
28 Ogbomoso, Oyo State February Six-StoreyLAUTECH Teaching Use of substandard 5
2009 Hospital Complex under construction. material, poor
workmanship/supervision
29 Aghaji crescent, August A fence wall No proper drainage 1
GRA, Enugu 2009
30 Isapakodowo street, April Building under construction (for Lagos Use of substandard 4 people, 12
Cairo, Oshodi, Lagos 2010 State Govt.) building material injured
31 24, Alli street, Septemb Four-Storey Building Structural defect/ 3
Victoria Island, er 2010 overloading
Lagos
32 11 Aderibigbe Street, October 5-storey structure with a Pent-house Poor construction Not
Maryland, Lagos 2011 method, structural failure Available
and overloading
104 Building Collapse in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges ...

33 Ikotun Egbe,Lagos Septemb A guest house located within the Structural Failure/ Faulty 115
er 2014 Synagogue Church premises Foundation
34 Magodo phase I, Novemb Three-Bedroom bungalow Building constructed 4
Lagos er 2015 along flood plain, mud
slide, poor drainage
Sources: NIOB (2002), The Guardian Newspaper (2005), Fagbenle and Oluwunmi (2010), NBRRI (2011)
Abimbola and Rotimi (2012).

(source, NBRRI 2011) Plate 1a Plate 1b

Plate 1 a&b showing a collapsed Six-storey building at 11 Aderibigbe street, Maryland, Lagos

Investigation revealed the following as the causes of the collapse: Improper sizing of the column
members; Improper bonding; Lack of adequate stability ties for a structure of such height; Inadequate
shear reinforcement; Improper calculation of the load carrying capacity of the structure as well as extra
added load on the life of the structure (the big billboard and the mast on the roof top).

The Nigerian National Building Code and Its Provisions

The Nigerian National Building Code contains rules, regulations, specifications and ethics concerning the
design, construction and maintenance of buildings in Nigeria. This code contains standards and
specifications that must be enforced in the practice of building works in Nigeria. However, the code is yet
to have a full legal backing nationwide because it is presently a bill before the Nigerian National
Assembly. However, the Code is receiving acceptance by some states of the Federation.
Most of the Construction Regulations presently guiding the practice of construction in the country
are from our colonial master, Britain, in form of British Standards (BS) and British Codes of Practice.
British Standards: these are publications issued by the British Standards Institution which gives
recommended minimum standards of quality and testing for materials, components, design and
construction practices.
Codes of Practice: these give recommendations for good practice relative to design, manufacture,
construction, installation and maintenance with the main objectives of safety, quality, economy and
fitness for the intended purpose.
 Adebowale Philips Akinyemi et al. 105

According to s.1.1 of National Building Code 2006 (NNBC) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
which stated that: The need to evolve a National Building Code arose from the following existing
conditions of our cities and environment: The absence of planning of our towns and cities; Incessant
collapse of building, fire infernos, built environment abuse and other disasters; Dearth of referenced
design standards for professionals; Use of non-professionals and quacks; Use of untested products and
materials; Lack of maintenance culture.

Causes of Building Failures or Collapse

The occurrences of building collapse across the building categories in Nigeria from 1995 to the present
date were investigated and the findings presented in Table 1 revealed that a larger percentage occurred in
private buildings. The high figure recorded under private buildings might not be unconnected with the
hasty and carefree manners in which most private clients handle their building projects. Generally, causes
of building collapse can be classified under the following major factors, namely: types and quality of
building materials used; mode/method of operation in the building industry and problems emanating from
personnel/human factor.
i. Types and quality of building materials and equipment
x The use of substandard building materials: the use of inferior materials is said to be up to 10%
contributory factor to building collapse cases in Nigeria (Olagunju & Ogundele, 2013). Materials
such as blocks, steel for reinforcement in some cases are substandard and some dubious
contractors who like to cut corners use inferior materials.
x Poor concrete mix ratio: concrete of different qualities can be obtained by using its constituents
namely, cement, water, fine and coarse aggregates, and mineral additives, in different and right
proportions (Gambhir, 2005). A mix ratio that does not meet approved standard will have
negative effect on the structure. The result of poor concrete works is building collapse.
x Poor construction equipment: items of builders’ plant ranging from small hand held power tools
to larger pieces of plant such as mechanical excavators and tower cranes can be considered for
use to maintain the high standards required in any building project. Sad enough, the use of
manual labour is still a common practice in most of the construction sites in Nigeria.
ii. Operation Problem
x Non enforcement of building codes or construction regulations: the building code and sub-
division regulations have been adopted as design and construction tools to guide the development
of properties and for the growth of cities. The contravention of these regulations and standards
has continued unabated as reported in many parts of the country thereby resulting in building
failure and disasters.
x Wrong construction methods: it has been discovered that most local building contractor does not
follow international best practices in the execution of building project. They use untested local
building construction methods which often lead to structural failure and eventual building
collapse.
x No structural drawing/design available: the structural function of a building is to transfer both
the dead and live loads, including its own weight safely down to the foundations and
subsequently into the ground. Hence, failure occurs when a building is not able to perform the
above function. On the other hand, the purpose of structural design is to ensure that the building
performs the above function effectively. It is imperative to note here that the structural function of
a building mentioned above will be compromised once there is no structural drawing to work with
on site.
x Illegal conversion or change of use: Building owners in order to make more money from their
property often change the use for which the building was initially approved by the town planning
authority, adequate provisions are not often made for subsequent conversion/modification.
Structures approved as office complex are illegally turned to place of worships. The resultant
effect is that the structure is eventually overloaded.
106 Building Collapse in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges ...

