Curbing the menace of building collapse in Nigeria

Marcus Vitruvious polio, the Roman writer, Architect and Engineer, was famous for asserting in his book De Architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas and venustas – that is, it must be strong or durable, useful and beautiful. Hugo Alvar Aalto the Finnish Architect and designer, argued that the responsible designer/Architect must “do no harm” on the end users of such a building nor provide environments unsuitable for their use. Part of the federal Government of Nigeria’s transformation agenda is the provision of quality and affordable infrastructure through Housing and Urban Development. But the spate of collapsed buildings in the country has reached an alarming rate. The incessant cases are enough reasons to declare a state of emergency in the construction industry. A building collapse could be a total or partial failure of one or more components of a building leading to the inability of the building to perform its principle function of safety and stability. In an attempt to find a solution to this menace, this paper therefore tries to examine some of the major causes of building collapse and tries to proffer remedial measures that may curb its devastating effects. The paper also briefly outlines its implications on real estate investment and also briefly tries to advice on procedures for rescuing people from collapsed buildings.