A SURVEY OF BUILDING COLLAPSE AND CAUSES IN NIGERIA: CASE OF SOUTH EASTERN REGION

Abstract: This paper presents the results of the survey of building collapses in Nigeria in general and South East, Nigeria in particular. Several buildings have collapsed in Nigeria, many of which are neither reported, documented nor investigated. Although, the number of reported incidences of building collapses; is only an significant percentage of the overall building collapses that have occurred in Nigeria, the frequency, severity and spread of the reported incidents, are quite alarming. In fact many of these building collapse cases, which are neither reported, documented nor investigation, occurred in South Eastern region of Nigeria. These incidents of building collapse have resulted into colossal human, material and financial losses to the region. This underscores the need to investigate building collapses and causes in South Eastern region of Nigeria. The questionnaire method of survey, was employed in the investigation. The survey revealed that South Eastern region, has experienced high and ever-increasing incidents of building collapses. Most of the collapsed buildings were privately owned-, storeyed- and reinforced-concrete buildings under construction. The seven major causes of the building collapse in South East, Nigeria, were sub-standard building materials, ineffective supervision/monitoring, bad workmanship, non-adherence/ non-enforcement of codes and regulations, no/faulty design of buildings, natural and fire disasters, and lack of maintenance culture. However, the incidents of building collapse, could be eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum by reviewing, updating, enacting and enforcing the National Building Code Bill; providing adequate laboratories, equipment and machinery nationwide for conducting requisite tests; and ensuring the adoption of maintenance culture and performance of periodic integrity tests. Keywords: Survey, Building Collapse, Characteristics, Causes, South East, Nigeria. Title: A SURVEY OF BUILDING COLLAPSE AND CAUSES IN NIGERIA: CASE OF SOUTH EASTERN REGION Author: Onwuka, U. S., Onwuka, D. O., Ubani, E. C., Anyanwu, C. I., Echeme, I.I., Nwachukwu, I.M. International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering Research ISSN 2348-7607 (Online) Vol. 12, Issue 2, October 2024 - March 2025 Page No: 128-143 Research Publish Journals Website: www.researchpublish.com Published Date: 12-February-2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14858841 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.researchpublish.com/papers/a-survey-of-building-collapse-and-causes-in-nigeria-case-of-south-eastern-region