Is the quality of cement a contributing factor for building collapse in Ghana?

Sub-standard (poor quality) materials have been mentioned as one of the major causes of building collapse worldwide. The main materials mostly identified as sub-standard are cement, reinforcement bars, timber and aggregate. This Paper assesses whether the quality of Type I Portland cement use in Ghana - contribute to the recent building collapse in Accra and Kumasi. This was achieved through experimental study by comparing the properties of Ghana cement with that of UK cement. The study found that the dry density of Ghana Grey cement was higher than both the UK Grey and UK White cements. Furthermore, the Ghana Grey cement performed better in resistance to water absorption than UK Grey cement, while the UK White was better than both Ghana Grey and UK Grey cements. In addition, while UK White cement performed better in compression than Ghana Grey and UK Grey cements, the Ghana Grey was better than the UK Grey cement. The results of the experiment clearly reveal that the quality of Ghana’s cement is comparable to that of UK. Therefore the paper concludes that the quality of Ghana’s cement might not be the factor causing building collapses in Ghana. Further studies are therefore recommended for the identification of the sub-standard materials that contribute to building collapse in Ghana.