An Assessment Of Causes, Effect And Repair Of Cracks In Building Construction Project

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Buildings are structures, which serve as shelters for man, his properties and activities. They must be properly planned, designed and erected to obtain desired satisfaction from the environment. The factors to be observed in building construction include durability, adequate stability to prevent its failure or discomfort to the users, resistance to weather, fire outbreak and other forms of accidents. The styles of building construction are constantly changing with introduction of new materials and techniques of construction. Consequently, the work involved in the design and construction stages of buildings are largely that of selecting materials, components and structures that will meet the expected building standards and aesthetics on economy basis. Several codes of practice universally accepted are available for the design and construction of buildings and these codes, though foreign, should be followed as a guide to building construction by the building team. A high level of skill is needed in designing and constructing buildings, competence and craftsmanship from the team, which include the Architects, the Engineers or Contractor (Structural, Mechanical and Electrical), and the Local Authority.

In Nigeria like any other countries in the world, cracks in building menace is growing at an alarming rate, seemingly uncontrollable or beyond control. The incessant buildings collapse in Nigeria has become a great concern to all the stakeholders and the professionals in the building industry, government, private developers, clients and users, as well as the residents. Fall out of the author’s concern about the increasing incidents of collapse building nation-wide form the basis for this paper to find out the major causes and probable remedial measures to collapse of buildings in Nigeria. Many lives and properties have been lost in the collapse of buildings mostly in Port Harcourt, Abuja and Imo state respectively. Many property owners have developed high blood pressure and some have been sent to an early grave. According to Windapo (2006) “frequent types of buildings that collapse are residential buildings which are either on two, three or four floors.” According to Dada (2002) “Structural Failure has become recurring decimal, a worrisome menace nightmare and an enduring embarrassment”. The horrifying scene of structural failure is no longer news breaker this time around. Really, incidents of collapsed buildings, collapsed bridges or collapsed structures of various types are not peculiar to Nigeria alone. But the current situation is becoming more rampant and embarrassing, most especially as it relates to Imo state. Unfortunately, there are still a number of buildings of similar circumstances dotting the skyline of many cities in Nigeria.

cracks in building incidence are still regularly occurring despite increasing diffusion of engineering knowledge over the years and this calls for some reexamination of development in building production and control process (Dimuna, 2010). Research was carried out by Bamidele, 2000 and Fadamiro, 2002 on the causes of cracks in building in Nigeria and identified the following five (5) major causes which include; natural phenomenon, design error, procedural error, substandard material, poor workmanship, the lack of maintenance, the abuse of use of building etc.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Research showed that the?substandard material and poor workmanship contribute 45% to the overall causes of cracks in building in Imo state. (Ogunsemi, 2002) added that substandard materials amount to 18.4% of the total cause of cracks in building while poor workmanship amount to 19%. cracks in building can be as a result of some defect in building which are not quickly put in place by the property owner such as; fungus stain and harmful growth, erosion of mortar joints, peeling paint, defective plastered renderings, cracking of walls and tearing walls, defective rainwater goods, decayed floor boards, insect or termite attack, roof defect, dampness penetration through walls, unstable/faulty foundation, poor installation of air-condition units etc. All these defects in building if not properly controlled and maintained, with time can lead to unexpected cracks in building (Gafar, 2004). cracks in building have been a serious problem and concern to the government and professionals in building industry as they have been making efforts in their own ways to reduce this incessant collapse if not totally stopped.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To identify the causes and effects of cracks in building in Imo state.

2. To examine the problems associated with cracks in building in the study area.

3. To trace the past incidence of cracks in building in Imo state and Nigeria at large

4. To examine the efforts of government, professionals and all other stakeholders in eradicating cracks in building in Nigeria.

5. To proffer suitable solution to the problems associated with cracks in building in the study area.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the problems stated, the following are the questions for the study which will serve as guide as the study is meant to solve the problem stated above.

1. What are the causes of cracks in building?

2. Does design/construction problem leads to cracks in building?

3. Does cracks in building have any effect on the economy or property investment?

4. What are the problems of cracks in building?

5. What are the major problems of the past cracks in building in Imo state?

6. How frequent is cracks in building in Imo state?

7. Has government and professionals made any effort to curb the incidence of cracks in building in Nigeria?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Every good research work must have an element of importance to some particular set of people, so as to make the purpose of the research work meaningful. Therefore, this research work is of great importance to the following group of people;

The developers will benefit from this research work as it will show their past mistakes that have led to collapse of buildings and how to improve on it, also it will enable them to know and identify the various causes of cracks in building, the defect, effect and problems of cracks in building and how it can be solved, they will also have an understanding on the importance of following the building code and the professionals that are involve in property development, so as to give their job to the right ones.

The building professionals will be able to improve on their lapses by giving the builder the orientation on the types of material to be use for construction and stop the use of sub-standard materials, that will eventually lead to cracks in building, also they will improve their efforts to site supervision so as to know the quacks on site and the types and quality of materials that are used on sites. The government will definitely benefit greatly from this research if recommendations given thereafter is put in place, in terms of regulating the cost of materials both local and international and implement their rule and laws guiding constructing industry. Also, researchers and students writing on related topics or field of works can use this as their reference.

Finally, the tenants and individuals planning to embark on building construction will be able to know the sub-standard building materials if they go through this research work. They shall be able to identify building with defect and avoid such building for living in order not to waste their lives and property. Therefore, this research work is of great importance to the society as a whole.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will focus on the examination of the problems associated with cracks in building in Imo state. Hence, the scope is therefore narrowed to Imo state, due to the record of cracks in building in the area. As the study will focus on cracks in building problems caused by design, construction, other causes, as well as its effect on property investment. Research questions will be administered through questionnaires to the professional team in the building industry, government parastatals and the real estate developers in with a view to examining its effects in owerri area of Imo state.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

In the course of this research work, few problems surfaced and they are as follows;

1. Time Factor: The research work was combine with school activities and as such, slowed down the study a bit since the study area (Imo state) happens to be a bit far from the school environment.

2. Non-Challant attitude of Respondents: Some respondents took time before they can fill the questionnaire not considering the distance between the school environment and Imo state.