Lagos govt sends warning to quack building developers, engineers

87D37E8E-B4A5-4BDC-9FA0-D3596A5C25B3

General Manager, Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, Mr Olufunsho Elulade

Engineer Funsho Elulade

By Taiwo Okanlawon

The newly appointed General Manager of the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory, LSMTL, Engineer Funsho Elulade, has said there is a need to review State Building Construction Laws in order to check bad practices in the building construction sector in the State.

Mr. Elulade disclosed this during a media briefing, on Tuesday at the LSMTL head office, Ojodu Berger, Lagos.

According to him, there will be full implementation of the laws that guard against sharp practices in building construction in Lagos.

He said: “I have just been appointed as General Manager of the Lagos State Materials Testing Laboratory and ofcourse, as a civil engineer and a project manager, I will put my professional experiences into making sure this agency is taken to greater height.

“I will use this opportunity to appreciate my predecessor, Dr Afolabi Abiodun Tajudeen, he has done fantastically well, I think what is next for me is to build on the foundation he has left.

o“The primary function of this agency is to have zero-tolerance on building collapse. As a result of that, Our mandate is to carry out tests on buildings and civil engineering and construction materials so that we can confirm the stability, strength, as well as the structural of any edifice.

“I have lot of professional engineers, very diligent, and I think with their cooperation, we can move this agency to another level.

Speaking on some other functions of the agency, Mr. Elulade said part of it is to register all independent testing laboratory in Lagos State and create a register for all material manufacturers, producers, including imported materials.

Related News

“We need to create a database for all producers and manufacturers of construction materials in Lagos. All block moulding factories must be captured. At every stage of any construction, we must carry out tests.”

The new GM also vowed that the State government will henceforth prosecute owners of collapsed buildings as well as quack developers who handle such projects in the State.

He also noted that some laws will be reviewed to aid the implementation of international best practices in the building construction sector.

“Things have changed. Lagos State has become heavily built, and for us to actually realise the importance of this agency, we need to tweak the law slightly.

“While that is in the process, we can still be operating the existing law and one of the things that need to be changed in that law is to allow this agency to carry out NDT (Non destructive test), not just for five years. Look at the building that have been collapsing, these are building built 15 years, 20 years and so on.

“But because of the litigations, we can not do much even when a building is about to collapse. So These are some of the grey areas,” he added.

“Of course, we will apply to the House of Assembly to increase the penalty, not too heavy but at least it should be decent enough, if it not heavy people will just do what they like,” he said.

He advised members of the public to be wary of quacks as it seeks to totally reduce the incidence of building collapse in the state.

Load more