In February 2012, a building collapsed while under construction in Mwiki,Kasarani.
Following a visit to the site, the causes can be deduced as follows:
http://www.a4architect.com/wp-c...s/2012/02/Photo04781.jpg1. Lack of proper consultancy from the design team. Local Authority bye-laws require that any site in construction should display publicly the name of the Architect, Engineer, Contractor and Owner at the plot entrance. This was not done. This means that if the owner got approval to construct from the local authority, he opted not to display the project team names .This happens in most projects whereby the owner does not employ and maintain the relevant consultants during the construction period.
Buildings without this public display of consultants in most cases are not designed and supervised by registered Architects and Engineers, hence posing a risk to the general populace in-case of collapse.
Where there is a public display of the Architect, Engineer and Contractor, they tend to naturally make sure nothing goes wrong since the responsibility lies with them.
Solution.
Local Authorities do not have the capacity to police and make sure all sites display this. The best solution for them is to embrace online portal solutions such as
http://www.a4architect.com/submit-drawings/
This ensures that once construction commences, the owner is required to erect the billboard display of consultants and contractor, take a picture/video and upload to the specific building plan approval page which displays a log of events from date of approval, all through to the current building status. This way, minimal personnel stationed at the Local authority offices can easily visit the web portal, check for updated billboard images and give their comments. In some instances, the bill board displays have unregistered consultants and contractors hence not effective.
Spacing of Columns.
From the pictures, it’s rather obvious to someone in the buildings industry that something was not right in the way the columns were spaced. Towards the far end, columns are spaces 2 to 3 meters apart, which is too close. This is the area that was left intact. This is over-design of structural capacity. Towards the area that collapse, i.e. the front side, the columns are spaces 6 to 8 meters apart. This is under-design of structural capability.
Read more here
http://www.a4architect.com/topi...and-how-to-prevent-this/http://www.a4architect.c...and-how-to-prevent-this/As Iron Sharpens Iron, So one Man Sharpens Another.