The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE)
says the 21-storey building that recently collapsed in Ikoyi, Lagos state was
originally designed to be six floors.
The structure, which was being developed by Fourscore Homes,
caved in on November 1, leaving over 40 people dead.
Femi Osibona, owner of Fourscore Homes, is one of the 45
persons who have so far been confirmed dead.
In a statement on Tuesday, Kehinde Osifala, NIStructE president,
said the changes made to the project appear to “have been seriously
inadequate”.
“There are clear indications of several design brief changes
on the project and the engineering and management of these changes appear to
have been seriously inadequate,” Osifala said.
“The building that collapsed was initially designed for just
six floors, and later to 12 floors, before this was further changed to 15
floors.
“It could not yet be established the adequacy of any
properly designed and documented further revision to the eventual (and
tragically, final) 21 floors that was being implemented and which collapsed.
“There are also indications that more than two structural
engineering design firms worked on the project at different times.
“The preliminary investigation also revealed some evidence
of structural inadequacy in the construction and that signs of some structural
distress had already started to show within certain elements of the building.
Some remedial measures were already being undertaken to address some of this.
“The method of implementation of this was not in accordance
with sound structural engineering practices.”
The NIStructE president also said lack of proper quality
control during the construction of the building was evident.
“All the above
findings, which are very significant from the structural engineering point of
view, need to be investigated further during the detailed investigation stage
so that all factors related to the cause or causes of the collapse can be truly
established and the appropriate lessons identified and implemented,” he said.
“It is our view that the outcome of our preliminary
investigation will give a general indication of what likely led to the
unfortunate incident.”
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