The Lagos government on Thursday appealed to artisans, developers, and built environment professionals to support initiatives to reduce building collapse.

Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) general manager Gbolahan Oki made the appeal at a two-day workshop organised by the agency in Oregun, Lagos.

Mr Oki said experts had been searching for solutions, but collaboration between the government and stakeholders was important “in order to ensure that building collapse was reduced to its barest minimum.”

According to him, the core problem of building collapse is artisans’ contravention of building construction laws. He said the government could not do it alone hence the call for joint efforts in curbing the menace to save lives and prevent loss of investments.

“We realise that in construction, the welder, bricklayers, engineers and every other stakeholder are important. That is why we are sitting here to discuss how to move the construction world forward,” stated Mr Oki. “Building collapse is beyond the issue of architect or welder, but we need to address it collectively. The core problem is the attitude problem.”

The LASBCA general manager said most artisans or developers did not obey the government’s directives on building construction resulting in rising cases of building collapse.

“Mistakes in buildings are not something you can easily say you want to correct or go back to change. This is why developers need to pay attention to ensuring that we build the right way. One of the ways to end building collapse is to ensure that the agency and artisans put us on our toes to ensure that we do the right thing always,” a developer, Valentina Olalade, said.

Also, a Real Estate Developers Association member, Kabiru Olaniyinka, urged stakeholders in the building and construction industry to strictly adhere to LASBCA’s directives.

(NAN)