The recent catastrophic disaster in Haiti highlights the need for buildings to be constructed to the specifications of an approved and recognized building standard. Evidence indicates that the majority of residential construction in Haiti does not conform to any recognized standards, and in fact, the buildings most affected by the earthquake were not meeting regional or international building standards. Haiti, however, is not the only country in the region with this specific concern.

According to Mr. A. Michael Wood, Project Coordinator of the Regional Building Standards project being implemented by the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) and funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the most residential constructions in the region are not built to standards that are endorsed by regional standards bodies, and a plethora of different standards are used by engineers, which acts as a hindrance to regional standardization. Contributing factors are mainly related to the misconception of substantial increase in the cost of constructing according to a Standard, lack of relevance within the existing international standards to the peculiarities of the region and lack of awareness of the very existence of local standards. The main contributor, however, is the fact that though national standards exist, the use of building standards is not mandatory in many countries.

When asked what makes this new Regional Building Standard any different, Mr. Wood indicated that particular emphasis was placed on the inadequacies and inconsistencies in the existing standards during the development of the regional building standard. He added that, “the Regional Building Standard (RBS) will be based on the International Building Code (IBC) developed by the International Code Council (ICC), taking into account the specific peculiarities that make the region different from the United States of America.” Accordingly, Caribbean Application Documents (CADs) will be developed based on the IBC, within which Caribbean-specific characteristics will be recognized, such as high-level hurricanes and landslides. “These CADs will firstly describe and detail the standards that are common to the region and secondly would also have the facility to specify areas peculiar to individual nations,” he stated.

The CDB funded project is totaled at approximately USD $1.9 million of which approximately USD $1.3 million is being financed by CDB and just over USD $500,000 is being provided by CROSQ Member States (cash and in-kind contributions).

Chief Executive Officer of CROSQ, Dr. Vyjayanthi Lopez, indicated that CROSQ is collaborating with the Council of Caribbean Engineering Organisations (CCEO), the Association of Commonwealth Societies of Architects of the Caribbean (ACSAC), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) in order to facilitate the development of the Regional Building Standard under this project. “These organizations, along with representatives from each of the National Standards Bodies in the region, make up the Regional Technical Committee which acts as a Steering Committee for the project, providing guidance and support” she explained.

Further, within each Member State, a National Technical Subcommittee (NTSC) is being formed made up of engineers, architects, fire and emergency professionals, and planning authorities, among others, who are responsible for providing the particular country’s perspective in the development of the CADs. Mr. Wood adds, “Having NTSCs as part of the development process will make it easy for the relevant stakeholders to use the regional standard during the design and construction of buildings since they will already be familiar with the requirements of the standard. Their concerns will be represented and therefore, they will be more inclined to use the RBS.”

As part of the preparation of the CADs, several consultants are also being engaged to assist in the development of hazard maps (specifically in the areas of Flood Hazards, Rainfall Intensity Duration Frequency Curves and Seismic Hazards), and to ensure that project requirements conform to set standards.

Although the development of a regional standard can be seen as beneficial for those countries which do not have already existing national building standards, the question arises of what happens to the building standards of those countries that already have or are currently developing national standards. When queried on this, Mr. Wood emphasized that the development of a RBS will not mean the end of current Nation Building Standards but rather, a number of the standards in existing national standards, will be used as part of, or adapted to, the CAD. “The national standard will feed into the development of the CADs, especially to address country-specific particularities.” He went on to add that each member state will be given sufficient time to establish relevant authorities to administer the RBS; therefore continued use of existing national standards during this period would be desirable.

According to Dr. Lopez, the method of developing a regional standard ensures that internationally-accepted 'Best Practices' are followed, based on the principles of transparency and consensus in accordance with the requirements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This means that all Member States are involved in the development of the standard, and as a requirement MUST sign-off in agreement on the completion of the standard before it can move to being approved and accepted as a regional standard. “Once a regional standard is completed and approved, Member States can either adopt or adapt a regional standard as a national standard and develop supporting legislature to enforce the use of the standard within the country,” she explained. “In the case of the RBS, National Building Standards could be amended to incorporate the components of the Regional Standard, if a Member State chose not to replace their existing national standard completely with the regional one.”

