- Demands presence of professionals, pictures, information of workers on site
Poised to curb incessant construction failures in the state, Lagos State Government has read a riot act against building collapse. The state, through the State Building Control Agency (LABSCA), is now demanding that developers in the state, past names, pictures and addresses of all artisan workers on site.
The state also warned that any site without the presence of construction professionals like engineers, architects and builders will be sealed.
The General Manager of LABSCA, Architect Gbolahan Oki, disclosed this during a meeting with members of the Lagos Island chapter of Real Estate Developers Association in his office. He decried the nonchalant attitude of members of the association despite several meetings on the need to build right and curb incessant building collapses in Lagos Island.
According to him, henceforth, the agency will seal any site without key professionals on-site, while the names, addresses and photographs of workers are to be pasted on sites by developers.
Oki regretted that members of the association have continued to short-change the system, despite several warnings, leading to the collapse of a building under construction in Lagos Island.
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The General Manager vowed to start enforcement in the Island by pulling down structures that do not comply with building regulations.
According to him, “We don’t need to sleep with one of our eyes closed because we are not sure what the builders or contractors have put in place for us to sleep in. The life of an average Nigerian is more important than the money you want to make. All constructions must have key professionals on-site and materials must be well tested. Before you start any job on your site you should do insurance, if anything happens to the people on-site, you don’t need to worry. “There are simple procedures that must be met, which also include having building plans and approval on-site, which 99 per cent of the developers don’t have, that is why the Lagos state government decided to have building officers in the district.
“Take the recent building collapse, for example, the owner would have spent about N30 million, if 10 percent of the cost is taken by a professional, the build would stand. Irrespective of the cost of construction, it is not equal to the life of a person. If people were living in that collapsed property what would be their fate?
“When our officers come to your site, you will harass them, because you do not have the necessary documents and it has to stop. On no occasion should any of our enforcement team be embarrassed, if not the site will have to come down alongside others on the street,” he added.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the association, Chief Adeniyi Lawal, has pledged the association’s willingness to cooperate with the government to ensure protection of life and property by abiding by all construction rules.
He thanked God that no life was lost in the recent collapse building in Lagos Island, stressing that the association will fish out the developer of the ill-fated construction.
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