AN APPRAISAL ON THE CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF CRACKS IN BUILDINGS

AN APPRAISAL ON THE CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF CRACKS IN BUILDINGS

(A CASE STUDY OF CHANCHAGA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGER STATE)

ABSTRACT

The fact that all buildings under the sun fail for one reason or the other cannot be hidden researchers have proved that failure occurs in building as a result of crack width hence, this project looked into types of cracks, causes of cracks and measures to prevent or remedy cracks on building. Crack can be defined as a line of defect (regular or irregular), on the surface of a building where it is damage or beginning to break due to one or more problems. Buildings within chanchaga local government area were considered from observations and result of respondents, i was able to identify the factors that cause cracks which are: poor building design at initial stage, uneven settlement on foundation, inadequate or poor level of workmanship, the use of inferior materials etc. The methods employed in gathering information involve the use of primary collection of data and secondary data collection. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS to rank the factors, wherePoor level of workmanship was ranked first thereby being the most significant factor that causes cracks in the area with relative importance index (RII) of 4.79, Settlement under shrinkage due to drying out of materials is ranked second with RII of 4.66 and Poor quality of building materials ranked third with RII of 4.64.The level of effect of cracks on building were also ranked with how common/rampant is cracks to you in chanchaga L.G.A? Ranked first with RII of 4.38, this indicates that occurrence of cracks within the area is rampant, how often does this crack increase in size? ranked second with RII of 4.19.in minimizing and mitigation of cracks, Government enlightenment on the causes, effects of cracks and its preventions is ranked first with RII of 4.85,  Adequate supervision of work at construction stage on site is ranked second with RII of 4.78, Provision of drainage system for waste disposals to avoid risk of overflowing is ranked third with RII of 4.58, the study concludes that cracks occurs rampantly within the area of study and the following was recommended in other to mitigate it’s effects,Government should enforce the use of maintenance policy and employ facility managers to be engaged and ensured that these policies are being used by people. The building materials to be used in the construction of buildings should be of required standards. Proper and adequate supervision and control of work on site should be adopted in order to enhance a proper execution of the construction work. Finally, to overcome factors like foundation movement, the nature as well as the bearing capacity of the soil available in the area under study should be properly and adequately investigated.

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

Man started as a wanderer in ages until he decided to settle in one place due to development in his way of reasoning to yield comfort. Thus the origin of structure to mankind is as old as man (Ibrahim, 2013). In the past, most structures were made with masonry, steel or timber depending on the availability of materials and the nature of structure (Neville, 2003). Very recently, concrete as building materials has come into being. In a very short period it gains so much important that today more than 65 percent of the structures coming up in the world are constructed of it (Chapman, 2000)

Concrete is a heterogeneous manufactures stone, composed of graded granular inert materials held together by the action of cement, and water (Oyewande, 1992). The inert materials usually consist of gravel or large particle of crushed stone and sand both to serve as cheap fillers (Neville and Brooks, 2003). According to Ayuba, Olagunju & Akande (2012) “Most of In the cost of structural design of the various building element and manufacturing of concrete are not properly carried out which result in trial and error by the contractors”. This results in cracks on buildings and building failure and collapse. Crack is one of the factors that cause dilapidation in our structures today. Effort is therefore made by several researchers to protect or reduce the occurrence of major cracks in building but a lot still needs to be done. It is necessary for professionals in the building industries in Nigeria to investigate further what causes cracks and their impact on buildings to achieve a meaningful design objective.

A research by Mohamad & Annuar (2011); Ayuba, Olagunju & Akande (2012); Mydin, Ramli & Awang (2012); Kashyzadeh & Kesheh (2012) & Ibrahim (2013) have identified causes of cracks, assess cracks and the danger of building collapse which is mostly caused by crack. Ede, (2010) also relates cracks on building to “imperfection in the actions of human beings and the existence of external factors that influence the safety of structure”. I was spurred by the observation made by the researchers in the area of cracks on building with the aim of going further to identify if there’s a specific cause applicable to cracks in Chanchaga, Niger state and to suggest ways to reduce occurrence or to eliminate such defect.

