It is recommended that the public request for certification for building design and construction from home owners when renting or buying buildings, the National Disaster Management Organisation(NADMO) has indicated.
Brigadier General Francis Vib Sanziri, Acting National Coordinator of the NADMO says landlords are often not adhering to standards and professionalism and has called on the public to make sure they fall on professional engineers to audit buildings thoroughly before they make any decision to buy or rent them.
He revealed that all the buildings that collapsed from 2012 to date were as a result of neglect of laid down building procedures and regulations.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on the recent collapse of buildings in the country, he said materials used for construction must meet the Ghanaian standards, especially in the selection of the appropriate iron rods for specific buildings.
The collapses, he says mainly happen as a result of foundation failure; poor designs, which includes inadequate structural design, inadequate architectural design, lack of inadequate geo-technical input, poor soil and site investigation, sub-standard detailing; poor construction management, use of unqualified or unskilled building personnel for the design.
Brig. Gen. Sanziri reiterated that more high rise buildings in the capital, Accra are not safe, adding that there is a possibility that more buildings will collapse if no urgent action is taken.
By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
