Yesterday we heard about a 7 storey building that collapsed in portharcort. Although most of these factors are caused by negligence or greed, were contractors tends to use sub-standard materials in order to cut cost or rather you see a case were clients tends to patronize quaks because it's cheaper.
In here we will look at factors that causes building to fail and measures to take to avoid them.

Building components tend to fail depending on materials, designs, method of construction, environmental conditions and the use to which the building is put. Substandard materials and design errors are major causes of component failure.

Some of the main causes for building collapses are bad design, faulty construction, foundation failure, extraordinary loads, unexpected failure modes or a combination of causes. But collapses also occur due to natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cyclones and fires.

Some Reasons Why Building Fails Are:

1.Common design faults

All structures are designed to support loads without deforming excessively. These loads include live load, which is the weight of people and objects, rain and wind, and the dead load of the building itself. Internal

2.factors/human errors

The internal factors for bad design don’t only mean errors of computation, but a failure to account for loads the structure will be expected to carry, erroneous theories, reliance on inaccurate data, ignorance of the effects of repeated or impulsive stresses, and improper choice of materials or misunderstanding of their properties. The structural engineer is responsible for these failures, which are created at the drawing board. Sometimes failures occur due to obvious negligence or gross human error.

3.The external factorsThese are often natural, such as extraordinary loads, heavy rain, earthquakes, hurricanes and a defective site, with very unusual ground conditions, like sinking holes or swampy land. A building that is intended to stand for some years should be able to meet all these challenges. This is incorporated into the design. Identification of the characteristics of particular site conditions by the engineers/consultants, through suitable geo technical studies, can help with site selection and site progress that reduce the risk of failure. Inadequate awareness

4.Inappropriate construction

The contractor’s failure to build in accordance with drawings and specifications can also add to failure of structures. Use of inferior or sub-standard building materials is another reason buildings fail. Overloading during the life span of a building can critically weaken the structural reliability of it. Extra loads due to unauthorised change of use or additions and alterations to the structure can intensify an under-designed building and can contribute to its eventual failure.

Performance failures

Performance failure can be described as an intolerable difference between anticipated and existing design and construction. The engineer’s design interpretation must be put aside at the construction stage for the structure to be effectively constructed.

5.Failure may occur due to consultants’ and contractors’ inadequate supervision and control of site operations and quality control. Such errors ultimately lead to a situation, which may involve such failures, which are related to excavation and equipment, inappropriate sequencing, not enough temporary support; unnecessary structure weight; untimely taking away of shoring or formwork; and non conformance to design objectives.

Having Seen Some Reasons Why Building Fails, Here Are Pracutionary Measures To Take..

1. Check the Foundation
It all begins with the kind of foundation you build for your home. In case the property is located around a swampy ground, a stronger foundation is required as compared to solid grounds. But having said that, one cannot overlook the fact that even solid grounds require robust foundations.

2. Build Earthquake-Proof Constructions
Effective pre-planning carried out by the government and builders and general awareness in this regard has the potential to save thousands of lives. Thus, it will be a wise step to learn from other earthquake-prone countries such as Japan that is several steps ahead from the rest of the world in building earthquake-proof structures. Among the several methods, the most common is installing beams that transfer the sway, dissipation units, and incorporation of flexible material.

3. Avoid Major Alterations
Another major cause of building collapse are the major alternations that are made to the basic exterior and interior arrangement of the structure. For example, removal of one of the beams that provide support to the building could make it susceptible to damage.

Additional and Illegal constructions should be monitored and banned. These add-ons put extra pressure on the weight holding capacity of the building giving rise to cracks on the walls. Also, in the cases of dilapidated establishments, the focus should be on its repair rather on modifications which reduce the longevity.

4.Awareness of the construction area
Look for architectural designs that are common in your area of construction. For example, regions that receive heavy rainfall every year have houses with tiled roofs and effective drainage mechanism to avoid flooding and consequent weakening of the foundation. Similarly, high-rise buildings in zones susceptible to typhoons need to be flexible yet durable enough to withstand high wind velocity, whereas smaller homes in the same region need to have deep set windows.

