Completing abandoned buildings for habitation carries major safety risks – Experts

On his part, George Eromosele, a building engineer, said nondestructive test must be carried out on columns and beams of unroofed uncompleted abandoned buildings before completing them to habitable state because of long exposure to weather such as rains and sun, stressing that “without this integrity test, the safety of the buildings is not guaranteed after their completion.“The lifespan of a building depending on the construction materials, whether, wood, bricks, masonry, sancdcrete, concrete, steel and stones is between 50 years to 500 years.“When buildings are abandoned in uncomplete forms, depending on the quality of construction, quality of construction materials used and the craftsman/skills of the builders, all the elements of weather will basically take their toll on the buildings by degrading and wearing their structural members, like columns, slabs, beams, etc.