As part of effort to end building collapse due to structural defects, the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) held its first national virtual workshop from July 15 to 16, 2020, with a focus on addressing the challenge.
The President of NIOB, Kunle Awobodu, in a statement, said the workshop was one of the institute’s practical and proactive steps towards addressing the “unwarranted and embarrassing menace of building collapse in Nigeria.
Awobudu said, “NIOB further calls on the Nigerian government to revive its steel industry for production of standard steel inputs such as reinforcement and steel formworks for construction.”
Participants at the workshop called for more synergy between structural engineers and builders who are responsible for the stability of buildings, and increased collaboration among built environment professionals.
The participants reiterated that registered builders were the professionals empowered by training and law to manage building production processes in Nigeria and thus needed to remain abreast of fundamental principles of mechanics, science and technology and their applications.
The workshop was attended by builders, intending builders, engineers, built environment professionals, technocrats, policy makers and political actors from within and outside Nigeria.
Some former ministers, top government functionaries, political actors and private sector practitioners also attended the workshop.
The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Lagos State Building Control Agency and Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory were among organisations that that were represented at the workshop.
The Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Prof. Kabir Bala, noted that the issue of building collapse in Nigeria continued to be a concern to builders and other professionals thereby underscoring the need to continue to update knowledge in order to fully maintain best practices.
Prof. Bala, who is also the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, commended NIOB and the organisers of the workshop for the high calibre of resource persons.
The resource persons addressed critical knowledge and practice areas in foundation design and construction, structural analysis and design of buildings, software application in the design of building structural system, structural failure in buildings, design of concrete mix and field applications, builders and formwork design in building construction and detailing of structural elements in buildings, including practical experience sharing on building projects.
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