It is crucial to choose sturdy and enduring homes that can stand the wear and tear of weather uncertainties. Be it rainfall, floods or earthquake, a robust construction will not budge, and last for ages. Also, with care and regular maintenance, you can easily protect your home from turning to ruins.

Cc lalasticlala

You forgot one thing OP.

Use of Substandard materials.
How do we put the fear of God in some contractors and Engineers?
You give them money to build standard stuff for you,
Thy end up giving you a substandard half-baked product.
Why wont the building collapse?

Very good thread here.....

ok

The festive season is here again,the best time to buy from china and usa is now.Ship down @ $3.9/kg.

my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims who lost their lives in the building collapse, and also my prayers to those who are still trapped under the rubble, that the good lord will rescue them in due time. Amen

Insightful

Many also employ unskilled workmen and use poor building materials without any proper structural design that ultimately lead to the collapse of the buildings. “Unfortunately building collapse are a regular phenomenon in rapidly urbanizing cities of India. Such accidents often involve buildings in low-income, semi-formal and informal housing sectors. There are indeed gaps in the system that lead to poor construction which need to be addressed at various levels. Most of the illegally constructed buildings are more often than not, likely to be substandard and dangerous. The buildings which are constructed without professional engineering protocols and usually with untrained construction workers are most vulnerable.” Another major reason for building collapse is that the owners of buildings are irresponsible and have no concern for the condition of their buildings. The old buildings are left in dilapidated conditions and are never repaired. Even when structural cracks begin to appear, no actions are taken, resulting in eventual collapse, as happened in Matru Krupa. Even before the building collapsed, portions of inner slabs had begun collapsing. But the owners apparently did not make any effort at getting them repaired. A building is a vertical load carrying RCC member A building is basically a vertical load bearing reinforced concrete (RCC) member which is designed to take on various loads and pressure applied on it without breaking, bending, overturning, or collapsing. The buildings and their foundations are usually designed to carry dead loads, live loads and sometimes even resist horizontal forces due to wind or earthquakes.

Engage Registered Builders..

Enough of other professionals: Architectural, Civil Engineer, QS etc doing jobs not meant for them.
Builders are production manager according to Act CAPB 13LFN 2004, (formally known as Decree No. 45, 1989).

Builders are to suprintend the production of:
Institutional Buildings
Commercial Buildings
Residential Buildings
Recreational Buildings
Factory and Industry
Storage Facilities
Educational Buildings and many more.

Civil engineers job include:
Road and Bridges
Tunnel
Dam
Harbour
Ports
Rail.

Until every Sector (public and private) enact enforce the National Building Code, the quacks (wrong professionals and unregistered/uncertified persons) will not desist from taking jobs not meant for them and plunder lives and hard earned resources, then still go free.

Contract awarding bodies need to be probed so also the Client, not leaving the quacks as well. It is obvious that Builder is always (deliberately) omitted on the site Sign board, this is an injustice and manipulation of highest order. It must not continue. There must be whistle blower approach and prompt sanction wherever such is found.

Until this is done, the National assembly, Minister of works and Housing, government agencies at all levels, Contract awarding bodies, Clients among others should stop pretending whenever collapse occur but all of them are liable for prosecution and damages.

Engage professional Builder.

08083761290
For Bldr Adagba Oluwafemi

Nice write up.
The loss of lives are very much unfortunate in cases like this, however, I dare say that it is very difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons buildings under construction collapse as a wide variety of factors can be responsible.

An example is the failure of an iron fitter to properly anchor a beam may result in the separation of such beams from the joints when fully loaded thus resulting in the collapse of all structural members attached to it.

No matter how busy I get, one thing I don't fail to do is to personally check anchorage of beams and columns in my sites..these little things can ruin your efforts.

