STATEMENT BY THE COUNCIL FOR THE REGULATION OF ENGINEERING IN NIGERIA [COREN] ON THE QUALITY OF CEMENT IN USE IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria [COREN] has noted with great concern recent comments made by a number of individuals and organisations on the quality of cements in circulation in Nigeria. As a major stakeholder in the built environment in Nigeria, COREN is constrained to make some inputs into the current discussions so as to save the consuming public a lot of anxiety on the issue. COREN therefore wishes all stakeholders and the general public to note the following:

1) Up till a few years ago, the only cement that was produced and massively used for all kinds of construction in Nigeria was the Ordinary Portland Cement complying with the British Standard BS 12:1958;

2) That in line with current international best practices, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria [SON] has certified and approved for use in Nigeria three grades of cement, namely Grade 32.5, Grade 42.5 and very recently Grade 52.5;

3) That the SON has confirmed that ALL the cement produced or marketed in Nigeria meet their specifications – meaning that THERE IS NO SUBSTANDARD CEMENT IN NIGERIA;

4) That cement as a material is not used directly in construction but is normally mixed with other materials to form mortars,sandcrete or concrete; each of the three cement grades approved for use in the country can be used to produce these materials satisfactorily;

5) That the quality or strength of the materials mentioned in (4) depend on the mix proportions adopted and not necessarily on the grade of cement used. 

6) Cement types are not specified in codes of practice for design of concrete structures; only the strength of concrete, its workability etc are specified;

7) That there is so far no empirical evidence linking the collapse of buildings to the grade of cement used;

8) That while there are many cases of collapse of storey buildings [which use concrete], hardly have we had cases of collapsed bungalows and they are all built with currently available cements;

9) That due to lack of publicity, the public is highly ignorant of the availability of and special uses of the different grades of cement, even though the grades are written on the bags containing the cements;

10) That professional engineers are best suited to advice the consumers on the correct mix proportions to be used in producing materials like sandcrete blocks and concrete for various applications, using the different grades of cement available;

11) That a lot of research is needed to produce mix design information that will guide the construction industry on how to achieve different strengths of sandcrete and concrete using the different grades of cement available;

12) That COREN has initiated action with other major stakeholders towards getting the necessary research and publicity done within the shortest possible time;

13) That COREN therefore urges consumers of cement products to consult professionals in the built environment when it has to do with the use of cement based products.

Based on the foregoing, COREN wishes to solicit for restraint on the part of interested parties to avoid a situation where fear is instilled into the public based on unsubstantiated allegations or rumours