The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has linked the patronage of substandard building materials and poor structural design to building collapses in the country.

Among SON’s findings are poor structural designs; quackery and unprofessionalism, inadequate soil testing, poor construction practices and procedures. It includes unapproved construction, wrong demolition process, lack of maintenance, negligence; use of substandard materials (steel reinforcement bars); poor drainage around the collapsed buildings.

The Director General, Mallam Farouk Salim, who spoke to media personnel in Lagos, said the organisation had visited sites, collected samples, analysed in different laboratories and submitted findings to the appropriate authority or Investigative Panel set up by the State Government where the incident occurred for further actions.

Salim, who lamented the frequent loss of lives, jobs, finance and environmental degradation, noted that Section 5(1)(a) of the SON ACT NO. 14 of 2015 empower the organisation to organise tests and do everything necessary to ensure compliance with standards designated and approved by the SON Council.

He said measures adopted to ensure compliance with approved standards in the building industry are elaboration of over 168 standards and codes of practice for the building and construction industry; conformity assessment programmes for locally manufactured and imported products; creation of the National Standardisation and Quality Assurance Committee for the building and construction industry, as well as testing and laboratory services.

According to him, if these measures are implemented, the organisation will ensure that all buildings in the country are safe, structurally sound, built to withstand the various environmental and usage conditions they may face.
He also acknowledged the need to continually upgrade the regulatory strategies for the construction industry to ensure the safety of Nigerians.

“The mission of attaining a safe environment for the citizens through standardisation and quality assurance is unending and SON is working tirelessly, in collaboration with other relevant federal and state sector regulators, which include; the Federal Ministry of Works, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN, Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) and Raw Materials, Research and Development Council (RMRDC), to address this menace,” Salim said.

He urged citizens to imbibe and promote voluntary compliance to standards as is done in other parts of the world.

“Authorities responsible for granting building approvals must ensure compliance with all relevant requirements, processes, and procedures. Stiffer penalties must be meted on offenders and those complicit in building collapse,” he said.

While noting that the safety and well-being of Nigerians remain a top priority for the SON, Salim further urged the public to report any suspected cases of using substandard materials or poor construction practices to the organisation through any of their state offices including the Federal Capital Territory, for prompt action.

He called on all stakeholders to join the unending struggle towards ensuring the safety of lives and properties, reassuring Nigerians of SON’s commitment to improve life through standards and quality assurance to guarantee a safe, secure, and prosperous nation.