Femi Shodunke is the Secretary (Technical Committee) of the Building Control Prevention Guild (BCPG). He once served as the Lagos State chapter Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA).
He bares his mind on a number of issues on the built environment in this interview with Special Correspondent, DADA JACKSON.
Decentralised National Building Code
It is a great source of concern to most professionals in the construction industry that there is no document guiding the workings of practitioners and stakeholders alike.
I implore the National Assembly to, as a matter of national urgency, pass the bill of the National Building Code.
When the bill is passed into law, it should be subscribed to by all the state governments. It would be preposterous to say that states should have their own building codes.
My submission is hinged on the fact that most of the states of the federation do not have the resources to operate such a document individually. They have to key into the one passed by the National Assembly.
Presently, I think it is Lagos State and one other state that have their own building code in the whole of the federation.
Three major failures in the country
From my own standpoint, the three major failures in the country are:
One, building collapse. Most of the buildings in the country are disasters waiting to happen.
Two, fire engulfing buildings. This is basically due to the storage of combustible materials in most buildings.
Three, sick building syndrome. Most buildings are in very bad shape and structurally defective.
Sanction for owners of collapsed structures
Confiscating the land and the title documents of the land where a collapse has occurred could be excessive.
What the government should do before confiscating any land where a collapse has happened is to investigate if the owner of such a structure has his or her papers.
It should also ascertain if in the course of construction, the services of genuine professionals were engaged by the developer.
If a developer has all his documents intact and for no fault of his, the building in the course of construction gives way, it would amount to double jeopardy for the government to confiscate his land and title.
So, the government should carry out a thorough and proper investigation to ascertain the cause of collapse before confiscating the land and the title to the land.
My advice to a developer who has all his documents in place and has engaged the services of genuine professionals and yet his structure gives way, is not shy away from taking on the government (legally) if it confiscates his land and the title to his land.
Incessant building collapse
Over the years, professionals in the built environment have been clamouring for a way out of his quagmire, and hopefully, when the National Building Code bill is passed into law, there would be an end to, or at least a massive reduction in, building collapse.
Most of buildings, whether high rise or mid rise, are disasters waiting to happen because of bad maintenance practices.
Bad maintenance practices include the management of damaged materials being replaced. The question that should be asked is, who is the professional responsible for the maintenance of such structures?
After you have put up a magnificent edifice, it does not end there. You should be concerned with its maintenance because that is very germane to its survival and longevity.
There should be a conscious effort at sustaining fire prevention and protection practices. There is equally the need to ensure that escape routes in case of fire incidences are not blocked.
Another precautionary measure is that generator fuel or diesel should not be moved freely because any mistake could result in fire incident.
When all these things are taken into consideration, there is the likelihood that fire incidences could be reduced thereby saving the building.
A building engulfed in fire would be pulled down because the foundation is automatically weakened by the impact of the fire.
Building collapse at SCOAN
We (BCPG) were deeply involved in the debacle called collapse that occurred at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), Okota, lagos.
I was involved in the investigation of the causes of the collapse by virtue of my being the secretary of an eight-man technical committee set up by the BCPG to unravel the factors responsible for the collapse.
Members of the technical committee were drawn from the seven professional bodies in the built environment plus a geo-technic engineer. The BCPG set up the technical committee after the coroner invited the body to present its case.
The technical committee represented the interest of the BCPG at the coroner’s inquest set up by the Lagos State government. Hence the technical committee conducted its own independent investigation on the causes of the collapse.
Most of the recommendations of the committee were adopted by the coroner in his submission.
Land Use Act
Honestly, my take on whether the Land Use Act should be amended or totally abrogated is neither here nor there.
The only area that has been of great concern to some of us professionals is the aspect that gives a governor absolute power on consent and title approval.
The National Assembly should water down this enormous power because it has been used over time to witch-hunt perceived political enemies.