Building Collapse: COREN Seeks Rigorous Enforcement Of Building Codes, Compliance

The registrar, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) Prof. Okorie Uche, has advocated the rigorous enforcement of building codes and compliance to prevent building collapses in Nigeria.

Prof. Uche revealed that 80 percent of building collapses were from private developers and some due to kickbacks received by awarding authorities resulting to use of substandard materials.

“Those who are doing this development, that’s where the problem, 80% of failures are from private developers. But the people who have seen from statistics that are causing this problem, 80% of them don’t attend our gatherings.

And when we gather to speak on collapses, infrastructure maintenance, there’s need for them to be around and see what we are saying. If not, you find out that we are just talking to ourselves on what we know,” he said.

He stated these in a keynote address at the 5th Engr. U. G. Jibrin annual public lecture with the theme

“Effective Engineering Administration as a Panacea for Building and Infrastructure Collapse,” held in Abuja on Saturday.

Prof. Uche citing a report from Building Collapse Prevention Guide, 2023, said over 200 building collapses were recorded in Nigeria between 2010 and 2023.