By Akintola Omigbodun

The previous week, we noted that two persons, the building contractor and a structural engineer associated with a building which collapsed at Ikotun, were to be investigated as to their roles in the deaths of persons at the building site.

Our first lesson from the incident is that we must recognize that a building contractor has a duty of care with respect to the persons associated with the works at his/her building site in that these persons must be kept out of harm’s way. A complaint that a building contractor has failed in his/her duty of care could involve the civil wrong done to the persons who died in the building as well as a criminal offence for which the state would prosecute. Parts of the building at Ikotun were in full service for residential purposes and thus there were more persons than would normally be present if the only activities at this building were related to construction. It is of course possible to safely construct parts of a building while other parts of the building are in use.

The Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010 created three bodies, namely, the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, the Lagos State Building Control Agency and the Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency. The Planning Permit Authority has a town planner as its Chief Executive whilst the Chief Executive of the Building Control Agency could be an architect, a civil/structural engineer or a builder. We notice that of all the professions mentioned just above, it is only the civil/structural engineers that have been named for investigation by the Coroner.

Currently, when plans are submitted for the grant of a planning permit, the plans are on approval stamped with a warning that the approval of the structural details is not a guarantee of the structural stability of the building when built. Our second lesson is that since the engineers involved in the construction of the building have a responsibility for the structural stability of the building, we should go beyond the warning. We should, in addition, state that the building contractor must before the start of construction engage the services of engineers who would confirm the structural stability of the designs to be built. If after this condition is introduced a building contractor is given defective designs and he/she proceeds to build the defective designs, he/she would have himself/herself to blame.

The Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010 makes reference to defective structures and the powers of the Building Control Agency with respect to such structures. However, there are no provisions for the public to bring defective structures to the notice of the Building Control Agency and to obtain a decision from the Building Control Agency on the reported structure. The work of such bodies as the Building Collapse Prevention Guild is for the public good and such bodies could legitimately bring their concerns to government through the two bodies provided in the law, namely, the Physical Planning and Building Control Agency Appeals Committee and the Technical Advisory Committee on Physical Planning and Building Control.

Government is basically reluctant to have anybody outside government review its executive decisions and this may be largely the reason why these two bodies have not been put into operation. As it is, anyone with a complaint has to appeal to the Governor. I am therefore appealing to Governor Ambode to ensure that the Appeals Committee and the Advisory Committee are put in place at the earliest opportunity once a Commissioner of Physical Planning and Urban Development is appointed.