NIOB immortalizes victims of Ita-Faaji building collapse, declares March 13 ‘Builders Day’

0
910

Uba Group

BY FRANCIS KADIRI

The Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) on Tuesday said it has set aside 13th March as day to unsettle the conscience of society over the need to embrace responsible conduct in the production of buildings in the country, stating that the innocent school children who died in the avoidable Ita-Faaji building collapse will continue to be remembered by the institute in good faith that their avoidable deaths, will serve as a turning point from evil in the country’s national life.

President of the Institute, Professor Yohana Izam, who made the declaration during the 3rd anniversary commemoration of Builders Day, in Abuja, on Tuesday, lamented the ugly incident, saying: “It is now three years since the collapse of a five-storey residential building at 63, Massey Street lta-Faaji, Lagos Island on the 13th March 2019. Three years have passed in which a great deal has happened both in our personal lives and the environment around us, yet, the calamitous collapse at Ita-Faaji still feels like yesterday as we recollect with shock, the loss of 20 school children who were victims of a reckless conversion of a residential development to a school building eliciting worldwide condemnation.”

He said the gory pictures of children scampering for life and the awful rubble that resulted from a once flourishing building edifice remains a huge devastation to not only builders (who count their joy in the numbers of buildings standing) but also to the entire humanity whose future have been partly extinguished by the loss of precious young gems.

He explained that the choice of 13th March of every year by Nigerian Builders to commemorate Builders Day is significant not because the collapse of the building at Ita-Faaji was exceptional, but because of the loss of unquantifiable potentials of greatness that the demised children represent.

He said their deaths has become a platform for reflection and activism around the dangers of building collapse. According to Izam, “the Ita-Faaji tragedy of 2019 signposts the great need for renewal and reinforcements in our urban development strategies which covers planning, design, construction, occupancy and post occupancy circles in the life of buildings.”

Izam, who expressed confidence that the 9th National Assembly will pass the National Building Code, said “after Ita-Faaji, the drama of collapse of buildings during and after construction across the national landscape has continued to remain an embarrassment to the building profession which is expected to provide the nation with tested and proven technologies and skills for the creation of building stock which is key to capital asset creation and welfare of citizens.

“Ita-Faaji as well provides platform to continually interrogate the invasion of the national building industry space by the activities of quacks, the unacceptable levels of substandard materials and components, and often times, inadequacy of regulatory frameworks for building development in the country.

“This is so pervasive to the extent that a building collapse risk has gradually become synonymous with many building development initiatives across the length and breath of the country.”

He said the theme for NIOB Year 2022 annual commemoration, “Building with Integrity” is deliberately orchestrated to initiate a paradigm shift from “collapse” to “integrity,” stating that the objective is to create awareness on the need for stakeholders to sustain the development of frameworks and regulations for building process control and urban development practices as a sine-quanon for building with integrity.

While saying that building control is innovative, he noted that it must go beyond cosmetic enforcement of codes and regulations, adding that it must distinguish and enthrone the roles of professional actors in building project delivery.

In this regards, innovative building control has to be comprehensive by attending to the needs of the building project life cycle to create integrity in planning, design, construction, occupancy and post occupancy phases.

“May I use the occasion of the third anniversary of the Builders Day to note with delight that since Ita-Faaji 2019, the Lagos State Government has stipulated in its Building Regulations of 2019, that building construction sites across Lagos State should be managed by professional/registered Builders.”

Describing the policy as “integrity-driven,” he commended the building regulation of Lagos State, and called on other states to take a clue from the effort.

“I am also pleased to note a good number of states that are now towing the path of integrity. The Abia Town Planning, Development Control Regulations of 2021 now gives sole responsibility of production management to Professional Builders as well as mandatory requirement of builders’ documents for all buildings up to 3 storeys and above. Ogun state has also in 2020 passed into law the Ogun State Building Production Regulation. The integrity paths in Ogun State, recognize the use of certified professionals and artisans, and also Construction Programme, Quality Management Plan, Health and Safety Plan as contract documents to be prepared by Registered Builders. In Adamawa the State Government has also passed the Urban and Regional Planning law of 2010 with provisions for use of Builder’s documents in building contracts.”

He said after the collapse of an 8 storey building in Owerri in which over 15 people lost their lives, the work of the technical committee set up by the State Government which included C. Collins and Dr C.C Eze reached considerable milestones on approval of Builders documents at the level of Owerri Capital Development Authority, but yet to fully deliver on improved state-wide regulations.

Discussing the situation at the FCT, Abuja, Prof Izam said: “It is significant to note that the practice of Builders document has been mainstreamed into development control process; the ultimate will however be the passage of the building code enforcement law by the National assembly.”

c9dbe106 b34c 44c2 aec6 d2c1b92d821f 1