Sandcrete Blocks and Quality Management in Nigeria Building Industry

Over 90% of physical infrastructures in Nigeria are being constructed using sandcrete blocks making it a very important material in building construction. It is widely used in Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries as load bearing and non-load bearing walling units. For a long time in Nigeria, sandcrete blocks are manufactured in many parts of the country without any reference to suit local building requirements or good quality work. The Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) developed a reference document which prescribed the compressive strength and water absorption properties standard requirements for different kinds of sandcrete blocks. The objective of this research is to ensure that all block manufacturers meets a minimum specified standard. The study appraised this objective using field study, sampling and laboratory experimentation and results obtained revealed very low compliance with as low as 0.66N/mm2 compressive strength value and as much as 16.95% water absorption capacity. The study revealed that poor quality control, poor selection of constituent materials and inadequate curing period by the manufacturers contributed to the negative results obtained.