Assessment of Structural Risk Factors and Their Impact on the Insurability of Engineering Facilities in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Engineering facilities the buildings, infrastructure, and installed plant that make up the physical asset base of property and facilities management portfolios face a wide range of structural risks that shape not only their safety and serviceability but also their insurability. In Nigeria, and particularly in Anambra State, recurring building collapses, foundation failures, and premature structural deterioration have exposed a weak link between structural risk assessment practice and insurers’ underwriting decisions. This study examines the principal structural risk factors affecting engineering facilities in Anambra State and analyses how these factors shape insurability outcomes: risk acceptance, premium rating, policy exclusions, and claims exposure. Drawing on documented building-failure records, regulatory instruments including the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act, 2025 and established risk and insurance theory, the study develops a Structural Risk–Insurability Assessment Framework. The framework links foundation and geotechnical conditions, construction material quality, design and supervision competence, environmental exposure (notably the flooding- and erosion-prone areas of Anambra State), and maintenance culture to four core insurability principles: insurable interest, risk homogeneity, moral hazard, and the economic feasibility of the premium. The study further proposes a structured, survey-based methodology for empirically validating the framework among built-environment professionals, facilities managers, and insurance practitioners in Anambra State. The secondary evidence reviewed indicates that structural risk in the study area is dominated by human and regulatory failures substandard materials, poor supervision, and weak enforcement compounded by environmental exposure. These are precisely the factors insurers are most likely to treat as uninsurable, or to price with loaded premiums and exclusion clauses. The paper recommends mandatory pre-insurance structural risk audits, closer collaboration between facilities managers and risk engineers, and stronger enforcement of statutory building and insurance compliance as mechanisms for improving both the structural safety and the insurability of engineering facilities in the State.