AN APPRAISAL OF THE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY ARISING FROM BUILDING COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA: LESSONS FROM SELECTED MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES

Abstract

Building collapse has become a recurrent occurrence in Nigeria, resulting in significant loss of life and property damage. This research work examined the civil and criminal liability of individuals and entities responsible for building collapse incidents in Nigeria. The study focused on exploring the different existing legal and institutional framework for addressing building collapse incidents in Nigeria, the liability laws of some selected countries and the reason for dearth of decided cases leading to lack of enforcement of the liabilities of the builder(s) and property owners in cases of building collapse in Nigeria. The research work adopted the doctrinal research methodology which involved reference to primary sources of law, such as the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria 1999, the National Building Code 2006, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the Standard Organization of Nigeria Act of 2015 among others. Principles of law, ideas and information were gathered from secondary sources, such as law textbooks, articles, journal publications and research work of renowned scholars. This research work found that there existed no specific federal legislation in Nigeria providing for civil or criminal liability in cases of building collapse. Following the findings of this work, one of the proposed recommendations included the enactment and implementation of a federal law that addresses both civil and criminal liability for building collapse incidents. Additionally, the legislation should establish a framework and process that facilitates victims’ access to justice.