‘Engage professionals when putting up buildings’

Prospective owners of multi-storey buildings have been advised to seek the services of professional engineers and architects before putting up their structures.

According to the National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Brigadier General Francis Vib-Sanziri, that would ensure the safety of the users of such buildings.

He gave the advice at a press conference held in Accra yesterday to address the spate of collapsing buildings in the country and its accompanying loss of lives.

In attendance were some members of the Technical Advisory Committee of NADMO.

Building collapse

Brigadier Vib-Sanziri said in the last three years, the country had experienced the collapse of buildings which were in use.

That, he said, included the Melcom Building at Achimota which claimed 14 lives and injured 67 others on November 7, 2012; and the collapse of a one-storey residential apartment with 43 occupants at Bubuashie, Ayigbe Town on July 2, 2014 which fortunately claimed no life.

Others were the collapse of a building at Cantonments on December 7, 2015 where 12 people were rescued with injuries and in Ablekuma on June 4, 2015 where a residential apartment also collapsed. The four occupants of the building were, however, rescued.

Brigadier Vib-Sanziri said NADMO had also cited the collapse of buildings under construction which included an uncompleted five-storey building at Nii Boye Town on March 13, 2014, where one person died and two people were rescued with various degrees of injury.

Another, he said, occurred on June 25, 2015 at Weija where a three-storey building under construction collapsed and injured eight out of the 18 people rescued while at East Cantonments, a three-storey building collapsed and killed three people and injured 19 others on July 25, 2015.

Improve engineering works

Brigadier Vib-Sanziri stressed that the causes of building collapse could be minimised considerably by improving on engineering designs and works, engaging qualified personnel, the use of appropriate engineering technology and standard materials for construction.

He said lightly loaded structures such as one and two-storey buildings must adhere to the building guide formulated by NADMO while building materials used for construction must conform to Ghanaian standards.

Make requests

On public user facilities, Brigadier Vib-Sanziri urged users to request certification for the design and construction from owners of the building, adding that where it was not possible to obtain such certification, an audit of the building by a professional engineer should be made before it is rented or sold.

Additionally, he said for public buildings, it was important for owners to display certification from professional engineers at the entrance of the building to reassure persons using the building of its safety.

That, he said, would encourage other developers to use appropriate personnel when constructing buildings.

Brigadier Vib-Sanziri also urged the public to consult structural engineers for an assessment of all cracks in buildings which may be indicative of impending structural failure.