Government of Nepal Ministry of Urban Development Department of Urban Development and Building Construction

Transcription

1 Government of Nepal Ministry of Urban Development Department of Urban Development and Building Construction National Plan of Action for Safer Building Construction (NaPA)-2072 November 2015

2 List of Abbreviations ADB ADPC BCCBS BCIAES BCPRRS BCSIC CSEB CSR CTEVT DCS DDC DFID DOE DRM DRR DUDBC E-BPS ERP IEC materials JICA KMC KVDA LBs LGCDP LSMC MOUD MOE MOFALD MOHA MOHP NBC NRB NRCS NRRC NSET STF TFI TOT TSG UNDP USAID VDC SE SOE Asian Development Bank Asian Disaster Preparedness Center Building Code Capacity Building Subcommittee Building Code Internalization, Adaptation and Enforcement subcommittee Building Code Policy Regulation and Research Subcommittee Building Code System Improvement Committee Compressed Stabilized Earth Block Corporate Social Responsibility Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training District Coordination Subcommittee District Development Committee Department for International Development Department of Education Disaster Risk Management Disaster Risk Reduction Department of Urban Development and Electronic Building Permit System External Resource Person Information, Education and Communication materials Japan International Cooperation Agency Kathmandu Metropolitan City Kathmandu Valley Development Authority Local Bodies Local Governance and Community Development Program Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City Ministry of Urban Development Ministry of Education Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development Ministry of Home Affairs Ministry of Health and Population National Building Code Nepal Rastra Bank Nepal Red Cross Society Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium National Society for Earthquake Technology Small Task Force Training for Instructor Training of Trainers Technical Support Group United Nations Development Program United States Agency for International Development Village Development Committee Sub Engineer State Own Entities 2

3 Table of Contents Abbreviation 2 Contents 3 1. Background Past Initiatives Present Scenario 9 4. Problems and Challenges Necessity for National Plan of Action for Safer Building Construction Vision Goal Objectives Policies Strategies Working Strategies and Plan of Actions Institutional Structuring Financial Aspect Legal Arrangements Monitoring and Evaluation Risks Repeal and Saving 48 3

4 1. Background. Nepal has experienced large earthquakes measuring over 8.0 Richter scale in the past centuries leading to the loss of lives of thousands of people. The earthquake of December 1223 AD has been reported to destroy many houses and temples of Kathmandu. The earthquake of June 1255 led to killing of one third to one forth population including reigning king Abhaya Malla (Pant, 2002). The earthquake of September 1344, 1408, 1681 and June 1808 AD also caused a lot of damage in Kathmandu. The earthquake of January 1934 was the most destructive in the 20 th century with 8519 people killed and 207,740 structures were damaged (Rana, 1934). The 1980 Bajhang earthquake and 1988 earthquake in eastern Nepal also killed hundreds of people and damaged major infrastructure. Nepal is 11 th seismically most vulnerable country in the world, and the country s vulnerability was challenged at the time of the most recent 2015 Gorkha earthquake (M L 7.6 on 25 April 2015 and M L 6.8 on 12 May 2015) which has brought 8891 deaths (MOHA, 2015) and damages to almost 800,000 houses and buildings (PDNA, 2015) mainly in the rural areas of Nepal. Table 1: Loss of Life and Economy incurred in last 3 years Year No of Loss Inj Inj Type of Loss Injur No of Loss Loss in No of Loss Even in M ure ure Disaster of life ed Event of life M Nrs Event of life t Nrs d d Loss in M Nrs Fire Flood Landslide Wind Storm Thunderb olt Total Table : 1a Damage due to April Earthquake in Nepal Source: MoHA Source: PDNA

