Public Interest

Stuart Matthews, Senior Group Editor

The results of an investigation into the collapse of a building in Dubai’s Deira are eagerly awaited. Not least by the insurers, who will be hoping for relief from their financial obligations. But the industry as a whole should also seize this as an opportunity to learn from the misfortune of others.

Dubai Municipality was on the scene as soon as was feasible, with inspectors examining the site and plans for a probable cause. The industry needs to know what brought this just-complete building down and the sooner it does the better.

Correspondents to Construction Week have speculated on the reasons - everything from dodgy foundations to missing structural elements – and health and safety commentators have called for total transparency. When lessons need to be learned, there’s nothing like practical experience to provide them.

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Investigations could provide valuable material for a localised construction case study. We hear a lot about international standards of quality and safety, but local application frequently throws up variances not accounted for elsewhere in the world. The more knowledge that can be accumulated and disseminated from local experience, the more effective all kinds of quality and safety control will be.

While all those on site were fortunate to escape relatively unscathed, the incident also highlighted the danger construction work poses to the general public, or in this case their crushed cars.

This is especially true in the case of construction work in built up or more established areas. A great deal of the region’s development is done in wide open spaces. Working in a more enclosed urban environment calls for a different approach, with greater precautions.

This building collapse is an opportunity for the industry to gain knowledge, prevent similar incidents and save lives. It would be a shame to waste it.