The World Bank has said cases of building collapse in Nigeria’s Lagos State are caused by loophole in the permitting process, and also engaging inexperienced professionals in the design and construction of buildings.
It also identified lack of legally design code, inadequate land for development, and an absence of system to guarantee the quality of construction materials as being responsible for building collapse in the state.
This disclosure was made by the bank in a report on housing regulatory framework standards in sub-Saharan Africa.
The bank noted that final construction deviated from their requirements, even as it said that just 10 percent of construction sites obtained permits.
According to a report by the Lagos State branch of the Building Collapse Guild released early this year, 115 occurrences of building collapse were recorded in the capital city in the last10 years.
“The main drivers of building collapse in Lagos are the absence of a legally designed code in Lagos State. This contributes to poor quality design and construction, increasing vulnerability and reducing building design life, based on past studies and consultation with government and key stakeholders.
“Another reason is the limited land available for development, combined with a lack of risk- informed site selection. As land in Lagos is scarce, some builders, particularly the poor are forced to choose risky site for construction. In addition, site-specific risk information is not readily available,” the report read in part.
The bank said that because of failure in regulation, incidents of building collapses happened during the rainy season, caused by construction on inappropriate sites, and flood damage to foundations and structures.
Towards containing the issue, the World Bank therefore suggested the need for a synergy between the government and private sector to sensitise communities to the risks involved in low-quality construction and design.