Its very true that due to the hunger in the land, a mason/bricklayer will begin posing as a contractor after just few years in job and most times, due to the seeming high cost of hiring professionals, prospective building owners settle for these quacks.

So, for my fellow Engineers out there, it is very imperative critical sections of each job are self supervised to avoid stories that touch the heart...because like I said, if you like use 1:1.5:3 as your concrete mix design without proper anchorage, your little beam will fail.

Lack of proper geotechnical investigation

Report on Building collapse at WOJI STREET, G.R.A PHASE 2, PORT HARCOURT RIVERS STATE
Time of collapse: about 5.15pm
Date: Friday 23 November 2018.

OBSERVATION: No project signboard

Design Architect: Unknown. *Intelligence information is that it's an unregistered Architect*
Design Structural Engineer/ Civil Engineer: Unknown. Intelligence info indicate building was designed for six floors, but as at time of collapse, construction work was on 8th Floor. Structural Engineer had complained
Client: Unknown
Project Type: Unknown. Intelligence indicates Hotel Building

Intelligence info indicate the 'so called assistant Architect' (Seems graduate of Architecture) still on site. Main 'so called Architect' just left site an hour before collapse.

Witness account: workers were receiving their daily pay at the time of collapse. There was major casting a day before collapse and some casting on day of collapse. From witness account, during major casting up to 300 workers are engaged.
Further observation: Witnessed dead body pulled out from collapse (see video earlier posted)

Recommendation:
Investigation needed.
Investigators should comprise all built environment professionals I.e. Builders, Architects and Engineers.

Bldr. AKINOLA BAMMEKE
Chairman Nigerian Institute Of Builders, RIVERS State
21:16hrs Friday 23rd November 2018

Forwarded by - Bldr Adagba Joshua Oluwafemi
08083761290

pls who can summarize

Just wondering.

If the design structural engineer is unknown then who is the structural engineer that complained about the added floors.

Some Engineers in my office do this thing on their PC. I believe it's some sort of structure analysis
Then they always inspect the materials that the builders use.
In fact, they make the builder to build in stages with his own money first, they inspect and pay back. I've not heard of any structural failure in any of the buildings they supervise

lorhema:
Just wondering.

If the design structural engineer is unknown then who is the structural engineer that complained about the added floors.

Lol..are you not in Nigeria again?
I dare say that the design structural engineer may not even be fully aware of the extra floors being added to the building, one designed to be 6 floors now extended to 8.

The owners could be like, "oga engineer, we saw the foundation and it was very solid, it can even carry 10 floors but we just want to stop at 8"

Really, a full unbiased investigation is needed in this calamity.

Most engineers will tell you, oga we have done enough depth casting and it will stand the test of time, When it comes to the foundation of your home, mistakes and errors are a scary thing to think about. After all, repairs are extremely costly and extremely involved. Even worse, damage to your foundation is hard to spot, and by the time you notice it inside your home, that damage has become severe, sometimes death.
I've been to many sites and I can outline common mistakes made during installation of building foundation.
Failure to Waterproof

Waterproofing your foundation may be single most important factor in retaining its integrity. Most foundations are made of cement or concrete, which is extraordinarily durable but porous. This means that water can penetrate the foundation. Over time, water inside the foundation will contract and expand as it freezes. Even if you live in an area which does not experience regular freezing temperatures, water will still weaken and slowly break down your foundation.

Failure to waterproof your foundation is the biggest foundation mistake around, and it's one that can cost you literally thousands in repairs. If water damage is left unchecked, it can destroy the foundation over time. In extremely severe cases, homes have been leveled because the foundation was unrepairable due to water damage.


Failure to Seal Inside Leaks

If your foundation was not waterproofed at the time of its installation, or if you live in an older home, you may have noticed cracks in your basement walls. Of course, these are only noticeable if your basement is unfinished and has no drywall in place.

