General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, (LASBCA), Dr. Abimbola Animashaun
Worried by the spate of incessant collapse of buildings in the state,
the Lagos State Government has read the riot act to culprits, declaring
zero tolerance for any violation of the building codes and the
unwarranted loss of human lives usually recorded.
Speaking at a media interactive session, the General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, (LASBCA), Dr. Abimbola Animashaun, said the target of the agency was to achieve zero incidence of building collapse in the state every month through strict monitoring and enforcement of the appropriate building codes.
In apparent reference to the rising death toll that followed the
collapse of a six-storey building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations
(SCOAN) in Ikotun, where over 80 persons have been confirmed dead and
several injured, she vowed that government would be stricter in ensuring
that property owners and developers adhere to global best practices
across all the phases of building construction.
She said: “We’ll seal any construction site where the work is not being
done properly. We’ll seal any defaulting structure where the builder
has no approval. We will seal any site whenever we see a dangerous
structure being constructed, and we can seal for a lot of reasons.
‘‘Even if you have approval and you are not complying, we will shut
your sitedown. For example, if someone was granted the approval to build
a bungalow and now has a storey building, we will not hesitate to take
action; we will seal it immediately.”
Animashaun further berated builders and developers who are in the habit
of short-circuiting laid down procedure, warning them to desist from
such conduct as government would no longer tolerate them.
“People don’t like to abide by the rules, they like to deviate from the
approval and this is where we stand that no one can do that. When you
are caught, you will be penalised and it can also lead to the removal of
your structure. If a foundation has been designed to carry a specific
weight and now you are overloading it, definitely there will be a
collapse. We are here to ensure that there is no collapse and no loss of
life. This is something that we are strictly going to enforce,” she
said.
Speaking on some other challenges faced by the agency, the LASBCA boss
revealed that enforcement officers were on many occasions denied access
to areas such as barracks and religious institutions to carry out the
enforcement of appropriate building codes.
“There are lots of partial collapses in the barracks and when we try to
gain access they threaten us or sometimes our staff have been
brutalised. There are places where our staff have been beaten and
hospitalised. These are the issues we want to address,’’ she added.
Animashaun, however, enjoined prospective and property owners as well
as professionals engaged on site to always contact LASBCA inspectorate
and quality control department and other relevant physical planning
agencies for necessary professional advice and guidance.
Also speaking on the activities of the agency, the Head, Inspectorate
and Quality Control Department, Mr. Ayo Sodeinde, said the mandate of
the agency was to navigate builders through the standard procedure once
they have received government approval to commence construction.
He said, “Starting from soil excavation, we must be present to ensure
that what you have excavated is exactly what your building is going to
sit in. After that we can give you the go-ahead to do your planning and
commence work, and we ensure that at each stage of the construction, we
come to inspect and give you the pass mark if you have done well.’’
Sodeinde added that many stages were involved in building construction
and LASBCA would be available to monitor every stage to ensure strict
compliance with the laid down standards, from start to finish.
He further advised site engineers to always work with the agency so
that the proper assessment of each stage of construction could be
monitored while assuring property owners that the agency would not delay
or slow down any request for approval once the proper thing has been
done, including obtaining a certificate of fitness and habitation once a
building has been completed.
He also stressed the need for genuine insurance and installation of
fire protection gadget on buildings to guarantee the integrity of
building and the safety of inhabitants of buildings.
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