CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1   Background to the Study
A building delivered to the satisfaction of the client is one that is accepted as being of high standard and built using good machineries. This is bound on the premises of estimated cost. Recently, the Nigerian construction industry is currently witnessing a number of high-profile building collapses especially in Lagos State. During this year, the property and environment column of the Vanguard Newspaper emphasized the prevalent of collapsed building in all the nooks and crannies of the country, with Osun State inclusive. Building collapse is an occurrence that is beyond technological and scientific explanation. There can be no failure of a building without a prior failure of some building components. The technology of construction can never guarantee complete elimination of some degree of failure because of the fact that structures settle down, however slightly, on completion, as a result of consolidation of subsoil imposed by the weight of the structure.
Depending on the magnitude of this movement, failure can develop. Professional bodies tend not to accept the responsibility for the incidence of building collapses as a result of component failure in Nigeria but rather put the heavy blame on the occupants. Rather, each of the bodies that represent town planners, quantity surveyors, engineers, architects, builders and building organisation will often seek to attribute blame outside the profession. The loss of materials and money cost of remedial measure, infliction of permanent injury, loss of life and so on, which result from building component failure, are both monetarily and psychologically significant. The rate of failure of building components in Nigeria is a cause for concern and as such demands urgent attention. Precautionary measure will start once designers take a total measure of their designs and become sensitive to the financial and psychological implication of any failure of the building components both during and after completion.
Some numbers of Nigerian structures are often inadequately maintained and even badly situated in term of location and windows, doors and other building elements and facilities frequently show evidence of lack of maintenance and repair. Certain residential and office buildings in Lagos, Nigeria have not seen right significant maintenance or show little signs of maintenance since they were constructed, some years back. This is evident as there many cases of building collapse in the state. This lack of maintenance by authorities and occupants of these structures often leads to reduced lifespan of these buildings as stated by Melvin (1992), which invariably defeat the purpose for which they are put i.e. to ensure that the nation’s stock of buildings, both as a factor of production and accommodation, was used effectively as possible.
Studies have revealed the effects of countless factors affecting maintenance and defects of buildings. Adejimi (2005) revealed twelve factors affecting the maintenance strength of building as design resolution, structural strength, specified materials strength, maintenance manual, safety measures, skill maintenance personnel, maintenance plants and  environmental factors. While Olagunju (2012) identified factors that influence the level of maintenance of public building standard. In the study eight factors were identified to be significant to physical condition of public building. The variables include architectural components condition, interior and exterior factors like; electrical wiring, toilet facilities, roofing, discharge of waste water component condition of walkways within the building surroundings. To evaluate the factors affecting building defects, Addleson (1977) concluded that natural factors can be summarized into three group of dampness, movement and chemical and biological change. Lack of adequate care and fallibility of people that initiate, design, construct and maintain buildings, accentuated by their educational, practice and commercial environment are the ultimate factors responsible for defects of building.