5 Besides the seismic risk, Nepal is exposed to various other disasters resulting into loss of life, infrastructure and economy. The major disasters that the urban/rural Nepal is exposed to are flood, landslide, fire, wind storm and thunderbolt besides the earthquake. The table 1 illustrates that both the loss of life and economy has increasing trend. Similarly fire and flood contributes to the majority of economic losses while the thunderbolt causes human loss. It is pertinent to note that seismic safety though very pivotal for safer building construction, fire safety; flood safety, landslide safety and thunderbolt safety are also need to be synchronized. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Government of Nepal (GoN) has initiated numerous efforts including the natural calamity relief act 1982, NBC 1994 and Building Act 1998 (amendment 2006). According to the Government of Nepal, Business Allocation Rules 2069 the mandate of Ministry of Urban development is to prepare the policy, action plan and programs for urban development and urban infrastructure development, implement the plan, monitor and evaluate, and also to prepare codes and guidelines for technology, research and development about building and other construction materials. The Ministry of Urban Development has the mission of Safe and Economical Shelter for all. Similarly, the Department of urban development and building construction has the long term visions of Safe, economical and environmentally friendly building construction. Under the above vision and mission of Ministry of Urban development and Department of urban development and building construction has been enforcing National Building Code (NBC) with the help of various state and non-state actors in various municipalities to reduce seismic risk. The national urban policy 2007 has a major objective to create safer urban built form and environment. In the meantime government has become signatory of various international treaties showing its intention to create safer communities. Accordingly, the GoN has been implementing various projects and activities along with production of numerous guidelines and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials. Despite all these noble efforts, the result is mixed and could not achieve the desire level of impacts. During the 11th Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) Steering Committee meeting in June 2014, the committee members identified that the various development partners have been making tremendous efforts and progress by investing their resources into supporting the Government of Nepal in the implementation of the NBC. It was also noted that, the effort should be scaled up with a more harmonized and holistic approach in order to promote resilience to the seismic risk in Nepal as a whole. Accordingly Technical Support Group (TSG) led by DUDBC was formulated to bring all the stakeholders together for formulation and implementation of safer building initiatives in Nepal. However, a harmonized document found to be missing to guide the actions of different stakeholders and their monitoring. This evolved to the concept for formulating National Plan of Action for Safer Building Construction (NaPA for SBC) in Nepal. Review of various documents, policy instrument and past lessons were conducted together with multiple occasions and layers of stakeholder consultation. Key expertise was brought in not only from within MOUD/DUDBC but also from cross-ministerial senior officials of the GoN, development partners as well as some technical individual experts who rigorously provided support to the process. Due to Gorkha earthquake on 25 April 2015 and subsequent aftershocks with disaster relief and early recovery, the process of the development of NaPA for SBC was halted for a while. The draft document was revised after the Gorkha earthquake accordingly. 2. Past Initiatives. The most destructive earthquake in the 20 th century in January 1934 killed 8519 people and damaged 207,740 structures in the country. For the first time, Rana government announced financial support to its people and 5

6 massive awareness was created among Nepalese people about earthquake. The earthquake of 1988 also killed 721 and damaged infrastructures. This earthquake changed the mindset of people and instead of depending on God, lot of new ideas and actions were initiated. The most recent 2015 April/May earthquake caused 8891 deaths and damages to almost 800,000 houses and structures, and highlighted the severe vulnerability of the rural houses and low-strength urban houses to earthquakes, and exposed many of the population to the vulnerabilities to the risk of seismic disaster. The reconstruction and rehabilitation activities are due to commence at a massive scale in the affected districts. The journey of Nepal on path of SBC started with preparation of NBC 1994 and its implementation in Lalitpur municipality. It followed the enactment of Building Act 1998 and regulation Since then various state and non-state actors have been working effortlessly on various components to create conducive environment for enforcement of NBC and promote SBC across the nation. The efforts of DUDBC, MoFALD, JICA, UNDP, USAID, NSET, CoRD and other various NGOs and INGOs are praiseworthy for awareness creation, capacity building and production of various standard documents and IEC materials. The major efforts include: Formulation and enactment of Act and Regulation Formulation, review and implementation codes and guidelines as per prevailing laws Earthquake Disaster Risk Assessment of Kathmandu Valley 2002 Awareness raising activities at local level through preparation and distribution of IEC materials, orientations, operation of camps, celebration of earthquake day, TV programme, Radio programme, articles in print and electronic media, drills Capacity Development Activities at central and local level like, Training of Trainers (TOT), Training for Instructors (TFI), trainings to engineers, architects, sub engineers, masons, house owners, teachers and students, and municipal staff Physical Support to various Municipalities through different projects like Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery Preparedness Program for enforcement of NBC at local level Dedicated human resource to different municipalities for enforcement of NBC Policy Support for formulation of building bye laws, revised building permit form with the provisions of NBC, Building permit system Safer school and health institution construction Reconstruction and rehabilitation projects after 1988 and 2011 earthquakes Nepal Rastra Bank Directive for loan disbursement to those buildings only which comply the NBC Inclusion of NBC in performance measurement of Minimum Conditions Performance Measure (MCPM) of Municipalities With all those herculean efforts, 47 municipalities have initiated to enforce NBC and 2 are in pipeline. Various activities carried out in the past has brought the awareness level of local people and skill of local institutions staffs to next level creating an atmosphere for implementation of Safer Building Construction. In the context of post-gorkha earthquake, overwhelming demand from the municipalities to implement building code and risk sensitive land use planning is observed. Further, a greater emphasis has been put in place for the capacity building of the Village Development Committees to facilitate safer building construction on the ground. In Nepal, currently there are 217 municipalities and 3157 VDCs. Promotion of Safer Building Construction should be made mandatory in all local bodies of Nepal. The importance and urgency of building capacity of the local bodies to facilitate Safer Building Construction is higher than ever. 6

