At an event themed ‘Prevention of Building Collapse: A Collective Responsibility’ which took place in Ikeja, Lagos, the General Manager, Lagos Building Control Agency, Mrs. Abiola Kosegbe said the agency has listed about 300 buildings that it suspected could be distressed and is investigating them for possible demolition.
Speaking on reasons for marking buildings under construction, Kosegbe said preventing building collapse was the duty of everyone. According to her, statistics showed that the incidence of building collapse has reduced compared to last year.
She said, “The initial thing we do is visual inspection. If we carry out visual inspection of your property and we believe that it appears distressed, that is the initial thing; it is not a scientific thing. Then, we will mark it and serve you the necessary services and tell you to go and conduct your non-destructive integrity test.
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She further stated that, some will ignore and some will comply. Those who comply and have gone for the test engage engineers to do a complete structural assessment of their property and submit the report to the agency. After going through the reports and have considered it cleared, they can go on with their building.
On the other aspect, if the structural assessment fails, the owner of the property is informed immediately that it needs to be removed. Then, the necessary steps would be taken to ensure that nobody files any legal matter against the agency.
Kosegbe added that forfeiture occurs if the owner allows the building to collapse, but there would not be forfeiture in removal if it is done in a timely manner.
