Abuja, Sept. 14, 2015 (NAN) The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), on Monday said that its Engineering Regulation and Monitoring (ERM) team, has commenced assessment of the building which collapsed at an Islamic School in Bukuru, Plateau State.

The President of COREN, Mr Kashim Ali, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He was reacting to the collapse of a one-storey building in Abu Naib Islamic School in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government area, Plateau State, where four children were reportedly killed.

Ali said that COREN would only take action after the ERM office in Jos, presents the report of its assessment to the Council.

“We are yet to get a report on the circumstances surrounding the collapse. Our ERM team will go there and look at the situation, then report to the Council.

“Until the report reaches us, we cannot say exactly what happened or the immediate causes of the collapse.

“As it is, it is the builder that is likely to be responsible. We learnt that the building had challenge and the pupils had complained about the condition of the structure.

“We can only blame the government authorities if they were aware but failed to take action,’’ he said.

Ali explained that architects provide the designs for the entire building while the engineer is responsible for the structural, mechanical and electrical aspects of structures that are higher than bungalows.

“Architects do the building designs, but it is the engineer who is responsible for the design and construction of the beams, columns and slabs that would bear the weight of multi-storied structure.

“Most building collapse involves structures that have many stories. Bungalows don’t really need extensive mechanical and electrical engineering input,’’ he added.

Also speaking, an Architect, Mr Yohanna Bawa said that architects could only be held responsible for building collapse, if the individual was the builder or project supervisor for a failed structure.

According to him, the main role of the architect is to provide the design for the building and monitor same to ensure the project adhered to the architectural design.

“An architect can only be held responsible for a building collapse if he functioned as the builder (contractor) or project supervisor.

“At that level you can hold the architect responsible if there is failure in the building.

“The architect that drew the design will function as the project architect to monitor the project to make sure that adherence is made to the architectural design,’’ he said.

He faulted some engineers who are in the habit of encouraging owners of buildings to change the designs originally made by an architect in a bid to cut cost.

“Many engineers encourage the owners to change the designs made by architects, claiming that some aspects of the approved design were not necessary or too costly.

“This has compelled some owners to insist that the architect that prepared the design will be the same person to build the structure, in order to ensure adherence to architectural plan’’, Bawa said. (NAN)

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COREN assessing Bukuru school building collapse