7 2.1 Review of Past Documents Prior to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, three documents that have been produced through NRRC Flagship 5. TSG provided the foundation for understanding the current efforts around SBC, conceptualizing and identifying the common approaches, lessons and gaps that need to be addressed under NaPA for SBC. These three documents are; a. Report of National Consultation Workshop on SBC 2014 The report exhibits clearly that numerous institutions are showing their keen interest in enforcing SBC in Nepal, however they expect more harmonized and holistic approach for tangible impact towards creating resilience community. The report is the culmination of four months of work by a TSG led by the DUCBC under NRRC Flagship 5. The report has well documented the views of different stakeholders revealing the urgency of coherence at the project level and the need to ensure steep progress in the context of rapid urbanization throughout the country. The workshop produced the elements of a national plan of action with recommended actions. The actions are grouped into three themes, with each thematic area having a long list of priorities substantiated by actions. These themes were: Policy, Regulation and Institutional Framework; Implementation and Monitoring and Public Awareness, Education, Capacity Development The report has explicitly enclosed output matrix on each of the three themes. The matrix includes the issues and challenges in each theme along with the problem solving approach, key element area of NaPA and desired actions. The report has set the direction with comprehensive collection of views of different stakeholders on SBC. Further it has outlined most of the activities that need to be implemented for creating resilient community, however it is missing the institutional, monitoring and legal frameworks along with timeline and resource requirements including various strategies to be adopted for NaPA. It has rightly recommended for further substantial work for the development of NaPA for SBC. b. Safer Building Construction Mapping Exercise Analysis Report NRRC Flagship5/DUDBC 2014 The SBC Mapping Exercise Analysis Report 2014 prepared by NRRC Flagship5/DUDBC depicts that about 19 institutions besides the government agencies are supporting NBC enforcement in different municipalities and VDCs across the country. Some institutions are extending comprehensive support while others support on certain activities only of SBC enforcement. Out of 19 organizations, 9 organizations (Lumanti, NRCS, NSET, Practical Action, Action Aid, UNDP, CoRD, UN-Habitat, and JICA) are directly supporting or planning to support municipalities and VDCs in implementing NBC or promoting overall safer building construction. Some organizations, such as JICA, are not yet implementing the project, but are currently in a planning stage. UN-Habitat currently targets the municipalities supported by other organizations, but specifically in the promotion of Green Safe Building Construction. Lumanti is unique in a way that it has relatively smaller, but more community focused direct technical and financial support to home owners. Further the report outlines 3 key players and key interventions while framing the outputs as depicted in figure below. The figure reveals that how the organizations are targeting three major key players (Government, Service Provider/Private Sector, and End Users), and how these three key players are targeted through three categories of key outputs: 7

8 1) Awareness raising + Skills & Knowledge Enhancement for Demand Creation, 2) Institutional/system changes, and 3) Normative/Policy and Guidelines. Fig 1: Key Players in SBC The report has documented the prevailing NBC enforcement mechanism along with demand creation curve and means to create demand. It has outlined the need of institutional/system change in Building Permit System and capacities of good leadership along with the establishment of the resource center at municipalities. It has outlined the activities for policy and legal framework improvement along with sketchy compliance assurance and monitoring and private sector engagement. The report has outlined in detailed about the issues and challenges that the NBC enforcement is facing. c. Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction DUDBC 2014 DUDBC has been leading the efforts with relevant stakeholders towards safer building construction in Nepal. DUDBC s recent and past initiatives on safer building construction covers various aspects including policy/act/regulation, guideline development, technical support to municipalities, awareness raising campaign, reconstruction after major earthquake, as well as enhancement of knowledge and technical capacity of engineers and masons on safer building construction. The major works accomplished are summarized as below: Policy, act, regulation document formulation, revision and update: - Formulation of Nepal NBC Prepared in 1994 and approved by the GoN on 2003/7/28 Safety against Earthquake, Fire, Wind, Landslide. 8

9 - Implemented through following Acts and Regulations Local Self Governance Act/ Rule, 1999 Town Development Act, 1998 Building By-law of Kathmandu Valley, 2007 Building Act 1998 and its amendment (2006)/Building Regulations, 2008 Ownership of Joint Housing Act, 1997 / Ownership of Joint Housing Rule, Recently, Revision of NBC 206 Architectural Design Code has been approved, and Mandatory Rules of Thumb (MRT) series codes including 202: MRT for masonry structure, NBC 205: MRT for RCC structure have been completed. The revision of other 200 series codes are under process. Guidelines development: - Seismic Vulnerability Evaluation Guideline for Private and Public Building (For pre disaster vulnerability and post disaster damage assessment) - Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings vol I: Engineers training on NBC - Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings vol II : Engineers training on Computer Aided Design based on NBC - Recovery Principles and Guidelines - Guidelines for Trainers on "Mason Training on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings" - Mason Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings - Illustrated Guideline for Construction of Earthquake Safe Residential Buildings - Construction Management Guideline - Illustrative Guideline on Earthquake resistance Building Construction Support to Municipalities - Preparation of hazard map of 34 municipalities - Support to Municipalities on enforcement NBC has been provided to 9 Municipalities - Evacuation Plan & Assessment of Non-structural Vulnerability of the Office of the President - Vulnerability Assessment of Mobile Towers in Kathmandu Valley - Study of Existing Practices in High Rise Building & Recommendation for safety - Reconstruction & Rehabilitation - Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Project for Sept 18, 2011 Earthquake DUDBC s ongoing initiatives - Direct execution and coordination support for enforcement of NBC in 10 VDCs in Kathmandu Valley, 1 in Ilam, 1 in Bhairahwa, 2 in Gorkha - Capacity building trainings to engineers, sub engineers, masons and staff of municipalities - TOTs and TFIs - Ensure NBC compliance in Hospital and school buildings - Preparation of alternative design of school buildings for different typology 3. Present Scenario Tremendous amount of efforts has been put in place from both state and non-state actors for ensuring SBC; some good practices and lessons have been clearly visible; however numerous challenges and issues are still prevailing resulting into weak success rate. Despite all challenges, NBC compliance in building construction in different municipalities is going on along with other activities which address other dimensions of SBC. The present scenario is depicted as below: 9

