Centre146;s revised building code came out days before quake

8216;8216;The revised guidelines contain all technical requirements for buildings to withstand natural disasters. If the code is adopted strictly, not a single building would collapse,8217;8217; said V. Suresh, Vice-Chairman of the National Building Code Sectional Committee of BIS.

The code, however, is not mandatory. It is up to the states, their PWDs, government construction departments, local bodies and other construction agencies to adopt it.

8216;8216;States should adopt it fully. The NBC should become a guiding document and municipalities should incorporate the technical details. In other countries, the building code is adopted throughout their nation. For instance, there is one federal document for all of UK,8217;8217; Suresh said.

The committee studied international standards and also Indian building bylaws and found that even in seismic Zone V areas, there was no mention of earthquakes.

8216;8216;Buildings are being constructed with the least of regulations. Most building bylaws have no mention of any earthquake,8217;8217; he added. 8216;8216;In the January 26 Gujarat quake, 13,000 people died, but a month later in Seattle there was a larger quake.. but only one person died. Seattle city has a building code that is strictly enforced,8217;8217; he added.

The earthquake portion has been completely revamped in NBC-2005, coming as it did, after the Gujarat quake.

In earthquake-prone areas, the code has delineated types of construction according to seismic zones. Schools, hospitals, fire stations are all put in the service category and these buildings, according to the code, should be reinforced 1.5 times more than other buildings in that seismic zone.

The code also says that buildings that have regular shapes are safer and those with simple geometry suffer less damage during an earthquake. The code suggests that each house should have a lintel band around the roof, windows and doors. A lintel band is a stone or concrete band to be put round windows and doors so that the building dissipates energy in the event of an earthquake. The code also suggests vertical steel bars on all corners. 8216;8216;These are techniques to strengthen buildings against quakes,8217;8217; said a BIS official.

On the administrative side the code talks of a Certificate for Structural Design Sufficiency signed by a registered engineer or structural engineer mandatory for building sanction, and another certificate for execution of work as per structural safety requirements after construction.

Centre team to assess building damage

NEW DELHI: With the Urban Development Ministry estimating that around 33,000 buildings and houses in the Valley were damaged in the earthquake, a team led by Arup Roy Choudhary, Chairman, NBCC would leave for J-K to assess the damage to constructions, including heritage buildings. The team would also design quake-resistant permanent habitats for those whose homes were destroyed in the quake. Experts and structural engineers from CPWD, NBCC and TCPO would be visiting Uri, Tangdhar and Srinagar to prepare the report. The team will visit the state on October 13 and 14. Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the team would look into the impact on Charar-e-Sharif and some other heritage sites in J-K.