WHAT CAUSES THE BUILDING COLLAPSE IN KENYA?

 Have you been wondering why there have been high cases of building collapse? I would like to discuss some of the leading causes.

1. Weak Foundations

You may suspect that structures in your home have foundation problems and you are considering the cost of foundation repair, but you also don't know what caused the concrete foundation to fail. Let's look at some of the causes of weak foundations.

• Poor soil conditions
• Poor drainage and standing water 
• Plumbing problems can create long-term foundation damage.
• Faulty construction
• Landscaping near a building structure 

• 2 Poor building materials

The Kenyan market is full of counterfeit products, and the construction industry could be more exceptional if it gets some of these fake products. These materials are usually weak and thus not able to support a building. Contractors may be lured by these counterfeiters into signing fake certificates and end up buying these products and a lower price, to cut costs. Other reasons include the use of scrap metals instead of steel, low-quality stones, and the use of incorrect concrete ratios. These practices result in weak buildings, which is a very dangerous death trap.

3. Natural disasters

Natural disasters such as storms and earthquakes are unavoidable and due to this, buildings should be constructed with reasonable protections to withstand high winds, floods, and more.  Newly built buildings along the coast must meet additional building codes, such as being elevated to protect against flooding.

Since we cannot control nature, contractors, building owners, and other relevant bodies are expected to take reasonable measures to protect buildings against potential damage and failure

4. Corrosion.

Corrosion is a common problem in coastal regions, it is caused by high chloride levels and salt which can cause the materials to corrode and weaken. A building should be constructed with corrosion-resistant metals or metals that have been specially treated and coated to be corrosion-resistant. Buildings should be regularly reviewed for any signs of corrosion. 

If left untreated, corrosion can weaken cross-beam reinforcements and cause structural failure.

 

5. Failure to perform strength tests

Strength tests should be conducted throughout a building's construction. Tests such as load testing, help. l to assess how much weight a structure can safely support without causing cracks and other forms of damage.

  Concrete can be tested by the use of the rebound hammer. After the concrete is struck using the hammer, the rebound helps to determine how much energy the concrete is absorbing. This test is carried out to determine how much weight the structure can carry.

Concrete can also be tested by a penetration test, which measures the strength based on how easily a foreign object can penetrate its surface.

Ultrasonic pulse velocity can be used to detect cracks and other forms of damage in concrete.

6. Overloading

Self-weight of a building is the weight of the building and the weight of the stationary objects accommodated in the building. Unassessed changes in occupancy rates may lead to structural failure. When planning a building, the design load range of the building should be higher than the actual load range, to avoid failure in the future.

 Stability and Sustainability should be put into consideration. Stability is the ability to withstand various loads, displacements, and deflections that may lead to building collapse. Sustainability depends on factors such as; the building type and load distribution, the shape and size, and the materials used in the construction. LEARN MORE

In conclusion, we should learn from the effects and the failures that keep on occurring instead of waiting to make the same mistakes over and over again.  If we take the causes discussed above seriously, the risks of houses collapsing will reduce.