10 3.1 State of NBC Enforcement The table 2 shows that about 49 Municipalities are implementing or initiated to enforce NBC with support from different support agencies (as of April 2015). In some cases the support is comprehensive encompassing all facets of NBC enforcement while some are getting partial support in some particular activities. The success rate or quality of enforcement varies across the list. Table 2: List of NBC implemented Municipalities Name of municipalities Support Agency No of Municipalities Kathmandu Metropolitan City DUDBC /UNDP/ CDRMP 1 Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City DUDBC /NSET 1 Bhaktapur, Kirtipur, Madhyapur, Budhanilkantha, Gokarneshwer, Mahalaxmi, Anant Lingeshwer, Tokha DUDBC/ UNDP/CORD 8 Tarakeshwor, Ilam, Banepa, Dhulikhel and Panauti DUDBC 5 Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City DUDBC/ DFID/ Practical Action 1 Bhimdutta and Dhangadhi DUDBC/DFID /Oxfam 2 Bhadrapur, Birtamod, Biratnagar, Inaruwa, Triyuga, Janakpur, Kamalamai, Hetauda, Bhimeshwor, Karyabinayak, Suryabinayak, Gaidakot, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Saina Maina, Ghorai, Tulsipur, Nepalgunj, Gularia, Dhangadi, Surkhet, Amargadi, Bhimdatta, Damak, Byas, Dharan, Bensishahar, PutaliBazar, Khandbari, Gorkha, and Siddharthanagar DUDBC/USAID/NSET 31 Total 49 Source: Mapping Analysis Report and discussion with Stakeholders For the reconstruction of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake affected districts, National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) was established. Safer re-construction of damaged individual in municipalities and VDCs in the affected districts will be supported through the special mechanism set up at the local level to expedite the reconstruction efforts with Build Back Better concept. It is expected that many more municipalities as well as VDCs across the country are keen to implementing building codes in the aftermath of the earthquake. There will be significant amount of efforts required to support municipalities and VDCs who do not necessarily have the capacity to facilitate the code-compliant Building Permit System and overall safer building construction. 3.2 Flow of Resource The flow of financial, human and physical resources to central and local level is either through the government treasury, donors, INGOs or NGOs. However, their sources, flow direction and outputs are not properly mapped and recorded which is misleading among the stakeholders including government. 10

11 3.3 Coordination and Monitoring The provisions of Building Act and LSGA should have been analyzed and a robust coordination and monitoring mechanism should have been in place. But at present, monitoring is very sketchy though the vertical and horizontal coordination among central and local agencies are improving. In some cases it is limited to experience sharing and participating in each other s workshops, seminars and discussions. In present context, MOUD/DUDBC and MoFALD using Building Act and LSGA respectively are venturing into enforcing NBC in the Municipalities independently despite having strong desire for working together. Appropriate mechanism has not been tried sufficiently to orient the thrust of MoFALD and MOUD/DUDBC together towards the promotion of SBC in Nepal. The agencies working in enforcing NBC at local level are taking up works in piecemeal and working independently without synchronizing with others activities and agencies resulting in very complex and spider web kind of resource flow and activities implementation at different level. The government agencies are either not aware of or have limited information. An indicative flow diagram of flow of resources and coordination among various institutions is in chaotic situation as shown in the Fig 2. 11

12 Other govt. Agencies MOHA KMC SMCs Donor MoUD Old Municipalities R&D Academia MoFALD New Municipalities INGOs DUDBC DDCs NGOs/ Civil Societies SWCC VDCs Fig 2: Understanding the complexities in coordination 12

