In a bid to stem the tide of recurring incidents of building collapse in the state, officers pf the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority (LASPPDA) have embarked on an intensive field study to probe all distressed buildings on the Lagos Island.

The exercise when completed will be replicated on the Lagos mainland as before spreading to all the other local government in the state.

The officials terms of reference are to identify general reconnaissance of streets within the zone, enumeration of the total number of physical development on each street and identifying their uses, capturing distressed, dilapidated and defective abandoned buildings and those buildings under construction as well as observed blockage of waterways, sanitations and other services.

In an interview with NewAge in Lagos, the General Manager, LASPPDA, Taoreed Alli said the exercise was to ensure the structural stability and safety of buildings in the state.

It was preceded by a 3-day random test probing of buildings on the island, as the test probing was necessary to enable the officials determine the pattern in which the proper probing and investigation would follow, Mr Alli submitted.

The team of officers is drawn from the built industry professionals. They include structural engineers, town planners, architects and other stakeholders as well as volunteer residents.

According to the general manager “sequel to the Okepopo collapsed building we have decided to move into Lagos Island in particular. Although after that we will move to the mainland to take inventory of all distressed buildings. In fact, we want to do a categorisation now as our engineers are working street by street to find out those buildings. We have found out that collapses will continue if we don’t do this auditing,” he said.

Said Alli: “Most on the Lagos Island have been converted from their designed use. Most that were originally designed for residential have been converted to commercial uses and warehouses. Categorisation means some buildings that cannot be redeemed will immediately go. Other ones that are 50-50 will go for integrity test to determine their lifespan or whether they are usable or not.

“If the need arises some of those buildings may go for rehabilitation. But those that are now being used beyond the capacity of their design must be reverted back to their original design.

“After identifying those distressed building we will ask all the affected tenants to move out and give the owner option of removal and redevelopment with a deadline attached. Failure we will move in, remove and then ask for our money.”

He added that the owner of any that constituted danger to the public should be prosecuted instead of being compensated.

Similarly, the Special Adviser to the state government on Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson has appealed to owners of buildings that are over 15 years to undergo a non-destructive test on their property.

Engr Johnson saidthat this special service was organized by the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory, PWC Yard, Ojodu Berger to determine the structural integrity of such building.

H e stated further that the action was strategically aimed at availing such house owners the availability of state of the art equipment, which can show the degree of distress of a weak building so that immediate rehabilitation can be carried out to prevent future collapse of such building.

Towards achieving success of this programme, the special adviser informed that the Material Testing Laboratory had began mass distribution of handbills/Notices to owners of building on Lagos and Lagos mainland local government areas. Engr. Johnson posited that the incidence of collapse building that have been experienced in Lagos state within the last months or so with it attendant loss of lives and properties could be traced to the infiltration of the building industry by quacks and the failure to adhere to the minimum safety standards as enunciated in the International Building Code.

It will be recalled that the Lagos State House ofß Assembly enacted the Building and Civil Engineering (construction) Materials Quality Control Laboratory to provide uniform control tests on building and civil engineering (construction) materials in line with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) standard as well as perform analysis on samples submitted by persons or companies engaged in any construction of substructure building, services and finishing of any building, road and its components in line with the policies of Standard Organisation of Nigeria.