Ignoring these cracks is another very common mistake, and just like failing to waterproof, it can be a very costly one. Allowing water to seep into your home, especially if your basement is finished, creates an ideal breeding ground for mold, mildew and fungus. If these conditions are allowed to continue, you will soon notice a musty smell in your basement. As time goes by, your household will be at risk for lung problems as a result of breathing in contaminated air.


Pouring a Foundation in Inappropriate Weather

Concrete and cement are extremely durable materials. However, a big part of their eventual strength depends on being allowed to dry properly. Immediately after pouring, a cement or concrete foundation needs adequate time to dry. Your contractor will know the exact amount of time needed, since drying or curing times vary depending on the particular mix used.

Not giving a foundation adequate time to dry can lead to a host of problems. The foundation will settle, crack, sag and not be able to support as much weight as it would if it had been allowed to dry properly. This is one of the most grevious errors that can be made during the installation of a foundation. Talk to your contractor to ensure that their crew is experienced and knowledgeable.

In addition to inadequate drying time, other factors can cause a foundation to dry improperly. The biggest of these factors is the weather. Ideally, a foundation should be poured on a pleasant day with no threat of rain. Pouring a foundation during the winter months is not recommended. On a humid day, a foundation will most likely require more drying time due to the excess moisture in the air.

Scheduling your foundation for a pleasant time of year is all you can do, since nobody can control the weather. Although here in Abuja some clients will give the contractors delivery time which may also spell doom in the future

Attempting to Do It Yourself

In today's economy, it's natural to want to save money. While there are a great deal of home improvement projects which can be done on a DIY basis, pouring a foundation is absolutely not one of them. The heavy equipment involved and the specialized product knowledge required make this a professionals-only undertaking, oga please take a chill pill and leave the the job for the professionals


A home’s foundation isn’t just a huge slab of concrete. It’s the load bearing portion of the structure. Without a good foundation, a myriad of structural issues can plague a home.

One good example of a structural component that can get affected by a bad foundation is your home’s roof. Wavy or saggy roofs are a sign that the integrity of your home has been compromised.

Simply put, if your foundation moves, so does your roof!

Foundation Issues That Can Affect Your Home’s Roof

Foundation problems and roof damage go hand in hand. In other words, if your foundation is damaged, it’s likely that your roof will also get damaged as well. This is especially true if the problem is ignored for far too long.

When everybody that can use revit structure and other cad are now engineers what do we expect

The simple cause of building collapse is the structural engineer on site because if the engineer compromised the quality of materials needed,it will appear when the time reach either on surface of structure or through the foundation.
Competent engineer should stint on structural Working schedule in order to protect its job.

Finding the right construction service provider can make the big difference, so also the materials used.

The service of structural engineers can not be under estimated and it's high time we faced the costs demanded rather than loosing it all in the long run.

Sources

Techpally.com/how-to-get-good-construction-services/

Techpally.com/choosing-construction-services/

the cause of this is your useless nigerians trying to do your normal economy. this is why i will never buy an already built property. must you nigerian negros scam in every thing you are doing? useless pipu

Lazyuth:
Report on Building collapse at WOJI STREET, G.R.A PHASE 2, PORT HARCOURT RIVERS STATE
Time of collapse: about 5.15pm
Date: Friday 23 November 2018.

OBSERVATION: No project signboard

Design Architect: Unknown. *Intelligence information is that it's an unregistered Architect*
Design Structural Engineer/ Civil Engineer: Unknown. Intelligence info indicate building was designed for six floors, but as at time of collapse, construction work was on 8th Floor. Structural Engineer had complained
Client: Unknown
Project Type: Unknown. Intelligence indicates Hotel Building

Intelligence info indicate the 'so called assistant Architect' (Seems graduate of Architecture) still on site. Main 'so called Architect' just left site an hour before collapse.

Witness account: workers were receiving their daily pay at the time of collapse. There was major casting a day before collapse and some casting on day of collapse. From witness account, during major casting up to 300 workers are engaged.
Further observation: Witnessed dead body pulled out from collapse (see video earlier posted)

Recommendation:
Investigation needed.
Investigators should comprise all built environment professionals I.e. Builders, Architects and Engineers.

