A professor of Civil Engineering, John Wasiu, has attributed incessant building collapses to structural defects, sub-standard materials, unqualified professional and non-compliance to building laws.
He expressed concerns that existing building codes, meant to guild builders, had been rendered ineffective.
Wasiu also advocated stiffer sanctions against defaulters in order to curb the “worrisome trend.”
He said this while delivering the 15th Inaugural Lecture of the Edo State University, Uzairue, entitled: “Reliability Based Design and Eco-Innovative Concrete: A Panacea to Building Collapse and Sustainable Development.”
Wasiu, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, called for enforcement of building standards and codes to avoid incompetent builders, sub-standard materials, and other cost-saving measures detrimental to the safety of projects.
“In recent times, Nigeria has experienced the collapse of sundry buildings which claimed the lives of many of her citizens and damaged properties worth millions of the Naira.
“Therefore, the reliability based design will yield an economical design and an area of reinforcement capable of resisting all load effect on reinforced concrete structures with predetermined safety level.
“The government should empower relevant engineering bodies to make reliability based design checks a mandatory document to ascertain the level of structural safety of any design before they are executed,” he said.
Earlier, the vice-chancellor, Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor, said the inaugural lecture became imperative to offer a comprehensive approach to improving structural integrity and promoting sustainability in construction.
He said the university had been dedicated to fostering academic excellence since its inception, and constantly aligning with its vision of becoming a centre of excellence in quality teaching, research, innovation and community development.
