Yesterday, the General Manager of the Lagos State
Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Engr. Olalekan Shodeinde warned building Owners and Developers
to desist from adding other floors or structures to old and existing
buildings without obtaining necessary approvals which are given after a
thorough engineering appraisal and integrity test on the structure.
Speaking
on the recent collapsed building at No. 3/5 Massey Street, Lagos
Island, Lagos, Engineer Shodeinde said the building, a four-floor
structure built with bricks, collapsed due to foundation failure when
the bearing capacity of the soil could not sustain additional structure.
The
occurrence, he stated, was due to the additional load on the property
resulting from a communication mast erected on the building two weeks
ago.
Engineer
Shodeinde said several inspections conducted on the same property in
the past did not reveal any signs of distress even though the structural
members were constructed with gravel.
According
to him, “the additional load imposed on the structure added to the
previous design capacity, as such the extra load being transferred
through the structural members made the building heavier than the
capacity of the soil which is the ultimate load bearer”.
The
General Manager said that the present administration aims at achieving
zero tolerance to incidents of collapsed buildings, emphasising that no
responsible government will watch her citizens die as a result of
irresponsible acts of few violators of the law.
“The
spate of collapsed buildings in recent years is a reawakening call to
the fact that both the government and the people need to collaborate
more than ever not only to eliminate the incidence of building collapse
but to also ensure that people build in compliance with physical
planning laws”, Shodeinde stressed.
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