Bothered by the incessant cases of building collapse across the country, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria says it is now set to storm construction sites across the country to inspect the standard of building materials and compliance with building code.

The Director-General of the organisation, Osita Aboloma, said this in Abeokuta on Thursday during a stakeholders’ meeting on effective implementation of standards on building materials in Nigeria.

The SON boss noted that the incessant building collapse in the country posed a threat to its socio-economic development as many lives, and investment had been lost over the years.

He said the situation had become worrisome which gave rise to the stakeholders’ meeting where block moulders, manufacturers of building materials and policy makers among others were all in attendance.

He said, though, sometimes building collapse might not be due to substandard materials, the incompetence of other layers of professionals handling such building project might be responsible.

He said, “There are specifications for the materials to be used either in building construction or road construction. There is the Nigeria building code.

” It only happens that some people are not following the specifications. Some buy materials because they are cheap and not because they met required specifications. And this has led to building collapse.

“From now on, officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria will be paying unscheduled visits to building construction sites to check if materials being used are standard or substandard.

“Once, we discover that they are substandard, we will seal the site immediately.”

PUNCH