13 3.4 Confusion among major stakeholders about the NBC and its classification The stakeholders mainly the end users are confused about the NBC and its implications. Many still think that NBC is rocket science, very difficult to understand and comply and it will increase the cost of construction dramatically. Further the municipal staffs themselves think that it is cumbersome and extra burden to them. The local leaders and civil societies are also in state of confusion as they believe that construction will be costlier, cumbersome without additional benefit to the house owners. 3.5 Inertia among professionals for adopting NBC The private practitioners and professionals take it as extra work as it is hard for them to charge extra amount for structural and other drawings especially in residential buildings. 3.6 Concern on existing building code The existing building code is not complete in it and need further additions, amendments and mainstreaming in building bye laws and building permit system. The major concerns on the existing NBC for implementation of SBC are how to link: i. Risk Sensitive Land Use Plan and Building Bye Laws ii. Inclusive and vernacular architecture in Architectural code, Non Structural Safety, Safer and energy efficient iii. WASH component in building construction iv. Fire Safety Code v. Code for Thunderbolt vi. MRTs (MRTs for all options required by Building Act) vii. Emerging issues like green building technology 3.7 Quality of Material and Workmanship The mechanism to ensure quality of construction material available in the market is ineffective. Construction materials available in the market are with or without NS marks. Even the material with NS marks does not comply with the specification. Similarly, masons and other construction workers are not trained or sometimes even trained workers do not comply with the necessary standards of workmanship. Ways to ensure the workmanship and quality of construction materials need to be part of the NaPA for SBC. 3.8 Absence of Coordinated Plan of Action Various organizations and donors are supporting and are willing to continue supporting the effort toward safer building construction in Nepal. At the same time, some donors expressed that they are willing to support the effort in this area but need to see clear targets, capacity requirements and resource gaps that can be followed by all the partners. They also want to be confident in planning their future support as well as the exit strategy. Other inadequacies include: Inadequacy in Acts and Policies Private Buildings under public use like schools and Hospitals in private residential buildings Conversion of Building Use Non Compliance of NBC in State owned public buildings (Govt, State Owned Entities (SOE) and local bodies) Role of Nepal Engineering Council, CTEVT and academia like IOE, local level engineering institutes Role of professional societies like Society of Nepalese Architect, Nepal Engineers Association, Regional Urban Planners Society of Nepal, Society of Structural Engineers Association of Nepal 13

14 Non existence of NBC in academic courses (CTEVT, Institute of Engineering and other technical institutes) 4. Problems and Challenges 4.1 Despite the enactment of Building Act 1998 and National Building Code 2003 along with rigorous efforts of DUDBC, the national building codes and other relevant codes and building bye laws could not be enforced throughout the country as envisaged in the act. Most of the buildings constructed in public sector do not even bother to get their building design drawings approved as per building permit system of the local body. The design drawings of the buildings constructed by private and organized sectors are also not compliance with the national building codes most of the time. Even if the building permit system is adopted by various local authorities, the NBC compliance is not part of it. In some cases, building design and drawings are approved and permit is issued as per NBC, the construction at site does not comply with the approved drawings and designs. On the other hand the qualities of materials used in building construction along with the masons are not par with required specifications and standards. The prevailing building construction practices would not withstand the mega earthquakes and other disasters that are likely to hit the nation in future. 4.2 Low level of awareness among the local people and other stakeholders along with inadequate capacity of local government institutions, professional engineers and architects are prevailing. There is no proper mechanism to disseminate Cost Benefit Analysis of implementing NBC to individual and society at large. 4.3 The coordination, support and collaboration among various public, private and local institutions and other stakeholders responsible for implementation of NBC on ground is weak. There is visible inertia among the local government institutions against enforcement of NBC at local level 4.4 There has not been effective efforts on identification, mobilization and allocation of internal and external resources for implementation of NBC 4.5 Besides reconstruction, retrofitting and maintenance of earthquake affected structures, about 1435 new public buildings are to be constructed annually across the nation. Similarly in next one decade about buildings will go through maintenance and renovation along with construction of 1.5 million new private houses in next 20 yrs. Enforcement of SBC approach and NBC standards in all these buildings demand very strong coordination, support and collaboration among the concerned stakeholders at both national and local level to ensure minimum standards of construction which is a big challenge. 4.6 Coordination, support and collaboration among various government institutions, 3157 VDCs and 217 municipalities along with 75 districts and 7 states is the major challenge for successful enforcement of SBC. 4.7 Mobilization of internal and external resources to meet the 20 yrs need of about Nrs 100 billion for implementation of SBC at national and local level is also another challenge 14

