Optional Sectoral Module BUILDING REGULATIONS In a resilient city, enforceable regulations on land use, building design and construction, and fire safety are critical (robust and coordinated). To enhance the quality of the construction process (robust and coordinated), there are regulations for the licensing and certification of architects, planners, engineers, builders, contractors, fire officials, and inspectors. Land use and building regulations integrate risk information and are updated regularly to consider climate change and local hazards (reflective). Indigenous, “non-engineered” construction is considered within the building regulations to address informal development (inclusive). Requirements for disabled and aged populations are integrated (inclusive). APPLICABLE RELATIONSHIP TO RESILIENCE TOPIC GUIDING QUESTION RESILIENCE QUALITY QUALITY Institutional Are there regulations for: Robust For resilient urban development and Capacity (a) land use planning/zoning? related projects, regulations for land (b) building design and use, building design and construction, construction, and and fire safety are critical; thus, related retrofitting of existing enabling legislation must be in place. A buildings? parallel condition exists for other areas (c) fire prevention? where regulations can be helpful (e.g., (d) resource/energy energy conservation, accessibility, etc.). conservation? (e) accessibility? (f) historic/cultural preservation? Prepared 2018 1 Institutional If formal land use planning, Robust; While it may be that a country has Capacity building, and fire regulations Coordinated appropriate legislation to enable exist, are they legally pertinent regulations, that fact alone promulgated and enforced does not mean such regulations have throughout all areas of the been adopted into use throughout all city? cities. Institutional Are there regulations for the Robust; The extent to which professions Capacity licensing and certification Coordinated and trades associated with design of architects, planners, and construction are controlled, engineers, builders, including minimum qualifications and contractors, fire officials, competency requirements, experience, inspectors, third-party and so forth, can have a significant reviewers, and others? influence on the quality of construction and compliance with regulations. Institutional Are there regulations that Robust The extent to which construction Capacity enable the certification, materials and contents are controlled, testing and quality control in terms of quality, strength, and overall of building products fitness for purpose, have a significant and materials? Are the effect on the ultimate safety, health, requirements consistent energy, or other performance of the with the quality of locally built environment. It is important available materials? to make sure that the regulatory requirements match available materials and production capacities and that local, accredited, and trusted laboratories exist to certify materials against the material performance requirements. Institutional What are the different types Robust A well-functioning building regulatory Capacity of training and capacity- framework needs suitably educated building programs available professionals and properly trained for building officials, building skilled crafts persons to improve the professionals and crafts resilience and sustainability of the built persons? What level of environment. expertise do they have in the topic areas? 2 Institutional Do formal building regula- Inclusive In low- and middle-income countries, Capacity tions have specific provisions building codes may not include pro- for, or is there a separate visions related to prevalent forms of building code, indigenous, indigenous, “non-engineered” construc- “non-engineered” and/or “in- tion resulting in increased “informal” or formal” construction? “For- unregulated construction. Significant mal” implies adopted by law vulnerability resides in unregulated con- and are enforceable and not struction, and so it is critical to enhance used simply as guidance. the resilience of local building products and techniques that require consulta- tions with owner-builders and crafts persons to seek affordable and feasible solutions. Institutional Are land use and building Robust; It is important that the mechanisms of Capacity regulations updated at de- Reflective land use and building regulation are fined time intervals to con- established to guide future investment sider climate change and the and development. Protecting existing evolving force and frequency settlements in a cost-effective manner of hydro-meteorological haz- requires a dynamic regulatory approach ards at the local level? that guides climate adaptation in ad- vance of growing hazard effects. Compliance What is the rate of compli- Robust Measuring compliance with land use ance with building regula- and building regulations will help eval- tions in the city for the exist- uate the scale of informal construction. ing built environment and for This important input helps to gain a new construction? Is there an better understanding of social vulner- independent mechanism to abilities and exposure to chronic and monitor progress in regulato- acute risks. ry compliance rates? Finance Is there legislation in place Robust The sustainability of any effective build- that facilitates the establish- ing regulatory regime will be dependent ment and collection of fees or on the capacity of local city authori- levies to financially support ties to charge fees to cover the cost of implementation of regula- building control activities and retain tions for planning, zoning, these resources to become financially design, and construction of self-sustainable. buildings? 3 Finance Do loans for building finance Robust Housing finance provides important in- require supporting documen- put into safe, resilient, and sustainable tation of code compliance? buildings as the funds can be offered on the conditionality that the financed structure conforms to code and zoning requirements. This process can be sup- ported with the cooperation of existing regulatory authorities. Access To what extent are access, Inclusive Effective implementation of building use, and egress requirements and urban development standards for for disabled and aged popu- accessibility and protection of persons lations addressed within the with disabilities and the elderly requires building regulation? policies and principles to be translated into actual change in the configuration of the built environment. Education To what extent are land use Inclusive It is essential to socialize the benefits of planning, building, and fire the building regulatory framework via regulations used as educa- social networks outside of traditional tional tools for describing the channels, especially within informal set- benefit of regulation to be ap- tlements and other unregulated areas, plied to informal sectors that where traditional communication paths exist in the city? may be absent. Education Do educational curricula ex- Robust; A well-functioning building regulatory ist regarding the structure, Inclusive framework needs suitably educated content, and use of land use professionals and properly trained planning, building, and fire skilled crafts persons for the frame- regulations that can be used work to work well. It is also essential as a basis of formal educa- to socialize the benefits of the building tion, continuing professional regulatory framework via social net- development, and outreach works outside of traditional channels, to the informal sector? especially within informal settlements and other unregulated areas where tra- ditional communication paths may be absent. 4 Risk What are the natural and Reflective The range of natural and technological Identification technological hazards and hazards that could impact the building risks of concern in the city? stock should be well understood. This is to help assess whether the hazard/risk maps associated with the regulations, if they exist, are appropriate to the re- quired mitigation targets. Risk Do formal land use planning/ Reflective; For any building project, particularly for Identification zoning regulations exist? Robust disaster risk/vulnerability mitigation, If so, do they incorporate disaster recovery, urban densification, hazard maps that identify and related project types, it is critical areas vulnerable to natural to have hazard maps that guide regula- hazards? tions in determining what building can be constructed in which locations, and to what extent are those locations with- in, or external to, hazards (natural or man-made) that need to be mitigated. Risk Are there mechanisms to re- Robust Control over construction taking place Identification strict development in desig- in hazardous zones is critical to ensure nated hazardous areas? that new buildings are not constructed in areas vulnerable to landslides, floods and other such natural hazards. Stakeholder What is the process used for Reflective; Building code development is usually a Consultation development and updating of Inclusive process led by central-level authorities the building regulations and yet typically involves both central and to what extent are pertinent local stakeholders. It is important that stakeholders consulted, or building regulations and building codes involved in the development, be developed with reference to local review, and/or approval of practice, past experience, and locally the final provisions? available materials and allow for inno- vation and improvement in construc- tion practice. 5