Lagos Building Collapse: Insurance Brokers Condemn Non-adherence To Laws

Insurance brokers, under the auspices of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance [NCRIB] have fingered non-adherence to building laws as the cause of the collapse of the 7-storey building in Banana Island, Lagos State, earlier in the week.

Although, no casualty was reported, the council noted that the collapse brings to questioning the continuous recalcitrance of building contractors to adhere to extant regulatory prescriptions concerning public buildings in the country.

This is as an expert in the building industry, Dr Christopher Emefiele say the incessant building collapse as often witness in major cities across the country is sequel to compromise in the structural integrity of a building’s component and elements.

The President of NCRIB, Mr. Rotimi Edu, in a press statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday, regretted the collapse, describing it as a case of negligence by the building experts who undertook the construction.

Edu seized the opportunity to underscore the sensitivity of public buildings necessitating the need for builders and owners to imbibe insurance policies such as Public Liability, Contractors All Risk (CAR) and other prescription of Section 64 & 65 of the Insurance Act, with regards to public buildings.

“If these insurance policies had been in place, the risk of total loss incurred by the owners of the collapsed buildings would have been greatly reduced’, he noted.

Edu called on the Lagos State government to expedite investigation on the cause of the building collapse and urgently apprise the public with the result of the findings and actions to be taken to avert future building infractions in the state and the country.

Recall that in November 2021, similar incidence of collapse of a high-rise block of luxury flats under construction in the neighborhood of Ikoyi in Lagos, occurred in which several persons were killed, attracting public condemnation.

Meanwhile, Emefiele, a recipient of many awards in the field of engineering, said the menace had often resulted to eventual failure including structural thereby leading to the loss of load-carrying capacity of a structural component.

He said this while speaking with the newsmen in Abuja, on the need to arrest the menace in Abuja and Nigeria at large

He said, “Failure in structural integrity had been traced to the desire of some developers to cut corners in the face of the high cost of building materials.”

According to him many developers tend to use sub-standard materials to cut costs and raise profit margins thereby endangering lives.

He blamed such negligence on inefficient regulation, poor supervision, incompetent artisans, and ignorance on the part of the contractor.

He said outright jettisoning of building codes and specifications have also contributed to the menace of building collapse in the country.

He however said for the menace to be arrested there was need for the Federal Government to enact the National Building Code, put in place a Construction Industry Commission

Others according to him, include training and retraining of building practitioners and strict adherence to quality building materials according to specifications.

He also demanded adequate improvement on its safety performance from the planning stage of building projects, by adopting measures to stop the menace.

This according to him include giving quality control and quality assurance high priority in execution of building projects to curb early collapse.

He said, “Lack of capacity had long been identified as the clog in the wheel of appropriate building control, adding that it was imperative for professionalism to be exhibited in all stages of the infrastructure project cycle.

“This include from concept to planning, to design, to construction and maintenance stages, stating that professionalism was key to ensuring sustainability of infrastructure.”

He said professionals were enjoined to exhibit a high level of professionalism by adhering to their professional ethics when discharging their duties.

He also bemoaned highly level of poor design and lack of periodic assessment and maintenance, adding that building collapse often cast doubt on professionalism in the country.

He said further actions were necessary on the part of government regulatory bodies to establish measures that would bring enforcement of standard in the construction industry in Nigeria.

According to him, we must look at the national building code and enact a legislation that will prescribe very serious punishments for defaulters who put up building structures without making use of professionals and quality materials.