It may sound funny that people would encounter salespersons in construction supplies and hardware who have the gall of asking their customers the kind of materials they need, giving choices that vary in sizes but of the same kind. A good example is when one buys reinforcing steel bars of a specific size and the salesperson would ask the customer whether the thick or thin size. The customer would certainly prefer the thinner size as it certainly is cheaper unless he is aware that the choice is risky as such item is weak in terms of strength. The need for specificity as required for the structure where such reinforcing steel bars would be used is critical. Here is where the owner must have a project plan and design with specifications done by a licensed engineer.
Unfortunately, most owners would not want to hire a licensed engineer as they think it would be an additional cost that could be done without as the construction workers are knowledgeable and experienced based on the many structures they have built. The misguided thought that what had been done in other structures in terms of sizes, dimensions and concrete mixtures could just be replicated in other projects. It is why the construction foreman has the guts to take charge of listing the materials to be purchased, in most cases from the construction and hardware supply where they had dealt with in previous projects, claiming that it offers the cheapest prices.
The practice defeats the very essence and purpose of having licensed and registered engineers who have to undergo years of studies and have to pass the tough board examinations. Indeed, why else should government require engineering schools to impose high standards that are at par with schools in foreign countries if the job could just be done by construction workers. This is the reality in the countryside where laws are not implemented by government officials who are tasked by law to require that all structures must have the building plans and specifications duly done, approved and signed by licensed engineers.
The law requires that all permanent structures must have a building permit issued by the building official which in our jurisdiction is exercised by the municipal or city engineer. Unfortunately, many local government units are not implementing the laws, chiefly the National Building Code of the Philippines, National Structural Code of the Philippines, Philippine Electrical Code, Sanitation Code, Plumbing Code and the corresponding implementing rules and regulations of such laws.
When lives and properties perish under the rubble of collapsed structure, people immediately put the blame on the wrong design and the direct responsibility of the engineers who in reality had no participation in the erection of such structures. It is funny that such structures were erected without the professional intervention of engineers, chiefly because the building officials did not require that building permit where the approval and signatures of licensed engineers are needed. The perils to lives and properties are simply cause by structural disasters.
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