x Hasty construction: Tyler (1981) noted that the growth of strength with age is an important factor
in concrete works. Testing is usually done at 7 days and at 28 days, and concrete is regarded as
more or less mature at 28 days. Sometimes the project owner is ill advised on the consequence of
loading premature concrete, especially when he is in hast to get his project completed before the
record time.
iii. Personnel Problem
x Poor workmanship and ineffective supervision: supervision involves the intricate knowledge of
workmanship and to ensure adherence to contract documents, especially the drawings. The
objective of supervision is primarily to ensure that employer’s requirement as expressed in the
contract documents are correctly interpreted and the problems which are bound to arise are
satisfactorily resolved.
x The use of quacks instead of professionals: the activities of unqualified persons in the building
industry have done a lot of harm. Building owners in most cases will engage the services of
quacks in order to ‘save cost’ of engaging professionals. A professional in practice is basically
responsible for providing solutions to problems in the field in the context of scope, functionality,
quality and cost, stability, time of production, safety and durability.
x Corruption and greed in the building industry: the incidence of collapsed buildings caused as a
result of irregularities usually played up by site operatives and in most cases in collaboration with
land developers during construction exercises. They sell construction materials like cement, sand,
concrete blocks and reinforcement rods meant for construction. They subsequently under-
reinforce the concrete and put inadequate quantity of cement in the blocks as well as the concrete,
thus making it brittle and causing it to fail.
x Poor enforcement of relevant laws: According to Taiwo (2011) the Town Planning Authority is
saddled with the responsibilities of monitoring and regulating all land developments, undertaking
of plan approval processes and preparing layout plans. The existing building codes, laws and
regulations meant to guide builders were rendered ineffective because of lack of political will to
enforce them.

Effects of Building Collapse

Each collapse carries along with it tremendous effect that cannot be easily forgotten by any of its victims.
The consequences are usually in the form of economic and social implications which include: Loss of
human life: loss of live is a common report from most of the collapsed building incidents in Nigeria. It is
an irreparable loss to both the victim’s relatives and the nation at large.
Loss of materials: when a building collapse, most of its structural components and materials will be
damaged often beyond re-use. Loss of capital investments: Capital investments in most cases are not
recoverable. The situation is worse if the developer has taken a bank loan for the building project.
Physical damage and psychological trauma: to the survivor of a collapsed building, the situation may
include injury and pain to the body.

Remedial Measures

The incessant collapse of building in Nigeria can be curbed or eradicated through adherence to some of
the following measures, namely:
i. All stakeholders in the construction industry should adhere strictly to the provisions of the
building code
ii. The SON (Standard Organisation of Nigeria) should ensure that only certified building materials
are allowed in the market.
 Adebowale Philips Akinyemi et al. 107

iii. Government should put in place machinery for strict monitoring of construction sites by enforcing
relevant laws to sanitize the building industry.
iv. Soil test and structural analysis needs to be made mandatory and to be submitted along with the
building plans to Town Planning Authorities by all developer.
v. Regulatory professional bodies and their corresponding associations should on regular basis run
workshops/seminars for their members to update their knowledge and highlight the dangers and
penalties associated with collapsed/failed building.
vi. The general public including civil society organisation must report any development (new
building and restructuring of old ones) in their neighbourhood to the Town Planning
Development and follow it up to ensure proper approval were obtained before the commencement
of such developments.

Conclusion

Building collapse in Nigeria is significant and has consequences that cut across the entire spectrum of
growth and development. It deserves all stakeholders’ attention to seek means of minimizing these largely
avoidable incidences. An improved level of conformance to and compliance with construction principles
by construction industry stakeholders is required to abate building collapse. The paper has examined
issues around building collapse in major cities in Nigeria and has also analysed some of the major causes
and preventive measures to be taken to put an end to the ugly situation.

Recommendations

If all things are done accordingly, the chances of collapse occurring are very minimal and rather the few
cases of collapse will afford the opportunity to study and understand the phenomenon better. It is
therefore recommended that all the stakeholders in the building industry should take the following into
consideration to achieve a lasting solution to the associated problems of the ceaseless incidence of
building collapse in Nigeria:

Governments: at the Federal Government level, Standard Organisation of Nigeria should vigorously
pursue all those involved in the production or importation of sub-standard goods especially building
materials. It should rid the society of sub-standard construction materials. Penalties and sanctions should
be developed and enacted by the state governments and assemblies. The consequences of developing a
failed structure shall be well publicised.

Regulatory bodies: the bodies should set-up units to monitor the activities of their members, make
random visits to project sites where those found wanting in the discharge of their duties should be
sanctioned.

Developers: apart from engaging competent hands, they will also have to rely on professional advice to
execute their projects.

Professionals: professionals must be men of knowledge and integrity. Pecuniary benefits should not be
the driving force in their relationship with their clients, but they should be motivated towards providing
the best professional services at reasonable prices and in a timely manner.
Training: training of new generation professionals and re-training of the practising professionals in
building industry about new developments in building industry should be jointly encouraged by all the
professional bodies.
108 Building Collapse in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges ...

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