Why building collapse in kampala

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TOPIC: CAUSES OF COLLAPSING BUILDINGS IN UGANDA

THESIS: Although buildings are continuously being built in town, many are also continuously falling.

OUT LINE

I. Aspects of collapsing buildings in Uganda.

A. Collapsing of buildings refers to the falling down of both finished and unfinished buildings.

B. In only 2009, about 4 large buildings in Kampala collapsed killing over 50 people and injuring many others since then, the number of collapsing buildings is just rising.

II. Causes of collapsing buildings in Uganda.

A. Poor payment of workers.

B. Use of sub-standard building materials.

C. Inexperienced workers.

D. Rush work.

E. Boycotting professionals.

F. Bad designs.

G. Foundation Failure.

H. Extraordinary Loads.

III. Recommendations

A. Payment of workers well and on time

B. Inspection of sites by workers.

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C. Contracting of licensed workers.

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Although buildings are continuously being built in town, many are also continuously falling. Over the last 10 years, the incidence of building collapse in Uganda has become so alarming and does not show any sign of abating. a collapsing of buildings refers to the falling down of both finished and unfinished buildings. Each collapse carries

along with it tremendous effects that cannot be easily forgotten by any of its victim. These include loss of human lives, economic wastage in terms of loss of

properties, jobs, incomes, loss of trust, dignity and exasperation of crises among the stake holders and environmental disaster. It can be rightly said that any pursuit of

human endeavor has its cost, but the cost being paid in the Ugandan building industry cannot be justified. The fact that Uganda is undergoing a tremendous transformation in the built environment cannot be over emphasized. This is in line with the growth that is being experience in the infrastructural and building industries all over the world for the effects of technological breakthroughs and consequently the ICT flattened

world.

In only 2009, about 4 large buildings in Kampala collapsed killing over 50 people and injuring many others since then, the number of collapsing buildings is just rising. But experiencing negative trends in the Ugandan building industries while other parts of the world are experiencing total improvements brings to fore the need to come out boldly

and confront this ugly situation. The world today is facing a lot of other more serious man-made and natural crises such as global climate change which requires greater

preparedness than the level on which we are standing today. For these facts, this following are some of the causes of building collapse in Uganda today.

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Causes of collapsing buildings in Uganda

The first problem is boycotting the professionals .This issue has been over flogged both in print media (monitor.co.ug) and electronic media but the same problem still persists, many good engineers are being under looked and times, in experienced people are contracted either on religious or tribal back ground and at times these are eggheads that believes they know all and are not ready to take advice from a colleague. There are known cases like that that has turned awry, the big school building that collapsed in Ntinda was handled by such professionals.

The problem of contracting contractors who tend to cut corners. Contractors trying to make gains at the expense and lives of the users of the building are another

problem that has to be tackled. Many construction companies tend to renovate or construct parts or the whole building while the users are in, this puts both the lives of the

contractors and the users at risk as anything can go wrong any time. This has also resulted into several incidences of building collapse

Human activities on buildings may also result into collapsing of buildings. As insignificant human weight may seem to be, the moving up and down of the live loads

and dead load contributes overtime in no small measure in wearing down the building. It will take long time though, but houses also expires, and in the case of the types of

buildings like the bungalows we have in Uganda, there lifespan is shorter than others in civilized world, this implies that our building need to be frequently renovated and where necessary demolished and reconstructed to avoid any loss of property or human life in case of building collapse Inadequate foundation .This is the most important part of a

building even an excellently designed and constructed structure will not stand on a bad foundation. Although the structure will carry its loads, the earth beneath it may not;

unfortunately a lot of people are not giving adequate monitoring to this and is causing more problems. A registered Structural Engineer is very important to you if you are

planning on building a strong and solid multistory building. Many buildings in Kampala lack satisfactory foundations which is a threat to there in habitants and the passers by.

According to Monitor.co.ug, the NSSF building collapsed because it had a substandard foundation

Aging of buildings is one of the factors that can result into the collapsing of buildings .Many people do not know that buildings also have their life span most of the

building in Bwaise a suburb in Kampala have spent 25 years and above, despite that they are of shallow foundation. As you lay your bed, so you’ll lie on it but this has not raised any concern to their occupants even though they need to be renovated this is one of the

factors which have resulted into the numerous collapse of buildings in town. And if this is to be solved, many buildings in Uganda have to be demolished to meet building standards

which is actually a dream

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Most of the buildings in Uganda are poorly or badly designed. Bad design does not mean only errors of computation, but a failure to take into account the loads the

structure will be called upon to carry, erroneous theories, reliance on inaccurate data, ignorance of the effects of repeated or impulsive stresses, and improper choice of

materials or misunderstanding of their properties. The engineer is responsible for these failures, which are created at the drawing board and if these bad designs are not quickly

realized and rectified, they surely at one time affect the building and the end result will be falling down

Faulty construction has been the most important cause of structural failure. The engineer is also at fault here, if inspection has been lax. This includes the use of salty

sand to make concrete, the substitution of inferior steel for that specified, bad riveting or even improper tightening torque of nuts, excessive use of the drift pin to make holes line

up, bad welds, and other practices well known to the construction worker.

