Today, Engr. Olalekan Shodeinde the General
Manager of the Lagos State Building Control
Agency (LASBCA) 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.
