Chairman of Failed Structure Investigation Penal in Imo State, Kingsley Onwubiko, has said professional supervision on the usage of standard materials and tested construction methods are critical to durability of building structures.
Mr Onwubiko, a builder himself, disclosed this in Enugu on Thursday.
“Without adequate professional supervision, contractors can engage in sharp practices. Sometimes specified materials are substituted for sub-standard ones.
“They do this in order to maximise profit from the project,’’ Mr Onwubiko, who is a civil engineer,” said.
According to him, buildings fail due to the use of sub-standard materials and adoption of untested construction methods aside from poor concrete mixes, premature removal of frameworks and general poor workmanship.
Mr Onwubiko stressed the need to avert structural failures of buildings through the use of steel reinforcement bars that had undergone tensile strength tests to determine their standard and strength.
“It is common that most contracts are first awarded to businessmen who front for politicians.
“The practice is that the businessman gets the contract and sells it to an incompetent contractor known to them without following the normal contract procedures and without investigating the competency of the contractor.
“The result is shoddy performance, which can lead to building collapse,’’ he added.
NAN