Bldr. AKINOLA BAMMEKE
Chairman Nigerian Institute Of Builders, RIVERS State
21:16hrs Friday 23rd November 2018

Forwarded by - Bldr Adagba Joshua Oluwafemi
08083761290

Chai

Spot on sir.

ayufun:
Finding the right construction service provider can make the big difference, so also the materials used.

The service of structural engineers can not be under estimated and it's high time we faced the costs demanded rather than loosing it all in the long run.

Sources

Techpally.com/how-to-get-good-construction-services/

Techpally.com/choosing-construction-services/

/
Engineering this, Engineering that.

Look up the mix ratio of concrete: M10, M15, M20 up to M45 and their different uses. How many builders adhere to this? Textbook noise in Nigeria doesn't mean anything to me. Some building owners would like to bypass some processes to save money and the Engineer will be there moping around to avoid losing the contract.
The issue is more complicated than the quackery of many "builders" in Nigeria.
/

InvertedHammer:

/
Engineering this, Engineering that.

Look up the mix ratio of concrete: M10, M15, M20 up to M45 and their different uses. How many builders adhere to this? Textbook noise in Nigeria doesn't mean anything to me. Some building owners would like to bypass some processes to save money and the Engineer will be there moping around to avoid losing the contract.
The issue is more complicated than the quackery of many "builders" in Nigeria.
/

As a professional in any dealing, you don't sacrifice your standard for cheap gain.

@at inverted hammer, you have scored 1000% on your post,it shows you are on ground,current and active.

to add, according to naija law the Archy is the site owner/supervisor. thus his head is what is needed now. he can then bring the his team as demanded.

not the engineer. as posted by the builders institution chairman above.

InvertedHammer:

/
Engineering this, Engineering that.

Look up the mix ratio of concrete: M10, M15, M20 up to M45 and their different uses. How many builders adhere to this? Textbook noise in Nigeria doesn't mean anything to me. Some building owners would like to bypass some processes to save money and the Engineer will be there moping around to avoid losing the contract.
The issue is more complicated than the quackery of many "builders" in Nigeria.
/

@at inverted hammer, you have scored 1000% on your post,it shows you are on ground,current and active.
to add, according to naija law the Archy is the site owner/supervisor. thus his head is what is needed now. he can then bring the his team as demanded.
not the engineer. as posted by the builders institution chairman above.

Lazyuth:
Engage Registered Builders..

Enough of other professionals: Architectural, Civil Engineer, QS etc doing jobs not meant for them.
Builders are production manager according to Act CAPB 13LFN 2004, (formally known as Decree No. 45, 1989).

Builders are to suprintend the production of:
Institutional Buildings
Commercial Buildings
Residential Buildings
Recreational Buildings
Factory and Industry
Storage Facilities
Educational Buildings and many more.

Civil engineers job include:
Road and Bridges
Tunnel
Dam
Harbour
Ports
Rail.

Until every Sector (public and private) enact enforce the National Building Code, the quacks (wrong professionals and unregistered/uncertified persons) will not desist from taking jobs not meant for them and plunder lives and hard earned resources, then still go free.

Contract awarding bodies need to be probed so also the Client, not leaving the quacks as well. It is obvious that Builder is always (deliberately) omitted on the site Sign board, this is an injustice and manipulation of highest order. It must not continue. There must be whistle blower approach and prompt sanction wherever such is found.

Until this is done, the National assembly, Minister of works and Housing, government agencies at all levels, Contract awarding bodies, Clients among others should stop pretending whenever collapse occur but all of them are liable for prosecution and damages.

Engage professional Builder.

08083761290
For Bldr Adagba Oluwafemi

from this, the Archy is the production manager on this site thus he should be made to answer the question,though can call up the engineering team as backup.the fact remains..... he is liable by law.....

so live Engineers alone at this stage. except the law was not followed.

note to engrs, for most building as stated above let the Archy take the lead role.