As Dr. Lopez indicated during an explanation of the benefits to be realized by the region on the completion of the RBS, “the mandate of CROSQ speaks to the promotion and development of standards to facilitate the sustainable production of services within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Therefore, with one regional standard which encompasses country-specific CADs, an architect or engineer from Country A knowledgeable in the RBS can work confidently in Country B without possibly having to learn a different set of building standards made mandatory in Country B. This is in line with the free movement of skills, services and people as one of the components of CSME.” Mr. Wood adds that the free movement of skills within the purview of the regional standard ensures standardization for most products since everyone in the industry would be familiar with the standards. “An additional benefit is that having one standard of reference makes it cost effective for all countries as there is need to only revise one document,” he mentioned.

Elaborating on the need for familiarity by the practitioners of the regional standard being developed, both the CEO and the Project Coordinator stressed that training and awareness-raising initiatives are a major component of the project. Mr. Wood clarified that different levels of training and awareness will occur during and after the development process of the standard. He gave the example that some workshops will be carried out detailing how maps and curves are to be used while others will provide awareness on the differences between the countries as incorporated in the CADs. He also noted that countries where existing national standards are adhered to more stringently (such as Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago), less training might be required than for countries without existing building standards or where adherence is not strict.

Dr. Lopez pointed out that as one of the training initiatives, CROSQ is hosting 3 one-day workshops in Barbados on 9-11 March 2010, related to the development of Flood Hazard Maps (FHM) and rainfall intensity-duration-frequency curves (RIDFC). These workshops cover an introduction to the formulation of RIDFCs, as well as concepts and principles in river modeling and mapping, and are targeted at the Regional Technical Committee for the project, architects, engineers, planning authorities and disaster planners.

Referring specifically to the benefits to be realized by Haiti on the completion of the RBS, Mr. Wood indicated that according to some experts, the rebuilding of permanent structures will take ten to fifteen years as any immediate construction in Haiti is expected to be temporary. “This means that once the RBS is complete, it can be used to set as the standard for constructing permanent buildings in the country.” He added that the implementation of the RBS will ensure better protection against hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, among others, “which of course would not only benefit Haiti but the region as a whole.”

Concerns have been raised by stakeholders and practitioners with respect to the possible increase in cost of constructing buildings using the RBS. This is of course a grave concern for all, especially as it relates to the context of Haiti where economic stability is an issue. Mr. Wood clarified “Field research shows that the use of a building standard is likely to result in a four to six percent cost increase, compared to an equivalent structure constructed without any standards. However, one way of assisting property owners mitigate potential cost increases is for government initiatives to subsidize the cost increases of building to the RBS or for builders to reduce the size of the building. Another approach can be to guarantee a reduction in the cost of insurance premiums for buildings certified as having met the RBS. The advantages of building to the requirements of the RBS certainly outweigh the cost and repercussions of not implementing one. The structural damage in Haiti would have been significantly less had those buildings been built to accepted standards.”

Dr. Lopez notes, however, that the RBS will be made mandatory throughout the region so that the benefits of using the RBS are realized. Subsequently, there is need for enforcement to the developed standards within each country from the time of planning to the completion of the structure. “Building Code Authorities will need to be established within each Member State, outside of the Planning Authorities, to ensure that the buildings conform to the standard throughout the various stages of construction.” The Planning Authorities are also expected to play their part in ensuring that designs also conform to the specifications within the Standard.

Mr. Wood further added that it is expected that insurance companies should also require that buildings be built to the specifications of the RBS before they can be insured, and possibly as well as bank requirements that the Standard be adhered to before financing is agreed. These would be additional forms of enforcement to adherence of constructing to the Standard.

Within another two years, it is expected that the development of the CADs will be complete, along with all of the planned training, consensus-building workshops and awareness-raising initiatives that are to be undertaken. The completed RBS will be up for review every three to five years, to take into account changes in technologies and climatic conditions as well as natural disasters.