Wanted: Building codes

A car parked outside Pizza Hut, Roxy was severely damaged by falling debris during Tuesday's 6.9 earthquake. Photo by Enrique Assoon
A car parked outside Pizza Hut, Roxy was severely damaged by falling debris during Tuesday's 6.9 earthquake. Photo by Enrique Assoon

In October 2017, Newsday published an article highlighting the need for building codes as an integral part of disaster management. Since then there has been no new initiative to create or legally enforce a national building code. After Tuesday's 6.9 magnitude earthquake which caused some damage to buildings mainly in the western part of Trinidad, we are republishing the article to again point out that TT does not currently have legally enforceable building codes.

It’s not always that an industry lobby group calls for more regulation, but the overwhelming consensus in the construction industry is that Trinidad and Tobago desperately needs a legally enforceable building code.

“A code is law. It is legally binding. And when you have something that legally requires you to do something and you don’t you are subject to the law,” engineering consultant Mark Francois said.

Building codes make provisions for safe design and construction of buildings, taking into consideration resiliency, environmental protection and energy conservation, said Shyankaran Lalla, former head of the National Building Code Committee, appointed by the former People’s Partnership government.

If the government was serious about mitigating the effects of natural disasters, they would enforce a building code, Lalla said.

“Disaster risk reduction is impossible without building codes,” Lalla said.

Eighty per cent of the building stock is at risk from earthquakes and hurricanes, Lalla said, and a direct hit could set the country back 20 years backward, with devastation costing over $60 billion.

The Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards has certain guidelines, including the Small Building Code, intended as a directive for private residences. These codes are, however, purely voluntary.

“Nobody pays attention to until they’ve been burnt. I can ignore them if I wanted to and you wouldn’t be able to do me anything,” engineer and former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Contractors’ Association Mikey Joseph said.

Fire officers outside TRINRICO building on Coffee Street, San Fernando which was damaged after Tuesday's earthquake.
Photo by Anil Rampersad.

In the absence of government enforcement, the local construction industry, through the TTCA has tried its own form of self-regulation. The TTCA, for example, recommends its members use the International Code Council’s International Building Code and other industry best practices. But, current president Ramlogan Roopnarinesingh notes, there’s not much the organisation can do outside of its own membership. It’s also about maintaining one’s reputation in the industry.

“As a professional contractor, we build for the future. We aren’t hustlers and we have our business to protect, our professional integrity. And the best advertising is word of mouth. You, as the contractor, need to do your research and inform clients of the best practice,” Roopnarinesingh said.

Building codes are necessary to ensure a minimum standard for a safe structure that can withstand natural phenomena like earthquake and hurricanes. The Caribbean — and TT — is particularly vulnerable to these extreme weather events so mandatory minimum standards could mean the least amount of damage in the event of such a catastrophe.

In TT, Joseph said, for most of the structures built for private domestic and commercial use, cost is the primary factor, over safety— a concern that often only comes up after the fact.

Legally enforceable codes mean people won’t be able to skimp on critical components of a structure to save money.

“People try to save money on the foundation and the roof. The foundation is the most important thing. The structural integrity of your building and how strong it is, is what is important — not how nice it looks,” Roopnarinesingh said.

Overhauling the Regulatory Framework

Contractors aren’t the ones who enforce codes, noted Francois, a structural engineer and consultant at Beston Consulting in Valsayn.

Contractors do what they get from drawings, Francois said. A civil engineer has to sign off of the drawing. Now, some civil engineers are very good, but some who sign off on plans may not be qualified to assess what they are approving, he said.

“Civil engineering is a broad term. You can specialise in structures, highways, drainage or coastal engineering. I’ve seen engineers who are not qualified in structural design sign off on (building plans),” Francois said.

These men check damage done to cars parked near the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port of Spain, following Tuesday's 6.9 earthquake. Photo by Azlan Mohammed

It’s just another example of cost cutting, where to get fast approval, someone might just pay a civil engineer with no regard for their professional background, simply to get a stamp.

The Board of Engineering appoints registered engineers, but that doesn’t mean there may not be unregistered engineers still plying their trade. And unless plans go through the design branch of the Ministry of Works and Transport, often times, as in the case of private dwellings, local government offices just don’t have the experience to understand drawings.

The quality of contractors and construction has also deteriorated, and there is difficulty getting qualified, experienced workers, he added.

Francois suggested contractor regularisation and registration, as a solution to help regulate the industry and hold contractors to account.

“(A lot) of contractors don’t know anything about proper construction. Construction is an industry just like any other and needs regularisation and enforceable laws,” he said.

Without them, a natural disaster in TT would be devastating.

There and back again

In 2015, the then government had signed an agreement with the International Code Council to formally adopt the International Building Code as the standard for Trinidad and Tobago.

The government would have had to pay US$7,000 for the right to use the Code, with a renewal fee every three years as the Code is updated. But then the General Elections were called, the government changed, and nothing happened after that, Lalla said.

The committee he chaired had been made up of 19 representative from major stakeholders, including the TTCA, the Association of Professional Engineers (APETT), and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), Ministry of Works and Transport, and Town and Country Planning.

“We unanimously agreed that a building code was necessary, and adopting the IBC would be the best option. Contractors already adopted it on their own as best practice, and aside from paying the renewal and licensing fees, the government wouldn’t have had to do anything else because the ICC would have done the requisite reviews and upgrades,” Lalla said.

Flooding, for example, is addressed in the IBC.

TT was also the first country in the region to be given chapter status at the ICC, he said, so professional engineers are able to participate in reviews, ensuring that local concerns are raised and evaluated.

“If the government is serious about natural disaster and flooding mitigation, they will adopt the ICC IBC now. I’m issuing that challenge to the Prime Minister,” he said.

Note: When this article was originally published, Business Day specifically asked the Town and Country Planning Division about land use and preparation, especially when evaluating the likelihood of threats like flooding and landslips, as well as its natural disaster preparedness policy, but it did not respond directly.

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