Building collapse: SON seeks stricter regulation, increased collaboration to address construction failures
Omeiza Bilal
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has said that only stricter regulation would address repeated cases of building collapse in Nigeria.
The SON Director General Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwunonso Okeke said this in Abuja recently due to frequent spate of building collapse across the country.
Okeke stated that compliance to Specifications and Codes of Practice according to Standards by regulators or service providers in the sector plays an important role in reinstating the eroding confidence of Nigerians in the Nigerian building industry.
He said following investigations carried out by the SON, the cause of incessant building collapse has been attributed to poor structural designs, quackery, unprofessionalism and inadequate or lack of soil testing.
Other causes he explained includes poor construction practices and procedures, unapproved construction, wrong demolition process, lack of maintenance, negligence, use of substandard materials (steel reinforcement bars) as well as poor drainage around the collapsed buildings.
The SON DG stated that the agency on its part has produced 168 Standards and Codes of Practice for the building and construction industry since 2004 for contractors to implement during construction:
These standards he outlined as: Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) 117: 2004 Specification for Steel Bars for the Reinforcement of Concrete, Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) 499: 2004 Standard for Iron and Steel, Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) 588: 2007 Testing Hardened Concrete Part 1:Method for Determination of the Compressive Strength of Concrete Cores, Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) 585: 2007 Standard for Concrete Admixtures – Part 1 – Specification for Accelerating Admixtures, Retarding Admixtures and Water Reducing Admixtures, Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) 156:1982 Standard Method for Testing Fresh Concrete and Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) ISO 41001:2020 Facility Management System Standard amongst others.
In addition, the SON helm’s man said the Organization has established regulatory powers established in the SON Act to regulate locally manufactured products through its Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programe (MANCAP) and its pre-shipment verification of conformity to standards for imported goods through the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP). Other Initiatives includes the Product Authentication Mark (PAM) which gives the Consumer the powers to verify the authenticity of a product before purchase.
Other initiatives taken was the setting up of the SON’s task force Special Intervention to Standardize Steel Reinforcement Bars where stakeholders in the sector are engaged and a full-scale nationwide enforcement in factories and marketplaces was undertaken where culpable dealers were sanctioned in line with the provisions of the SON Act No.14 2015.
While assuring the public that the responsibility of attaining a safe environment through standardization and quality assurance are unending, he however, assured of the Organization’s resolve to continue to collaborate with other sector regulators, including the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Raw Materials, Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the Ministry of Works and other developments agencies at both the state and federal levels.
