Substandard Buildings Should Be Torn Down

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

17 June 2011

Rescue efforts at the collapsed six-storey building in Embakasi’s Pipeline Estate ended yesterday with seven people saved and four bodies found. It is not right that after this, it will be business as usual.

For too long, disasters of collapsed buildings have been followed the errant contractors seeking protection in court against local authorities. Nearly half of the buildings in Nairobi’s Eastlands area are a time bomb for being structurally unsound. Most of the collapsed buildings went up at supersonic speed, defying all civil engineering rules and regulations.

The Institute of Surveyors, the Architectural Association and several professional bodies have issued warnings in the past, but these are usually ignored as construction workers die from one disaster to another. The Nairobi City Council and the Ministry of Housing should now tear down all structures that do not meet the required standards. Developers who take shortcuts should know that it does not pay, by watching their properties pulled down.

Growing demand for housing is not reason enough for unscrupulous property developers to quickly put up storey buildings with poor materials and workmanship. Completed buildings should then be awarded quality certificates before any tenants move in.

In the event of an earthquake, many people are likely to die from the collapsing buildings that would be avoided if the houses were strong enough to withstand shock. Let the Pipeline Estate tragedy be that last that is followed by silence and inaction.

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