15 4.8 More than 75% of population is still living in rural settlements where most of the buildings are constructed with local technology and material which may not be compatible with SBC requirements to withstand the disasters that they are exposed to. There is huge challenge to develop affordable and locally acceptable technological options and material choices for rural housing for different ecological and development regions. 5. Necessity for National Plan of Action for Safer Building Construction Even though the National building code and building bye laws and standards are at the core of the safer building construction system, they could not address all the dimensions of safer building construction to create safer communities and settlements. Despite the enactment of Building Act 1998, NBC 2003 and Local Self Governance Act 1998 and concerned regulations, the state does not have a comprehensive document to encompass all dimensions and aspects of safer building construction system which resulted in very slow pace of NBC enforcement in bits and pieces. There is dire need for clarity on dimensions of safer building construction along with development of necessary coordination, implementation and monitoring mechanism for its enforcement. Aftermath of the recent earthquake, it has become urgent necessity to carry out study and research and develop necessary new codes, revisit the existing codes, develop new guidelines, develop new technologies and materials, capacity development of concerned stakeholders, create awareness among the people and carry out massive reconstruction as per the principle of Build Back Better, Safer and Greener. The local bodies are to be strengthened with necessary technical, physical and financial resource inputs to coordinate and collaborate for enforcement of safer building construction practices. In this background, an integrated comprehensive National Plan of Action on SBC needs to be enforced through approval of government of Nepal (Council of Ministers) to transform Nepal towards a disaster resilient nation in 20 years time. 6. Vision To create disaster resilient building structures through different initiatives of Safer Building Construction across the nation 7. Goal To mainstream all dimensions of Safer Building Construction (SBC) in all levels of governance through internalization, adaptation and enforcement resulting into behavioral change in local community within 20 years timeframe. At the end of 20 years, it is targeted that the entire process and dimensions of SBC will be internalized and put in place in the mindset of all people and institutions of Nepal. 8. Objectives. The overall objective of the National Plan of Action (NaPA) for Safer Building Construction (SBC) in Nepal is to develop a common conceptual and strategic framework that helps to identify the necessary inputs and actions for contributing to safer building constructions against time and resources required across the nation The specific objectives of the National Plan of Action are: To identify the list of works/actions to be carried out across the nations by different agencies at central, district and local level for ensuring Safer Building Construction. To devise the various strategies to create conducive environment for implementation of actions outlined in National Plan of Action for Safer Building Construction. 15

16 To prepare a doable, clear and informative National Plan of Action with required timeline, resources and institutional set up. 9. Policies 9.1 To establish appropriate mechanism for the implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation program effectively and efficiently for the destruction caused by the recent earthquake or that will be caused by any disasters in the future 9.2 To create conducive environment for new construction, reconstruction, renovation, retrofitting and extension of any Public, Private and critical service buildings across the nation to the standard prescribed by the government to survive the probable future disasters. 9.3 To develop a mechanism for coordination, collaboration, mobilization and sharing of resources among individuals and institutions with clear roles and responsibilities, involved in the campaign of enforcing Safer Building Construction System across the nation 9.4 To create conducive environment to achieve desired results through implementation of NaPA for SBC within stipulated time frame. 10. Strategies 10.1 To implement policy 9. 1, the following strategies will be adopted: To make necessary legal, technical, institutional and financial arrangements for the implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in recent earthquake affected districts To implement all reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in earthquake affected districts within planned timeframe 10.2 To implement 9.2 policy, following strategies will be adopted To formulate necessary new codes and guidelines for all 4 categories of buildings outlined in the building regulation 2066 after detailed study and research based on national and international practices To revise the existing building codes and guideline to address the new issues and new knowledge on construction technology and prepare model design and drawings compatible with socio economic and climatic condition of different ecological zones To formulate and enforce a separate guidelines for school buildings, hospital buildings and private buildings under public uses 10.3 To implement 9.3 policy, following strategies will be adopted To make individuals and institutions accountable with clear responsibilities in public, private and nongovernmental organizations working in SBC campaign To transfer necessary skills, technologies and resources from central agencies to all local bodies through proposed resource center under district coordination subcommittee for successful enforcement of National campaign on safer building construction across the nation in 20 years To implement 9.4 policy, following strategies will be adopted 16

17 To implement all the activities of different streams of safer building construction within stipulated time frame successfully and develop a pragmatic monitoring mechanism to make monitoring more effective at central, district and municipal/vdc level. To revisit and revise the National Plan of Action on SBC periodically or as per necessity To encourage the application of information and communication technology for effective implementation and monitoring 11. Working Strategies and Plan of Actions 11A : Working Strategies Corresponding working policies have been devised to implement policies and strategies discussed above. The working strategies devised to implement the above mentioned strategies are outlined as below: 11.1 : Identification and grouping of activities in different streams The national campaign of safer building construction demands numerous activities to encompass various dimensions of SBC. The numerous activities identified are of similar nature and hence could be grouped together which will enable smooth understanding and implementation. The national consultation workshop on Safer Building Construction held on 10 th November 2014 has enlisted about various activities in three streams. However, the discussion with various stakeholders and analysis of the nature of activities necessary for inducing Safer Building Construction indicates that more actions are needed and could be grouped in 10 different streams as follows: A. Immediate Response to Recent Disasters B. Policy and Regulation C. Codes, Guidelines and Research D. Risk Sensitive Land Use Planning and Building Bye Laws E. Awareness, Education and Demand creation F. Skill Development and Capacity Building G. Physical Facility Support H. Internalization, Adaptation and Enforcement I. Retrofitting and Regeneration J. Quality Assurance and Monitoring 11.2 Develop and implement pragmatic plans and programs to respond the required reconstruction activities The predatory works required for reconstruction and rehabilitation will be finalized immediately such as plan, policy, projects, mobilization of human and financial resources and mechanism for technical support at the local level. The actual implementation should be followed immediately and the reconstruction work will be accomplished within given timeframe Government/semi government and private buildings in public use like school and hospitals need separate investigation and set of strategies and action for SBC enforcement. Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health and Population in collaboration with MoUD and DUDBC have prepared guidelines for construction of educational and health institutions and are being implemented in their 17

