Structural integrity relies on contractors — experts
The integrity of any structure being built depends heavily on contractors for they are the experts “entirely responsible” for converting project plans into reality.
This was according to an occupational safety and health officer, who also noted the weight of a contractor’s influence on the building’s quality.
“Structural integrity does not rely solely on the contractor, though they bear the heaviest burden for physical execution,” said Choi Cruz, a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) occupational safety and health consultant.
A contractor’s great degree of influence on the quality of the structure is on execution, workmanship, and subcontracting oversight, he stressed.
“The contractor is responsible for turning paper concepts into physical reality, ensuring concrete is mixed, poured, and cured correctly, and managing specialized trades (plumbers, electricians) to avoid structural damage during installation,” he explained.
Architects and engineers also have roles to play in building structures, such as defining structural boundaries and establishing the project’s safety baseline, which the contractor must follow.
He likewise said that “ensuring the correct materials are used is a shared, multi-tiered process of checks and balances.” However, the primary responsibility on this matter lies with the contractor, and secondary, with the engineers, he added.
On the matter of managing construction workers/employees, including their well-being, as well as compliance with the Building Code and Labor safety rules, Cruz said these are the contractor’s main responsibilities.
“The contractor is legally and operationally primarily in-charge of workforce management and site safety,” he pointed out.
“When an owner hires a general contractor, they typically pass site control to them via contract. The contractor is legally responsible for Labor Rules, Site Safety, and Building Code Execution,” he added.
Cruz further explained that the property owner cannot be held responsible for the integrity of a structure, “unless the owner gave explicit instruction to affect the structural integrity of the project.”
“Owners are generally protected from structural liability if they hire licensed professionals (architects, engineers, contractors) and do not interfere with their technical decisions because the owner is not an expert but a client seeking a quality service,” he emphasized.
For Architect Josua Cruz, “design takes equal responsibility as the execution,” but the duty of ensuring that quality and correct materials are used in building a structure largely falls on the shoulders of the contractor and the project management team.
Experts expressed their opinions on structural integrity following the collapse of a building in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City, on May 24, which claimed the lives of six people.
The search, rescue, retrieval, and clearing operations continue at the site as of May 30.
Golden Years Construction and Steelworks has been identified as the contractor of the project, while Ernest Jackson Lim has been named as the property owner.
Concerned national and local government agencies have since launched an investigation of the incident. #