SON urged to setup modular material testing lab in Onitsha

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) have been urged to set a modular laboratory for testing of construction materials at Onitsha to check the prevalence of substandard building materials in the South East.
Dr Celestine Ezeagu, Senior lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, made the call at a workshop in Awka on Thursday.
Ezeagu was speaking on a topic entitled “Building Collapse in Nigeria” at a workshop organized by SON for stakeholders in the Building Industry.
He pointed out that building collapses were more common in the South East and Anambra in particular than any other part of the country and called urgent steps to curb the trend.
He human factors including no or poor design, no or poor supervision, low quality and substandard product and quackery as some of the major causes of building collapse.
The lecturer also natural factors especially erosion was another cause of collapsed building in the zone due to high number of active erosion sites in the area.
Ezeagu also opined that block molding industry operators should be brought under one body for the purpose of standardizing and regulating their activities as block was major input in the process.
  He said there was need for detailed soil investigation before embarking on building construction irrespective of whether it is a bungalow or high rise buildings.
“In order to arrest completely the factors of substandard materials (steel and other construction materials), SON should as a matter of urgency establish a modular material testing laboratory at Bridge Head, Onitsha  
“This will help certifying the materials before they are distributed to end users and the substandard product are confiscated at the point of entry. and this will also help you to generate the needed revenue to carry out your duties. Conduct of soil test is very essential for all classes of building (Environmental Impact Assessment) for all industrial and commercial buildings and structural analysis must be made mandatory,” he said.
In her lecture, Mrs Nwaoma Olujie, Coordinator of SON in Anambra said the workshop on building collapse was meant to address the menace and proffer lasting solution to addressing them.
 Olujie said SON is playing critical role in the building industry because of the need to ensure standardisation of the material inputs.
She urged participants to ensure that they complied with approved building regulations and tasked that only competent and registered professionals were engaged in building process.
SON urged to setup modular material testing lab in Onitsha SON urged to setup modular material testing lab in Onitsha Reviewed by Unknown on Thursday, March 22, 2018 Rating: 5

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