Most buildings in Uganda were built without putting extra ordinary loads in consideration. Extraordinary loads are often natural, such as repeated heavy rain falls, or the shaking of an earthquake, or the winds. A building that is intended to stand for some

years should be able to meet these challenges. A flimsy flexible structure may avoid destruction in an earthquake, while a solid masonry building would be destroyed.

Before putting a building in place unexpected failure modes have to be put in consideration. Unexpected failure modes are the most complex of the reasons for collapse, and we have recently had a good example. Any new type of structure is

subject to unexpected failure, until its properties are well understood.

Most of the buildings in Uganda have no plans while others tend to use in approved plans. This poses a high possibility of building collapsing as most are built in such a way that they cannot stand the test of time or the weather adversities. Many building collapse

in the country and when it comes to checking out their plans, they are usually no where to be seen

Rapid construction of buildings can also cause building failures. Many large buildings in Uganda especially in the central district Kampala have been built in less than a year! This is not technically allowed but people do it freely with out minding about people’s

lives. Buildings of such type usually collapse half way or wholly and this is very usual in town. According to Male Fred one of the city traders ,he says that he sees a new building

almost every week in Kampala and that in a period of about two weeks, people are already transacting business in it. Such buildings are always at high risk of collapsing.

Congestion of buildings in town can also result into collapse of some buildings as some will inflict force onto others resulting into weak points which are the major causes

of building collapse in such cases

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The use of substandard materials of construction is one of the major causes of structural failures. Most contractors tend to use substandard materials like iron bars and

cement. This imposes a threat as the used substandard materials can deform any time putting the lives of the people in the building and their properties at risk. According the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, most contractors use products from uncertified

producers which puts the

Construction of buildings in wetlands can also lead to the collapse of buildings. Most flats built in Kampala especially are in wetlands! How much these buildings might

be built with the right quantities of materials, these buildings at one time will have to collapse because basically they were built in a water logged environment yet they support

a lot of weight and at times they might even develop cracks which eventually cause the buildings to fall apart resulting into both financial and life loss.

Unstable soil conditions in the country have also lead to the collapse of buildings. Some regions in Uganda experience land slides, this subjects the buildings in such areas to collapse leading to deaths and destruction of property for example the incidences in Eastern Uganda were several lives have been claimed and several buildings destroyed

Poor construction techniques of construction are also a factor leading to the collapse of buildings. Contractors tend to use old fashioned methods of construction

Delay of construction also can lead to the collapse of buildings. Most building owners in Uganda face a problem of inadequate funds there by suspending construction this then exposes the building to many factors like heavy rainfall which can lead to collapse of the building

Low payments of workers can also lead can at extent also lead to the collapse of buildings. Whenever workers are not paid well or not paid in time, they tend to do work in a very unpleasant reluctant way and for the case of buildings; this greatly puts them at the risk of collapsing as the workers were not interested in what they were doing. Male, Fred called this “reduced acumen to work” and in fact I agree with him because no man can work for free in this Uganda of today

High levels of corruption within government construction agencies and amongst contractors also lead to collapse of buildings in one way or the other. Many buildings are always built in wrong places and on top of that they are poorly built but the concerned officials are not saying anything about it and even though they do, it only lasts for a very short time and in most cases nothing is done. This puts lives of many innocent Ugandans who work from these buildings at risk. This actually one of the reasons as to why many buildings in town tend to collapse expectedly and then after nothing is done. According to Male, Fred, he referred this to this as treason!

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Workers tend to steal building materials during construction. Due to the poor pays and delayed payments, workers tend to steal construction materials such as cement, iron bars and at some extent even sand this leads to use of wrong measurements during constructions and the result is

Poor land survey can also technically lead to building collapse. Many building owners tend not to employ surveyors and in most cases they see no value of them. This results into construction of buildings on almost every site that building owners feel like. This is technically not allowed as buildings can be placed in wrong places

Actually buildings will continue falling even though strict measures are put in place but in order to minimize such accidents, some precautions like payment of workers well and on time, contracting of licensed contractor and inspection of all construction sites by the officials have to be put in place.

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References

Monitor News paper on the web. Why buildings are collapsing in kampala.20/10/2011, from World Wide Web http://www.monitor.co.ug

Male, Fred. Personal correspondent. 20/10/2011

Contractor’s online magazine. Causes of building collapse.21/10/2011, from http://www.mysite.edu and http://www.osha.europa.eu

Kasumba, Mark. Why buildings collapse in uganda.20/10/2011, from World Wide Web http://www.newvision.co.ug

Kizito, Timothy. Personal correspondent. 22/10/2011.

Ssemambo, Saxon. Personal correspondent.23/10/2011