Negligence is often one of the main reasons that lead to the failure and collapse of structures. It
is essential that the important areas of constructions such as investigating soil properties, stresses
from winds, designing for extra loads, earthquakes, investigation of terrains, picking building
materials, workmanship, and supervision of construction works are done keenly without any
sense of negligence (Machuki, 2012).
Some of the natural causes of structural failures and collapse are tornadoes, excessive floods, and
earthquake. Sources of errors that lead to failure of structures are carelessness, and omitting
essential parts in the construction procedure. It should be ensured that structural drawings are
efficient, proper and keen supervision during the construction procedures should be conducted,
and transparency among the stakeholders should be ensured.
All the stakeholders in the building industry are responsible for the safety of a structure since
each of them influences the building process in one dimension or the other. The causes of
structural failures and collapses can be connected to the defects and inefficiencies when
designing and constructing a particular structure. The clients, users, contractors and consultants
involved in a particular project can also be said to have a share in the causes of the structural
failure. The client is responsible in the manner that, should they be willing to pay for quality
materials and experienced professionals that are more expensive, their structure will be designed
and constructed efficiently.
The failure and collapse of structures in Kenya is a big concern. Hence, the purpose of this study
is to investigate the possible ways of mitigating structural failures and collapse so as to ensure
the safety of structures.