Strategies for Controlling Cracks in Residential Buildings

Strategies for Controlling Cracks in Residential Buildings

CHAPTER ONE

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to identify strategies for controlling cracks in Niger south senatorial district. Specifically, the study is to;

Determined the conceptual frameworks on cracks in buildings.
Determined the factors that contribute to the causes of cracks in residential buildings in Niger South Senatorial district.
Determine ways of eliminating cracks in residential buildings in Niger South Senatorial district.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Cracks in Building; An overview

Poor and improper building maintenance will definitely will cause more damages and costly repair work if left unattended. Building defects are inevitable aspects of building construction. Defects occur in various forms and to different extent in all types of building irrespective of their age. Cracks can be structural or nonstructural depending upon the location of the crack in the building. Non Structural cracks occur mostly due to internally induced stresses in building material and generally do not affect the safety of structure but develop an anaesthetic appearance and create an impression of faulty construction work. These defects can be seen on the walls of structure in various forms like dampness, paint peeling, cracks. plaster rendering etc. Whereas structural cracks are the result of incorrect structural designing or insufficient survey of site and statistics of the location or even both in the worse scenario and are seen on structural elements i.e. Beam, column, slab, footing and structural cracks are the one which may cause the failure of the structure during its life period.

Causes of Cracks on Building

Causes of the cracks can be listed as:-

1) Poor workmanship

Poor mixing of building materials, lack of curing, change in water-cement ratio, proper compaction will cause cracks in the walls, beams, slabs etc. Normally poor workmanship is as a result of ignorance, carelessness, negligence, lack of proper supervision or many others.

2) Faulty design.

Poor structural design and specifications are another cause of the cracks in concrete works. It’s important the most important factor in the failure of a building. Design should be in accordance of all the environmental surveys that include soil (Geotechnical) investigations. Buildings are designed for particular uses, and also to withstand a given load conditions for example a building designed as residence will have different structural specifications from the one designed to operate machinery.

3) Structural overloading

Overloading of the ground
Overloading due to its dead load
Overloading due to live loads present result in cracks

4) Due to moisture.

Most of the building materials with pores in their structure in the form of intermolecular space expand on absorbing moisture and shrink on drying. These movements are cyclic in nature and are caused by increase or decrease in inter pore pressure with moisture changes. Initial shrinkage occurs in all building materials that are cement/lime based such as concrete, mortar, masonry and plasters. Generally heavy aggregate concrete shows less shrinkage than light weight aggregate concrete.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND THE STUDY AREA

INTRODUCTION

In the earlier chapter, efforts have been made to discuss the aim and objectives of the study, the source of data collection, problems and significance of the study, and literature review have been examined extensively. Hence, to achieve the aim and objectives of the study, an attempt will be made in this chapter to examine the study population, sample frame, sample size, source of data, data collection instrument, questionnaire design and as well as methods of analysing and presenting the data collected. Also, description of the study area will not be left out.

STUDY POPULATION

The study which focus on the problems associated with building Crack whether design or construction with more emphasis on Niger south senatorial district-Island as the case study shall focus on the Real Estate Developers (both private and public), the Professional in building industry like Architects, Builders, Land Surveyors, Quantity Surveyors, Town Planners, Estate Surveyors and Valuers and Engineers that are practising within the study area, also the state Ministry of Housing shall be the population of the study.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals mainly with the collection of data, analysis and presentation of data, the means and source which data were gathered shall be discuss in detail and all data gathered shall be analysed and presented by using simple statistical method which involved the tabulation of data and converting the numerical into simple percentage for further presentation of the key question which shall be presented. The hypothesis shall be tested by using chi-square at (0.05) level of significance.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

After a detailed analysis of data gathered from the three categories of respondents such as the Niger south senatorial district State Ministry of Housing, Real Estate Developers and Professional team in the building industry, which follows by interpretation, the following are the summary of findings;

The analysis revealed that the majority of the respondents are male and have witnessed and also aware of incidents of residential building cracks in Niger south senatorial district.
The respondents also agreed to the fact that the degree of effect of residential building cracks is Very High and as such, have caused a lot of problem to the government as well as professionals concerned. Also, it was agreed that the rampancy of residential building cracks in Niger south senatorial district is high in nature and the government and professionals are making effort to eradicate it through public enlightenment and proper site supervision.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Having carried out due analysis and interpretation of data gathered from both primary and secondary sources, the following were recommended;

The developers should not be in a hurry and also keep enough funds for development and deal directly with professionals with good track records and credibility.
Adequate and proper test should be carried out for property that have reached old age and if defects were numerous, occupants should be advised in their best interest to vacate the building premises.
Building professionals should ensure to carryout proper and efficient supervision of works on site as well as thorough inspect of materials to be used for the construction from sub-structure to superstructure.

CONCLUSION

The aim of every developer is to develop properties and enjoy the investment wither through personal use or by generating income from it, and not to claim the lives of loved ones and properties. Research has shown that residential building cracks have very high effect on human lives and property and as a result of personal greed of many developers, corrupt government agencies on site and professionals who are contractors and project managers in the building industry are adding more to the problems. Most property developers patronise quacks due to lack of funds for development and are desperate to have shelter; the government agencies collect bribe and are unable to do the thorough supervision of plan approval and project, the contractors and project managers failed to use quality materials for building projects.

REFERENCES

Adebayo, S.O. (2000): Improving Building Techniques. Proceedings of a Workshop on
Residential building cracks: Causes, Prevention and Remedies (pp 48-51). The Nigerian Institute of Building, Niger south senatorial district State.
Ademoroti, G. (1991): Minimizing the Crack of Buildings in Niger south senatorial district State. Proceedings of
The National Seminar on Effective Contract Management in Construction Industry. Nigerian Institute of Building, 22-23 August, pp 174-187
Adeniya, A. (2002): How Public-Private Partnership can Tackle Residential building cracks: The
Guardian, Monday, August 26, p45
Adetayo, M.T. (1995): Workmanship in Nigeria Construction Industry. The Construction
Journal of the Federation of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors in Nigeria. 12(2) 7-9
Adewunmi, R. and Stella, O. (2010): Residential building cracks: Why Building Will Keep
Cracking in Nigeria. A Retrieved Paper Presented on 20^th of March. From http://www.rowland-adewunmi.com
African Press Agency (2011): Residential building cracks Kills at Least 6 in Idumota, Niger south senatorial district Island. July From http://www.netnewspublisher.com
Akinpelu, J.A. (2002): The Need for Code of Conduct, Building Regulations and By-Laws for the Building Industry in Nigeria. The Professional Builder, Nigeria Institute of Building, pp 11-14
Akpabio, N. (1978): Building Contract Administration – A Handwork for Architects,

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