18 respective sectors. However, these guidelines need to be harmonized with the SBC initiatives. The private buildings under public use need immediate attention. A guideline, standards and process need to be developed for building use conversion i.e. from residential to hospital or to commercial 11.4 Identification, grouping and responsibility allocation of institutions The activities identified in the action plan depicts that these activities are to be executed and coordinated at three different level of governance i.e. Central, District and Local level. Different agencies are identified as per the prevailing acts and regulations to facilitate the executions of these activities as outlined in section 12. The mechanism shall be reviewed and adjusted accordingly after the implementation of federal structure envisaged by the newly promulgated constitution Private Sector mobilization Private sector working in this area will be encouraged to participate in SBC enforcement. Sectors like material production and suppliers, banking and financial institutions, contractors, masons, CCIs, professionals, insurance sector and civil society will be taken on board for creating resilient communities across the country Establishment of resource center in each district in DUDBC Division Office/DDC (under district coordination subcommittee) Government of Nepal has decided to depute one engineer in each municipality and one sub engineer in each VDCs to facilitate all development activities along with enforcement of NBC, however the deputed technical personnel may not have the required technical skill for adaption and enforcement of SBC at local level. Therefore, a resource center has been proposed under the district coordination subcommittee in DUDBC Division office or DDC (where division office is not stationed). The resource centers are the technical resource dedicated to enhance the capacity of local body staff and extend technical support to local bodies for enforcement of SBC. The available resources and magnitude of works in district have been analyzed and accordingly four categories of resource centers have been proposed. The additional human resources required in each category of RC are detailed in table 3. a. RC1: Earthquake highly affected district (14 Nos) b. RC2: Other Earthquake affected district (17 Nos) c. RC3: Earthquake unaffected Districts with municipalities (38 Nos) d. RC4: Earthquake unaffected district without municipalities (6 Nos) Table 3: Capacity requirements at local level Types Description No of Type of Support (minimum Type of RC Districts requirement) 1 Earthquake highly affected district 14 RC 1 1 Structural Engineer, 2 Civil Engineers and 1 Architect 2 Other Earthquake affected district 17 RC2 1 Structural Engineer, 1 Civil Engineers, 1 Architect 3 Earthquake unaffected Districts with municipalities 38 RC 3 1 Structural Engineer, 1 Architect 4 Earthquake unaffected district 6 RC 4 1 Civil Engineer 18

19 without municipalities DUDBC Division office will establish a resource center in each district with all resources for counseling, training and awareness raising at local level. One support staff will be deputed by DUDBC Division office/ DDC. The resource personnel will be hired for 10 years on contract basis and will be accountable to the DUDBC/District Coordination Subcommittee Resource mapping at central and local level The different dimensions of safer building construction are the matter of concerned for all individuals, institutions, civil society, business community, NGO, INGO and people at large of all walks of life. Therefore, it has been observed that when need arises resources are made available at local level also according to their capacity. It is expected that for awareness and capacity building activities, local donors will provide substantial resources for the activities to be implemented. The agencies extending resources for implementation of SBC initiatives at central and local level have been identified and mapped for different streams as indicated below: S. No A. Response to damages of April 25 th Earthquake. B. Policy and Regulation C. Codes, Guidelines and Research D. Risk Sensitive Land Use Planning and Building Bye Laws E. Awareness, Education and Demand creation F. Skill Development and Capacity Building G. Physical Facility Support H. Internalization, Adaptation and Enforcement I. Retrofitting and Regeneration J. Quality Assurance and Monitoring Table 4: Resource Mapping Name of Institutions Different Streams A B C D E F G H I J 1 RNA 2 MoHA 3 MoUD 4 MoFALD 7 DUDBC 8 UNDP 9 JICA 10 DFID 11 USAiD 12 Other Donors Remarks 19

20 13 INGO 14 NGO 15 FNCCI/NCOC 16 DDC DUDBC 17 Division Office 18 Resource Center Metropolitan/Sub 19 Metropolitan City 20 Municipalities 21 VDCs 22 Local Donors 23 Others 11.8 Safer Building Constructions as National Campaign Nepal is extremely susceptible to natural disasters and attended hazards, be it due to earthquakes, landslides, floods or droughts, thunderbolt, and wind. Nepal is further exposed to the risks with rapidly growing population and urbanization. The socio-economic costs of such disasters have long-term repercussions on societies. Creation of safer habitat to deal with the vulnerability risks due to natural disasters assumes significant importance. To realize this reality the Safer Building Construction shall be launched as a national campaign Guiding Principles Special arrangement and mechanism established for national reconstruction program for the affected districts should be taken as highest priority All institutions which have responsibilities as per the Business Allocation Regulation of GON must be on board for implementation of NaPA for SBC and held accountable Coordination and Direction Mechanism from central to local and feedbacks from local must be organized based on existing legal framework The role of concerned institutions, agencies, Local Bodies, donors, INGOs and NGOs working/will to work in the sector will be ensured and mainstreamed The working procedures of state and non-state actors must be mapped, recorded and harmonized The NaPA encompasses all municipalities and VDCs across the Country Dimensions of SBC The disasters along with fire can cause huge casualty and economic loss if the buildings for various uses like residential (housing - individual and group housing), educational (schools, colleges, places of learning), 20

