BUILDING FAILURE AND COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA: THE INFLUENCE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR

BUILDING FAILURE AND COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA: THE INFLUENCE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Building collapse, though a common phenomenon all over the world is more rampant and devastating in the developing countries. The incidence of building failures and collapses has become major issues of concern in the development of this nation as the frequencies of their occurrence and the magnitude of the losses in terms of lives and properties are now becoming very alarming. In fact, building collapse has now become a familiar occurrence, even to layman on the street in Nigeria.

Failure in building can be described as the inability of the building components not being adequate to perform what are normally expected or required of those components. On the other hand, when part or whole structure has failed and suddenly gave way in a way that as a result of this failure, the building could not meet the purpose for which it was intended, the building has collapsed. Failures in building can occur during different stages of construction process itself, as well as after. In Nigeria, the common causes of building collapse have been traced to bad design, faulty construction, use of low quality materials, hasty construction, foundation failure, lack of proper supervision, ineffective enforcement of building codes by the relevant Town Planning Authorities, lack of proper maintenance etc. (Folagbade, 2001 and Badejo, 2009)

Cases of building collapse are not restricted by climatology or level of urbanization as they cut across cultural and ethnical barriers. Many cases of building collapse have been reported in Nigeria. For instance, Folagbade (2001) and Chinwokwo (2000) enumerated forty- two (42) cases of building collapse as occurring between 1980 and 1999 in Nigeria while Makinde ( 2007) listed fifty-four (54) cases occurring between January 2000 and June 2007 alone. Building collapse has also been observed to cut across the different categories of building – private, corporate or public. Folagbade (2001) showed that of the twenty-five (25) reported cases of building collapse between 1980 and 1999 in Lagos State, private (76%), corporate (12%) and government or public buildings (12%) accounted for these proportions. Also, building collapse is no respecter of size of the structure.

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BUILDING FAILURE AND COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA: THE INFLUENCE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR

AN EVALUATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING MATERIALS MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SITE, A CASE STUDY OF IMO STATE

AN EVALUATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING MATERIALS MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SITE, A CASE STUDY OF IMO STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Material management can be defined as a process that coordinates planning, assessing the requirement, sourcing, purchasing, transporting, storing and controlling of materials, minimizing the wastage and optimizing the profitability by reducing cost of material. Baldva (1997) noted that Materials management is a process for planning, executing and controlling field and office activities in construction. While Eduardo (2002) viewed Materials management as the system for planning and controlling all of the efforts necessary to ensure that the correct quality and quantity of materials are properly specified in a timely manner, are obtained at a reasonable cost and most importantly are available at the point of use when required.

According to Khyomesh and Chetna, (2011) Building materials account for 60 to 70 percent of direct cost of a project or a facility, the remaining 30 to 40 percent being the labour cost. Therefore, efficient procurement and handling of material represent a key role in the successful completion of the work. It is important for the project manager to consider that there may be significant difference in the date that the material was requested or date when the purchase order was made, and the time at which the material will be delivered. These delays can occur if the contractor needs a large quantity of material that the supplier is not able to produce at that time or by any other factors beyond his control. Chan (2002) noted that the project manager should always consider that procurement of materials is a potential cause for delay. The management of Construction processes to reduce, reuse, recycle and effectively dispose of wastes has a serious bearing on the final cost, quality, time and impact of the project on the environment. (Dania, 2007)

The goal of materials management is to ensure that construction materials are available at their point of use when needed. The materials management system attempts to ensure that the right quality and quantity of materials are appropriately selected, purchased, delivered and handled on site in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost, (khyomesh and chetna 2011). The scope of materials waste is vast, and this waste occurs in the industry irrespective of the size of the building firm, instructions about handling, storage and stacking are not provided with the goods or sent in advance to the site (Abdulazeez, 2000).

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AN EVALUATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING MATERIALS MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION SITE, A CASE STUDY OF IMO STATE

A STUDY OF PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS OF TIMBER AS EXTERNAL MATERIAL IN BUILDING PRODUCTION IN HOT CLIMATE REGION

A STUDY OF PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS OF TIMBER AS EXTERNAL MATERIAL IN BUILDING PRODUCTION IN HOT CLIMATE REGION

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Timber an external material in building production simply means using timber on the external part of the building such as timber work covering, timber external walls, and timber external windows, doors and frames.

Timber use practices in building production industry is endowed with a variety of tree species in her nature forests and in recent years there has been an increase in the establishment of exotic trees species such as pine and eucalyptus on plantations. Despite the abundance of wood resources, wood has been under-utilized with a view that it is material to be avoided due to its perceived unreliability, variability and unknown properties.

Generally, timber research has been academic and has concentrated on a few tree species, resources have not explored the key indicators of wood strength such as bending stiffness and bending strength, they have concentrated on density which has been reported as poor surrogate strength. This is purely the reason timber users cannot accept lesser-known timber. Limited studies have been done to predict the allowance load from bad deflection relationship. This is probably the reason timber users prefer timber with proven track record, a practice which unfortunately exerts pressure on well-known timber species leading to their building environment coupled with population growth and dwindling wood resources globally necessitates research into optional use of multiple trees species with quality control procedures.

The aim of the study was to examine timber use practices with emphasis on analysing weakness and strength in the application of wood as an external material in building.

Timber is a cellular material consisting of minute cell called fibre or trenched which have inter-communicating pits or values that allow water and solutions to be conducted throughout the structure.

The word timber described wood, which has been cut for use in building. Timber has many advantages as a building material. It is high weight material that is easy to cut, shape and join by relatively cheap and simple hand or power operated tools in the production of timber. Timber is used all parts of building such as farm work, doors and windows, frames, timber, wall plates, floors and also in roof carcass

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A STUDY OF PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS OF TIMBER AS EXTERNAL MATERIAL IN BUILDING PRODUCTION IN HOT CLIMATE REGION