Builders beware: N150 per block is inferior.

This was the reaction of Dr. Joseph Odumodu, Director General, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, to barrel of questions on collapsed buildings.

"If you want to build a residential or commercial house, you had better mould your own blocks rather than buy from moulders. And when moulding, use one bag of cement for 30 blocks instead of 45 to 60 blocks.”

Questions were fired at him by stakeholders after his presentation on ‘Global Standards in local production,’during the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment workshop for Business Editors and Correspondents.

“Each time building collapses in Lagos, Abuja or other parts of the country, Nigerians are quick to blame the agency not to have done its work, but SON is not to be blamed,” said Odumodu.

He narrated the story of a Nigerian businessman who sells iron- rods, one of the raw materials for building houses.   “When this man wanted to build his own house, he went to his fellow in the business to buy the iron-rods.”

The audience busted into laughter; they got the sense of what the director general was saying.  The man was selling inferior iron-rods to unsuspecting builders.

He doesn’t want his own building to collapse; hence he bought the genuine ones from his fellow dealer.“Building collapse is a sad commentary on our country and it cast aspersion on the regulatory agency,” said Odumodu.

According to him, tests carried out by the agency’s officers at the sites of collapse building, reealed that inferior block and reinforcement steel bars were used in the construction, especially commercial buildings.

“The fact is, any block, whether it is nine or six inch sold for N150 per one by block makers  is inferior while, quality blocks cost N250 and above,” he stated. Earlier in Lagos, at a parley with operators in the block industry, Odumodu said: “We are set to sanitise the sector through the application of Nigeria Industrial Standards for building and construction Industry and we want to carry everyone along.

”Every block moulder must be a registered member of Moulders Association or we won’t allow you to operate, and henceforth we would monitor the ratio of every input vis – a – vis sand, cement and other raw materials.

Dr. Samuel Ortom, Minister of State for Industry and Trade, said “Uses of inferior blocks and concrete have resulted in colossal untimely death and destruction of property.

He declared that hence, federal government has ordered certification of blocks and concrete sector of the economy by Standards Organisation of Nigeria under its Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme, MANCAP, for local manufacturers.

This is to checkmate incessant building collapse in the country. All sandcrete block moulds must be certified under MANCAP.

“Only those who are dully certified will be allowed to remain in business from next year,” he warned.

Arch Abimbola Animasaun, general manager Lagos State Building Control Agency, she urged people in the business not to compromise quality for the sake of profit making.

“We must not allow building collapse to be a clog in the wheel of progress.  Building collapse is a global and national tragedy; in Lagos, it is one too many as it occurs 15 times in a month compared to the UK once in 16 years, “she stated.

Kunle Awobodu, National President, Building Collapse Guild, called for effective policing of moulders noting that regulation and Task Force notwithstanding, some members will still not comply with standards.