Expert Says 95% Lagos Houses Are Constructed Without Soil Test 

A construction expert, Dr. Akinsola Olufemi, warned on Wednesday that 95% of structures in Lagos State were built without soil assessments.

News Agency of Nigeria

During a hybrid 2022 Builders’ Business Conference in Ikeja, Olufemi, Director, Applied Research and Technology Innovation (ARTI), Yaba College of Science and Technology (Yabatech), issued the warning.

The occasion’s theme was, “Effective Building Production Management Services: Integration of Construction Programme of Works and Building Construction Methodology in Building Project Delivery in Lagos State”.

The Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Development (NIOB) organised the capacity building event for its members in partnership with Berger Paint Plc.

To avoid building collapse owing to excess weight, the expert emphasised the need of determining the load bearing capability of any soil through testing before to real construction.

“Almost 95 per cent of construction done in Lagos are done without soil test. No matter what you are constructing, do a soil test.

“The significance of soil test is, it lets you know the capacity of the soil and the load it can carry. So that it should not carry more load than it can,’’ he said.

According to Olufemi, a recent study conducted by his team indicated that 80% of Nigerians built their own homes without using the services of skilled developers.

According to him, this resulted in a number of building flaws.

“Construction of property in Nigeria 80 per cent are private individuals which will be their own houses and they don’t have consultants not to talk of engaging in soil investigations,’’ he said.

He said that only a handful of the well-organized major developers conducted soil studies, and that others cut costs by passing off analyses from surrounding project sites as their own to regulators.

“A lot of buildings are collapsing today because we do not do things right in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Construction technique, which was the conference’s emphasis, was a critical feature that all contractors required on site, according to Olufemi, who added that experienced builders must assure compliance.

The expert, who is also the President of the Nigerian Academy of Facility Management, urged for the Lagos State Government’s political will to enforce standards.

Olufemi, who is also the National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Builders in Maintenance and Facility Management, said the country’s outdated tertiary curriculum was recently modified to reflect current building production trends.

Mr Lucky Isename, Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) Lagos branch, said building methodology was one of the four essential aspects for excellent construction.

It was a key feature included in the Builders’ Document, which is captured in Lagos legislation and used by construction experts, according to Isename, therefore the workshop’s concentration on the issue.

Mrs Nike Ajayi, Senior Development Officer, Berger Paint Plc, outlined the advantages of utilising the correct paint specifications while giving a PowerPoint presentation.