Thesis (MArch) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Architecture Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 118-126)

ABSTRACT
The increasing incidence of building collapse in African countries is becoming
alarming and is posing serious challenges to every stakeholder in the building and
construction sector such as; the developers (financers), government, landlords, users,
and building professionals because of the implications. Research has shown that
Africa is trying to achieve adequate housing for its growing population. In order for
this housing goal to be achieved, the problem of building collapse needs to be tackled
first.
Therefore, this thesis focuses on investigating possible causes of building collapse in
Africa, exclusively in five different regions of the continent, namely; East Africa,
West Africa, Central, South, and North Africa to offer solutions to the growing
problem of building collapse. The data in this research was limited to a timeline of
2006 to 2020. A country was selected from each of the regions as a case study. Each
of these countries has the most adverse effect of building collapse in the regions.
Quantitative data were collected from relevant literature reviews and examined
between countries. While the quantitative data was the numerical information
collected on each specific case study of building collapse in the selected country of
analysis.
This gave insight into the cases of building collapse in these regions, which allowed
for cross-comparison between regions to determine if building collapses were caused
by the same problems or not throughout the continent of Africa. Factors such as
topography, building height, building material, climatic conditions, and building
structure, were taken into account within this analysis to create a further
understanding of building collapse causes in African countries.
Analysis from the research shows that the main causes of building collapse in
African countries are the use of unqualified construction workers and architects, use
of weak building materials, corruption, and lack of care from the officials that are
supposed to enforce building policies among many others. The research indicates
that despite the many causes of building collapse in these different African regions,
the main reason for building collapse comes down to structural failure as a result of
negligence. Everyone in the building sector plays a role in constructing weak
buildings, to begin with. These buildings inevitably fail, some even during
construction. On this basis, it is recommended that the government and the building
sector work together to ensure that the buildings constructed are robust. It is only
then that the problem of building collapse can be tackled and the dream of acquiring
ample housing achieved in Africa.
Keywords: Buildings, Construction, Building collapse, African countries, Causes,
Impacts, Reasons, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, South
Africa