Engineers push for independent teams to audit buildings
Rescuers at the site of a building that collapsed at Embakasi, Nairobi, two weeks ago. File
Engineers have opposed plans by the City Council of Nairobi to assess residential buildings, saying it will not be successful.
The chairman of the Engineers Institute of Kenya, Mr Wanjau Maina, said City Hall had failed to approve and monitor the buildings, leading to some of the collapses that have claimed lives.
Mr Maina said for the exercise to make sense, the city planner had to hire independent assessors.
However, the engineers warned it would be difficult to determine whether a building that is complete and occupied met structural requirements from the foundation.
“It is not possible to determine if the foundation is sound when a building is complete and has people living in it,” said Moses Kanyotu, a structural engineer at Markan Consultants.
Mr Kanyotu said that engineers had presented a proposal to waive the requirement of elevators in buildings with up to seven levels to City Hall in 2005, to allow developers provide low cost housing.
“I am surprised at City Hall’s move yet I know it has been approving highrise buildings with up to seven floors without lifts.” It is possible to install a lift in a complete building without compromising stability, Mr Kanyotu said.
The development comes when a team of assessors assured investors whose buildings met structural requirements and had room for installing elevators will not be demolished.
“Buildings that are structurally sound and have space for installation of lifts will be spared,” said Steven Oundo, the Architectural Association of Kenya chairman.
The latest assessments have been fuelled by recent incidents where two highrise buildings collapsed in Embakasi and Lang’ata killing and injuring people.
A provisional survey revealed that only six out in 10 of new buildings in Nairobi met regulatory approvals.
Mr Oundo added that only developments on road reserves and those that can not be reinforced to enhance safety will be brought down.
Last year, two blocks in Kiambu and another in the city centre collapsed, killing people.
After the recent incidents, the Local Government minister, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, called for an audit of all buildings in residential areas, and directed that those with more than five storeys and without lifts be demolished.
The minister said the assessment would based on professional advice by the Architectural Association of Kenya, whose members will lead the audit.
Due process
Tom Odongo, the director of Planning said City Hall has assembled a team of architects, surveyors and planners to review the criteria for demolition.
“We will not demolish buildings without following the due process that would involve advice from these professionals,” said Mr Odongo.
A consultation between City Hall and developers resolved last week that marking buildings to be demolished stop.
City Hall had identified Kasarani, Umoja, Pipeline, Kayole, Githurai Kahawa West and Ruaka as the estates where the building code and city bylaws were being flouted.
Dealers told Business Daily in Nairobi that it costs about Sh6 million to install a lift.
