Earthquake highlights need for implementing building code

PESHAWAR: The earthquake on Monday has once again highlighted the need for updating and proper implementation of building code and regulations in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its provincial capital, to reduce losses.
After the 2005 earthquake, the federal Ministry of Housing had formed a core group to develop a building code. The group came up with the Building Code of Pakistan in 2007 for all structures in different parts of the country to minimise damage in case of earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Dr Qaiser Ali, a member of the core group, is however dissatisfied with the updating and implementation of the building code.Talking to The News, Dr Qaiser Ali, who is also the founding director of Earthquake Engineering Centre at the University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, said that nobody owned the building code let alone its implementation.
He said the code needed revision and upgradation. He opined that the different bodies responsible for building control neither had the will nor the capacity to implement the building code.Dr Qaiser Ali added that municipal corporations and the development authorities were confined to building maps and drawings only and they were least concerned about the building code.
He said there was greater need of the capacity building of the departments’ concerned to take proper care of building code and regulations right from approval of the map till completion of the structure. He opined it was the responsibility of the government to ensure upgradation and implementation of building code and regulations.
Dr Qaiser Ali pointed out that under the Building Code of Pakistan the country had been divided into different zones keeping in view the proximity to the faultlines.He said the building regulations varied for different zones.
He explained that a qualified engineer should design the buildings and this should be vetted by another qualified engineer. “They should properly examine the construction of the structure and issue certificate on its completion,” he stressed.
In the provincial capital, different authorities are responsible for approval of construction of new structure. The Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) oversees the construction of new buildings in Hayatabad and on the Grand Trunk Road and Jamrud Road. The Municipal Corporation Peshawar is supposed to approve maps and inspect construction in the city, Kohat Road and Charsadda Road while the Cantonment Board Peshawar does this work in the Cantonment areas.
There has been rapid increase in the construction of tall buildings in the provincial capital. There were reports that in most of the cases even maps are not approved and buildings are constructed. The authorities at the Municipal Corporation and the Cantonment Board were not following building regulations, sources told The News.
“I can show you a number of multi-storey buildings in the city and the cantonment that have been raised without approval of the maps,” an official said.Mohammad Arif Khan, Director, Building Control Agency of PDA, told The News that the building regulations 1995 were being implemented in their jurisdiction.
He said the building code was something different than the building regulations. He added that the building code was supposed to be implemented at the government buildings.“In Hayatabad no one could even lay a brick without prior permission let alone raising a high building,” he contended.
He said that architects and engineers develop maps for building, which are submitted to a committee of experts for approval. The committee members vet the drawing before approving it.
“The committee doesn’t approve a map blindly. The map approval process is not that easy. Many times a map has to be revised several times to remove the flaws,” Arif said.There is a general perception that most of the damage is caused in the rural areas during earthquakes and other natural disasters.“The mud-houses remain the worst affected in these situations and no one can develop or implement any code or regulation for such structures,” said a citizen Tauseefur Rahman.