New construction building standards written with a better understanding of regional natural hazards, such as hurricanes, strong earthquakes, and floods, will provide the Caribbean with a much improved and sustained infrastructure.

The CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) will be hosting 3 one-day workshops on 9-11 March 2010 in Barbados, aimed at providing participants with an opportunity to use and apply modern Flood Hazard Mapping and Rainfall-Intensity-Duration Frequency Curves technologies.

These workshops are one of the activities under the project being implemented by CROSQ, and funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, to develop Regional Building Standards (RBS) for the Caribbean. The objective of the RBS project is to provide an updated and comprehensive set of building standards facilitating the safer and more efficient design of buildings in the region, through the development of Caribbean Application Documents which will be based on the International Building Code but specific to the region.

The workshops will be facilitated by H. R. Wallingford and the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), the consultants that developed the Rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves and Flood Hazard Maps as a component to the preparation of the Caribbean Application Documents.

The topics will cover an introduction to the formulation of rainfall intensity duration frequency curves, as well as concepts and principles in river modeling and mapping. Full details of the programme for each workshop can be obtained by visiting the Workshops/Training section of the Public Documents section of our website or by contacting the Project Execution Unit (PEU) at the CROSQ Secretariat.

The workshops are targeted at the Regional Technical Committee for the project, architects, engineers, planning authorities and disaster planners. Participation to the workshops is free of charge and interested parties are invited to apply with the PEU for attendance. However, space is limited and acceptance will be based on available seating.

The Project Execution Unit may be contacted via email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or via telephone: (246) 622-7677.