An engineer investigating the collapse of a three-storey building at Avenor in North Kaneshie states that the structure seems to have been built without a building permit from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
Prince Kas-Avotri, an engineer affiliated with the Ghana Institute of Engineering, revealed this information while addressing journalists at the site of Sunday’s collapse, which resulted in the deaths of two individuals and left two others hospitalised.
“From what we are hearing, it looks like the assembly has not given out any permit,” he said. “We are here to confirm that fully, but the building has no permit.”
Kas-Avotri elaborated on the importance of this discovery — a building erected without a permit indicates that no sanctioned architectural or engineering plans were established to direct the construction.
“If a building has no permit, it means that there are no planned works signed by an architect, or a built environment specialist or an engineer for the construction to go on,” he said.
He did, however, warn that the investigations are still in their initial phase.
“We are still in the preliminary stage. We picked some samples here. We’ll go and do some tests. We’ll do some models, and then we’ll come out with the actual findings of what has gone on,” Kas-Avotri stated, adding that he could not yet definitively determine the cause of the collapse.
Part of the investigation will assess whether the building was constructed according to any approved plans — although the clear lack of a permit significantly complicates that evaluation.
The collapse took place in the early hours of Sunday, June 7, prompting a large-scale emergency response that included the Ghana National Fire Service, NADMO, the Ghana Police Service, and the Ghana Armed Forces. Rescue and excavation efforts have since been completed.
This incident marks the second building collapse reported in Accra within a week. On June 3rd, a structure collapsed at Adenta New Site after heavy rainfall, resulting in one fatality and four injuries.
The alarming rate of buildings collapsing has led to the public calling for stricter enforcement of building regulations and permit requirements across the capital.
