Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria have called on the government to enforce the building regulations in the country.
This is coming after a series of building collapses recorded in the country in recent years.
Nigeria experienced 136 building collapses and at least 26 deaths between 2022 and 2024.
Between January and July 14, 2024, the country recorded at least 22 collapses with over 22 deaths.
According to the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, the first building collapse in Nigeria occurred in October 1974 in Oyo State, resulting in 27 deaths.
Since then, there have been numerous incidents, including the tallest building collapse in Lagos on November 1, 2021, which killed 52 people.
CORBON and COREN have noted with concern the regulatory flaws in the enforcement and prosecution of building violators in the country.
They spoke at different press briefings in Abuja recently.
The President of COREN, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, stated, “The leading causes of collapses vary from one location to the other but from investigations and research conducted over time, they include the use of substandard construction materials, structural failure, illegal changes in the use of buildings, poor soil/geotechnical investigations, and sharp and corrupt practices, among others.”
He was also concerned about the proliferation of illegal miners within residential areas, who had compromised the structures of buildings.
“The proliferation of illegal miners even within residential areas, as reported in some quarters, is a danger to the structural stability of buildings,” he said.
Abubakar also noted that Nigeria could not investigate building collapses, which had caused loss of lives and property because of a lack of trained professionals.
He further stated that the council had taken steps to train investigators to bridge the identified gaps in the sector.
“COREN has initiated the development of critical mass engineering infrastructure failures and forensic investigators. Discussions are ongoing with the Nigeria Building and Roads Research Institute and the Chartered Institute of Fraud and Forensic Investigators in this regard,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of CORBON, Dr Samson Opaluwah, remarked that the council recognised the statutory professional duties of construction and built-industry practitioners as contained in their different establishment Acts and the provisions of the National Building Codes.
He recommended that the government ensure the enactment of the law to enforce the National Building Code.
“CORBON recommends the enactment of laws to enforce the provisions of the National Building Code, which has long been approved by the Federal Executive Council, as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Opaluwah also called for interim Executive Orders to be issued on compliance of all building construction in the country with provisions of the National Building Code.
“Specifically to stem building collapse, the immediate enforcement of provisions of Sections 2.44 and 2.62 of the National Building Code (2019), which require the submission and usage on site of Builders Construction Methodology, Builders Project Quality Management Plan, and Building Construction Programme prepared by a registered builder, in the construction of building projects,” he noted.
He also called on the state and local governments to domesticate the National Building Codes in their states to ensure sanity and professionalism in the built environment.
He also stated that developers were requested to demand letters of indemnity from the builder in addition to their current practice licence from
CORBON before engaging the builder in projects.
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