Building Code Implementation in Low and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract eng:
Disaster losses have been steadily growing, particularly in urban areas and particularly in developing countries. Several factors have contributed to this growth including rural-urban migration, concentration of population in hazardous areas and increased dependence on complex urban systems. While there have been changes in hazard exposure, the most important factor has been increased vulnerability of human settlements due to unsafe location and construction practices. In the developed world building and land use practice has evolved over several centuries to protect population health, safety and welfare. In the developing world these institutions have not kept pace with rapid growth of urban populations. A recent study by the World Bank has examined the options for correcting this deficit. Poverty, ignorance and corruption have presented major obstacles to effective and efficient building and land use regulation. While key contributions are being made by the earthquake engineering community to the development of regulatory provisions and standards, without means to translate available scientific and engineering understanding to building practice disaster risk continues to expand. Regulatory institutions and practices are the critical missing link. Simple transfer of building regulatory provisions from developed to developing countries has proven unsuccessful in most cases. Effective regulatory institutions must develop in the social, economic and cultural context of the society that they serve. A recent World Bank report, “Building Regulation for Resilience”, co-authored by Thomas Moullier and Frederick Krimgold, provided an analysis of building regulatory experience in a range of low and middle-income countries and identifies critical factors to be considered in efforts to create and expand effective and efficient regulation for disaster risk reduction. These principles are incorporated in a proposal for a global initiative consistent with the goals of the Sendai Framework for Action.

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