BUILDING PROJECT FAILURES Buildings through the ages have been a significant part of the socio-economic development of civilisation. Olusola et al. (2011, p. 462) record that the first documented building collapse was that of the Tower of Babel. In the modern age, it is not uncommon to hear of building collapse as an everyday issue in various countries around the world. At 7:05 pm on Friday, July 17, 1981, the atrium of the luxurious and most modern hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, United States of America (USA), the Hyatt Regency collapsed with a human life cost that totalled 144 fatalities with approximately 200 recorded injuries. In this particular accident, it was decided that the responsibility for the collapse could mainly be attributed to the structural engineers. After further investigation, it was discovered that dangerous design suggestions had been made by the contractors, aimed at simplifying the construction of the walkways which later collapsed, proving fatal because these suggested changes had gone unnoticed by the design engineers.

Furthermore, on 11 May 2013, a four-storey building project collapsed in Nigeria?s commercial capital Lagos, killing at least four construction workers and leaving around 50 injured. The incident occurred during construction on the prestigious Victoria Island, in a lagoon set back from the Atlantic, home to some of Africa?s most expensive real estate. This caused massive economic and social losses. In another tragedy, 13 bodies were pulled from the wreckage of a building under construction that collapsed in a coastal village in the popular Indian tourist state of Goa on Saturday, 4 January 2014. In relevant news reports, this type of catastrophes highlighted substandard construction of buildings among other project quality related issues. Collected studies by the British daily newspaper, The Guardian indicate that 2651 people were killed across India in 2012 due to collapse of 2737 structures, including houses and bridges. Real estate experts in the area note that many buildings collapse due to construction codes not being adhered to and poor attention to construction health and safety (News24, 2014).

In specific terms, the frequency of building collapses in South Africa has been on the increase. On 18 August 2014, a building collapsed during renovation construction in the upmarket Meyersdal, Eco Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa (News24, 2014: online). A total of seven people died and nine were injured. In reports, the building collapsed from the roof down, entombing workers who were busy renovating the R9 million building. One of the most recent events is the Tongaat Mall building collapse, which occurred on 19 November 2013, in the town of Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal. It was recorded that a concrete slab collapsed on top of workers that were busy with activities on the site. The incident killed two people and injured 29 others and there have been various inquiries that have been conducted on this occurrence.

Source: Unknown (2016)

Question 1

Against the background provided in the case study, you have been requested by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as a project quality expert to submit a report on the building project collapse of Tongaat Mall which occurred on 19 November 2013 from a project quality context addressing the main issues which contributed to the occurrence and how this could have been averted. Some of the questions and areas to be addressed in the report are provided in the section below.

1.1 Executive Summary

Students should apply the report writing format when responding to questions 1.2. Provide a brief description and background of the Tongaat Mall building project collapse. You should account for the following - Description of the project (all project attributes to be addressed in this section) - What were the related costs of this collapse? - Who were the project stakeholders and their role in the project failure?

1.3. In respect to the Tongaat Mall building project how would you define project quality?

This section of the report should address the following among many other issues - Identify the variables and dimensions of quality - Reflect on the quality metrics and the expectations of the customer - Highlight the regulatory framework and policies as constituents of quality

This is a project related question and students should make use of relevant examples that are directly responding to the case provided and the relevant frameworks should be adopted.

1.4. Provide a detailed evaluation of the quality management processes applied in this project and reflect if these were the main causes of the building project collapse. This section of the report should address the following among other issues - What are the quality processes adopted? - Weaknesses and successes in the quality processes should be identified in this section - An opinion should be presented on whether this could have been avoided or not

This is a project related question and students should make use of relevant examples that are directly responding to the case provided.

1.5. Provide recommendations on how similar building project collapses could be avoided in South Africa. (30 marks) Your response should address how the quality related issues addressed in the previous question can be addressed.

This is a project related question and students should make use of relevant examples that are directly responding to the case provided. This question requires the student to play the role of consultant and to ensure that viable solutions and insights are provided for.

1.6. Conclusion