SECONDARY FACETS ON STABILITY OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS IN KASARANI SUB-COUNTY, NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Purpose: Instability of buildings is a global phenomenon that results in loss of lives, wasted infrastructure and injuries. Most of the existing literature has concentrated on technical causes of instability of buildings and recommended technical solutions that have not been successful in taming the problem. The purpose of this study was to examine non-technical secondary causes that lead to instability of buildings in Kasarani Sub-county, Nairobi County, Kenya. The study specifically sought to address the following objectives: To determine the influence of social facets on stability of multistorey buildings; To examine the influence of economic facets on stability of multistorey buildings; To determine the influence of environmental facets on stability of multistorey buildings; To examine the influence of political facets on stability of multistorey buildings. Methodology: The study adopted the Joint Committee’s Structural Reliability Theory and Robert Giacalone’s with Mark Promislo’s Ethical Impact Theory to guide it. The study used survey research design with the target population being 7,373 participants from Kasarani sub-county. The sample size was 365 respondents which was determined from Krejicie and Morgan’s formula and it included 262 developers, 87 contractors and 16 building professionals. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data. Validity of the instrument that is concerned with whether the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure was achieved through use of content validity which draws an inference from test scores to a large domain of items similar to the ones in the test. Reliability of the instrument which is concerned with whether the results are consistent was achieved through conducting a pilot study and checked by use of the Cronbach Alpha’s reliability coefficient. The independent variable was secondary facets while the dependent variable was stability of multistorey buildings. The intervening variable was enforcement of bylaws. Results: All the secondary facets (social, economic, environmental and political) were found to be statistically significant having a p-value less than 0.05 and F = 13.846, which is more than F Critical of 3.09. The study yielded a regression model of Y = 1.053 + 0.174X1 + 0.166X2 + 0.200X3. The study found that secondary facets play a significant role in stability of multistorey buildings including social, economic, environmental and political ones. Addressing these and other secondary facets could go a long way in addressing the menace of building collapses. Policy recommendation: It is recommended that the various stakeholders in the construction industry address each of the secondary facets as indicated in the report.