Man’s growing desire for affordable and comfortable buildings has necessitated the diversification of materials and methods in the built sector. Thus, this paper assessed the hydraform blocks as walling materials to examine their current level of usage in the Nigerian built sector. Information was generated via literature reviews, newspapers, and professional perceptions. The findings revealed that despite the concerted feats of private developers in the use of hydraform blocks as walling materials for low-cost building construction in Nigeria, efforts by the Federal Government have yielded limited success in this regard. Also, State Governments have not fared better. Therefore, this paper recommended and proffered solutions to bridge this gap.
The physical survival of mankind depends on housing, besides food and clothing. Adequate and comfortable housing influences physical, social, and moral health, and contributes to the works’ stability, efficiency, and development. In 2019, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMW&H) proposed to build 2,383 housing units in Nigeria under the National Housing Programme in 36 states of the Federation and the FCT. Besides, in 2020, the FMW&H plans to build just about 2,000 homes. However, to keep up with the growing population and urban migration, the World Bank recommends the yearly construction of 700,000 housing units to breach a huge housing deficit in Nigeria. The World Bank estimates Nigeria’s total housing deficit to be 17-23 million; though the present demand is estimated at 37 million houses; and this figure increases yearly by 20%. Efforts by the previous governments to tackle the housing situation in Nigeria have yielded limited success after 59 years of independence. Therefore, it was added that the private sector is critical in making housing available and affordable in Nigeria, as the government cannot do it alone.
Globally, housing problems are summarized by the houses needed by the poor and low-income earners. The housing deficits, particularly targeted at the poor and low-income earners have increased due to weak housing policy, rapid urbanization, and high cost of conventional building materials. Report from a previous research revealed that no civil servant in the Nigerian Federal Civil Service, under grade level 13, can afford a house costing ₦4.5 million at a 6% salary on 25 years of mortgage loans. This signifies that affordable housing will become ever more elusive for low-income earners. Lowcost housing is an arrangement by which the prospective house owners fulfill the periodic mortgage needs without compromising the health and other basic needs of the family members.
On account of the foregoing, this paper aims to examine the usage level of hydraform blocks as walling materials in the Nigerian built sector. Data was obtained through the reviews of literature, newspapers, and professional views. The benefits of hydraform interlocks as low-cost building blocks were appraised, while the Government efforts vis-à-vis professional perceptions of the low-cost housings were also examined. Finally, the paper concludes and recommendations are made.
In the 20th century, traditional adobe or unfired laterite bricks were prevalent in some African countries. However, in recent times, the search for more efficient, versatile, affordable, and eco-friendly blocks led to the development of hydraform blocks, otherwise called laterite interlocking blocks (LIB). Hydraform block, as shown in Figure 1, is produced from laterite, cement, and water, and compressed hydraulically with the aid of hydraform hydraulic machine, resulting in a high-quality interlocking solid block, which is largely dry-stacked. Consequently, the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute [NBBRI] designed an interlocking block machine, to produce LIBs, mainly comprised of cement and laterite of ratio 1:20, respectively. The designed concept was based on the LIBs with a geometric size of 225 x 225 x 112 mm3. The geometry is assembled without the application of mortar, hence making the laying concept to be different from conventional blocks. Hydraform blocks satisfied the specifications of the Industrial Building System, and have been used in many parts of the World for load-bearing masonry structures.