21 institutional (health centres, hospitals), assembly (community centres, cinemas, auditoria, terminals), business (offices), mercantile (shopping, trade, commerce), storage (warehouses, godowns, sheds), industrial (factories, production units) are not planned, designed and constructed considering the various disasters related force and affects. The SBC unfolds that these buildings need to be planned / designed / built to take care of the lateral / other forces due to earthquakes (from below the ground), wind load (forces above the ground), landslides, storm surges / flooding besides its dead and live loads. It is pertinent to note that though the SBC primarily emphasizes on safety against seismic forces, it does include other disaster like flood, landslide, fire, thunderbolt and wind storm in context of Nepal (ref Table 1). The SBC further needs to incorporate the emerging issues like green building technology, WASH considerations, vernacular architecture with the notion of Build Back Better that will act as an added incentives to the building owners. In this context, the various dimensions of SBC are: Location to address the issue of flood, landslide and liquefaction Structural stability (seismic forces and wind load) to address earthquake and wind risks Electrical, Sanitary and Fire safety Architectural Safety Measures Workmanship Quality of material WASH considerations Inclusive building design (provisions for differently able, child and old age people) Minimum Standards of SBC In the context of SBC, the minimum recommended standards are: Site location is safe against flood and land slide. Site is accessible during emergencies. Building Design and Drawings comply the provisions of NBC Foundation, Column and Beams of building structure are as per approved designs and drawings. Safety measures with regards to fire, electrical and architectural works are as per approved standards. Workmanship and quality of materials are as specified. (Building constructed by trained masons and primary building material used are with Nepali Standard (NS) marks) Target Over the 20 years, National Plan of Action (NaPA) for SBC will achieve: All dimensions of SBC mainstreamed in all arms of state o Appropriate policies and regulations in place and followed o Necessary codes and guidelines in place and followed o Working procedures in place and followed o BPS and building bye laws synchronized with SBC 100% of practicing engineers/ architects working in the sector will have behavioral change to comply SBC in their professional works. 100% of the building permit issued will be as per SBC 80% new construction will comply to SBC 50% of all public buildings will be retrofitted. 21

22 95% of masons working in the sector will be registered with proper skill 80% of construction material available in the market will have NS mark and comply with the specifications 11.9 Mechanism to capacity building and skill development for SBC The technology and skill developed at central level need to be transferred to local level. In this context the central level experts will carry out TOTs and TFIs to district and local level engineers, technical school/university teachers and local practicing engineers for its sustainability reason. In next step the trained professionals at district and local level will be entrusted to carry out capacity development and skill transfer activities at local level. The capacity development works need to be accomplished within 5 yrs time frame. The record of all TOTs, TFIs, Engineers, Architects, Sub Engineers, Masons and Naikes traind in this exercise will be put on record of all central level, mid level and local level institutions. Their names, addresses and contact numbers will be put on website of MoUD, MoFALD and DUDBC. CTEVT / university/professional societies will be authorized to certify the training curricula and training programs for masons, sub engineers, engineers and other professionals Supports to KMC and SMCs KMC and 13 other sub metropolitan city are either enforcing or in process to enforce SBC. They are technically and financially capable to enforce SBC, however, any technical support if requested could be provided from central pool of resource persons of DUDBC. Further these Municipalities will work like laboratory for new Municipalities and hence will extend all possible help to other nearby Municipalities and VDCs Support to Municipalities where NBC enforcement is already ongoing It is expected that this plan of action take some time for its finalization and approval from concerned authorities. It is, therefore, recommended that ongoing initiatives for the implementation of NBC must be continued at all levels with existing human and other resources. The concerned agencies which are working hard in the enforcement of NBC and retrofitting in different parts of Nepal are to be encouraged to make SBC enforcement a success Monitoring Strategy at central, district and local level A separate monitoring mechanism needs to be devised to achieve the desired goal through implementation of NBC within given time frame as detailed out in section Specific Time Frame for National Plan of Action The National Plan of Action for Safer Building Construction (SBC) will be implemented in 4 phases as resource required is huge and nature of work is time consuming (table 5). The total span of time proposed is 20 yrs. First 3 yrs will be used for reconstruction and retrofitting of private buildings, important public and heritage buildings of earthquake affected 31 districts along with preparation for enforcement of SBC in other 44 districts. The next two yrs will used for supporting municipalities/vdcs to internalize, adapt and enforce SBC. The third phase will be dedicated to enforcing the SBC in all municipalities and VDCs in new buildings on one hand and ground work will be accomplished for retrofitting works for old buildings across nation. The 22