The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, has raised serious concerns over the influx of imported construction materials that fail integrity and quality tests.
The council warned that many products used on building sites across the country do not meet approved engineering specifications.
COREN Registrar, Okorie Uche, revealed this on Friday in Abuja during an interactive meeting with the media and stakeholders on the recent tragic building collapse in Durumi, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, recalls a three-storey building under construction collapsed on May 16, at Durumi 3 Area, near Gudu Market, killing at least five workers and injuring several others.
Uche said investigations and engineering assessments have revealed that several reinforcement bars and other construction materials sold in Nigerian markets fall below the required standards.
He described the trend as a major contributor to recurring structural failures and building collapses nationwide.
Blaming the widespread use of substandard construction materials for recurring structural failures across the country,Uche said, “It is not only in building materials. If you review all the things we are buying, there are often no standardised materials coming in.
“Inflows from China and Malaysia, you know, they try to fake things.”
Citing civil engineering research, he said reinforcement bars sold in many Nigerian markets often fail to meet approved standards, adding, “We construct works with standard specifications, but when most materials are tested, they often fall below the required strength.”
The COREN Registrar said the Durumi collapsed building’s concrete was expected to attain 25 newtons per millimetre square but tested at only 18.
He said professional engineers were expected to conduct quality assessment tests on all construction materials before deployment, but this was rarely done.
He added, “Some developers resist these procedures and simply offload materials on site without testing.
“You may see a reinforcement rod labelled Y-16, but when measured, it is actually Y-14, while those labelled 12 may be 10 or less.”
Uche said the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, has a critical role in ensuring imported construction materials meet required specifications before entering the Nigerian market. NAN.