Building can be defined as an arrangement of compactable components that are brought together in many ways to create an enclosure and as well provide an escape from weather conditions and enemies. Also Fadamiro (2002) defined building as “an enclosure for spaces designed for specific use, meant to control local climate, distribute services and evacuate waste”. Generally, buildings are expected to be elegant and functional, but many projects are constructed that do not meet any of these basic requirements. The recurring incidences of building collapse, some of which are caused by crack on buildings have claimed a lot of innocent lives and need to be addressed.

Nigeria is however becoming more harmful due to pollution created as a result of the geometrical order of population growth, urban development in coastal areas, poor planning and housing developments in high risk areas of the city (Ayuba, Olagunju & Akande. 2012).   In recent times, the incidence of building collapse in the country’s major cities has been alarming (Adegoroye, 2006). The phenomenon certainly deserves attention. The frequency of collapse of buildings in Nigeria in the recent past has been threatening and embarrassing (Ayuba, Olagunju & Akande. 2012). Individual opinions differ radically from one another on the professional to blame for building collapse. Nigeria is not yet famous as a country ravaged by natural disasters like other countries. However; the country is not without her own share of disasters, which are chiefly man-made (Falobi, 2009).

According to Barry (1991), Cracks are lines (vertical, horizontal or diagonal) that are developed on buildings depending on the nature of soil, climate condition of the site and quality of workmanship. This paper examines this issue from the angle of addressing cracks in building in Nigeria, its implications and to tame the monster called Building Collapse.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

In Chanchaga local government area of Niger state, cracks on building are common and its occurrences might be due to certain factors like poor design at the initial stage, uneven settlement of foundations, and inadequate supervision during construction. Also poor execution method, inadequate maintenance during usage, attention of existing building, poor drainage system, human negligence and don’t care attitude. And finally the use of inferior materials for construction and environmental factors like flooding and wind action causes crack. The causes of these cracks will be realized after the research work.

1.3       Significance of the Study

On successful completion of this study information on the risk of cracks on residential building has been provided and it has also provides recommendations based on the formation, choice and also the selection of construction materials in order to eliminate the problems arising from cracks in buildings in Chanchaga local government area.

This research work will be useful to the builders and architects and other construction team members sounding information on cracks in residential buildings. Also the research at the end has produced possible solutions, to overcome the problem of cracks in residential building in Chanchaga area.

1.4       Aim and Objectives

The aim of this study is to examine the causes of cracks on buildings in other to mitigate its effects within Chanchaga local government area.

The specific objectives are:

• To assess the factors affecting buildings that can result into cracks.
• To identify if there are particular types of cracks peculiar to Chanchaga L.G.A.
• To identify specific solutions to the type of cracks in Chanchaga L.G.A.
• To recommend ways on how cracks can be prevented in Chachaga L.G.A.

1.5       Research Methodology

Primary and secondary sources of data collection will be employed in carrying out this project work. The secondary data will include review of recent and relevant literature from journals, text books and conference paper to ascertain the areas that needs further research.

The primary date will be collected through triangulation of three research method to arrive at a conclusion. The first will be a self answered survey questionnaire to determine building elements most prone to cracks and to assess the causes of cracks on building. A questionnaire will also be distributed to participants of the building construction industry to determine the causes of building cracks and building collapse in Nigeria.

The second primary data will be collected from photographs and personal discussions with the building users on the causes and effect of cracks on their structure at Chanchaga local government of Niger state.

The third source of primary data will be an actual measurement of the cracks using veneer calipers and the angle the crack makes with the horizontal using compass. This is to determine the angle and width of the cracks of the buildings in the study area.

The data collected from the field survey will be analyzed using SPSS 19 and C⁺⁺ .the data will be presented with tables and graphs.

1.6       Scope and Limitation

This research looked into the various factors that are responsible for the occurrence of cracks on buildings within Chanchaga local government area. However the research will be limited to residential buildings even though some of the respondents denied giving the permission to move into their apartments.

1.7       Justification of the Study

This research gives an appraisal on the causes and remedies of cracks in residential building in chanchaga local government area of Niger state. It is important to note that despite the trend of maintenance on residential buildings, most of the users and some maintenance manager do not understand the ways and plan to practice the maintenance management. Under normal circumstances, after the construction of a building, maintenance management practice follows because it’s the number two factors to a constructed building.

It’s thus leaving me the searcher for the possible reasons behind the maintenance practice not performing as expected. This research will direct a ways of improving the use better maintenance practice for impacting our public hospitals and make its element contribution to the other organization maintenance structure.

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