The Challenges Associated with Developing Building Regulations ‘Contextualized’ for Emerging Economies
Introduction
This piece is based on key extrapolations from IBQC guidelines, which are specifically tailored to emerging economies and a podcast where IBQC Board members Professor Alfred Omenya and Adjunct Professor Kim Lovegrove were interviewed by Judy Zakreski the Executive Director of the IBQC on challenges of developing guidelines for the development of contextualized building regulations in emerging economies. Both of whom were co-authors of the IBQC guidelines.
Developing building regulations for these regions involves addressing local contexts, economic constraints, and cultural factors. The recommendations presented here encompass informal, engineered, and vernacular solutions, focusing on both urban and rural settings. They also incorporate key takeaways from the IBQC Risk-Based Building Classification and Inspection Guidelines.
Key Challenges
- Economic Constraints
- Limited financial resources impact upon the implementation and enforcement of building regulations.
- High costs associated with advanced construction technologies and materials are often prohibitive and although they may be affordable in developed economies don’t easily translate in an emerging economy setting.
- Institutional Weaknesses
- Under-resourced regulatory bodies and insufficient trained personnel.
- Lack of technical capacity and resources for effective monitoring and enforcement.
- Cultural and Social Factors
- Diverse cultural practices and social norms influencing construction methods.
- Difficulties in changing from traditional building techniques to modern standards.
- Environmental Conditions
- Varied climatic conditions requiring tailored building solutions.
- High vulnerability to natural disasters, necessitating resilient building designs that are affordable and doable.
Key Paradigms in Building Practices
The guidelines identify three key paradigms in building practices: vernacular, informal, and engineered solutions. Regulation must embrace and address this contextual triad.
1. Vernacular Solutions
- Definition: Traditional building methods typically using locally available materials and techniques passed down through generations.
- Approach: In rural and suburban settings, regulations should recognize and incorporate vernacular solutions to improve safety and quality while preserving cultural heritage.
- Insight: “In the vernacular building paradigm, it is actually the chiefs or urban leaders that will have the ‘boots on the ground’ capability to influence safe construction outcomes with traditional intergenerational practices to building” (Professor Kim Lovegrove, ICC Pulse Podcast).
2. Informal Solutions
- Definition: Unregulated construction often seen in rapidly urbanizing areas where formal regulation is lacking.
- Approach: In ‘pre-urban’ areas, regulations should aim to bring informal construction within a formal regulatory framework through regularization programs and community engagement.
- Insight: “Informal settlements…are not regulated because there are no legal controls or urban controls…this is an illegal construct, comprising slum, favela-like, and organic, ad hoc building” (Professor Kim Lovegrove, ICC Pulse Podcast).
3. Engineered Solutions
- Definition: Modern construction methods involving formal engineering and design processes, typically using standardized materials and techniques.
- Approach: In urban CBD areas with higher affluence, regulations can adopt developed economy-styled building codes, ensuring they are adapted to local contexts and economic realities.
- Insight: “The largest component will be the engineered solution component, very reminiscent of Western regulation…highly regulatory and very prescriptive” (Professor Kim Lovegrove, ICC Pulse Podcast).
Solutions and Recommendation
1. Simplified and Contextualized Codes
- Clear Language and Basic Standards: Develop straightforward building codes using simple, clear language to ensure accessibility and understanding.
- Contextual Adaptation: Adapt regulations to local environmental conditions, cultural practices, and economic realities.
- Ensure that statute and code triad the 3 different building typology settings, vernacular, informal and engineered
- This must be done by having different Parts with bespoke conditions that are contextualised for each distinctly different paradigm
- Phased Implementation: introduce regulations in phases, allowing measured and realistic adoption and compliance time frames.
2. Capacity Building and Training
- Training Programs: Invest in comprehensive training for regulators, inspectors, and builders.
- Institutional Strengthening: Strengthen regulatory bodies by ensuring they have adequate resources and support.
3. Regulation to enshrine mechanisms for Community and Stakeholder Engagement
- Inclusive Development: Involve local communities and stakeholders in developing and implementing regulations.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Engage all relevant stakeholders, including government bodies, private sector participants, and community members.
4. Use of Local Materials and Techniques
- Local Resources: Encourage the use of locally sourced and environmentally sympathetic materials and traditional building techniques.
- Cost-Effective Practices: Focus on affordable construction methods that utilize local materials and labor.
5. Sustainable Building Practices
- Eco-Friendly Materials: Promote the use of environmentally friendly materials.
- Energy Efficiency: Design buildings to maximize natural light and ventilation.
- Waste Management: Implement practical waste management practices suitable for low-income settings, such as safe effluent migration to facilities that allow for recycling construction waste and composting organic materials.
6. Regulation & Codes to adopt Risk-Based Classification and Inspection
- Risk-Based Approach: Classify buildings based on risk levels to prioritize inspection and resource allocation.
- Inspection Guidelines: Implement inspection guidelines that vary according to the risk classification of buildings, ensuring high-risk buildings receive more rigorous inspections.
- Contextual Application: Adapt risk-based classification and inspection methods to fit vernacular, informal, and engineered solutions in different settings.
7. Regulation will Cater for Migration from Informal to Regulated Settlements
- Regulation of Migration: Develop regulations to facilitate the safe migration of citizens from informal settlements to more regulated environments.
- Safe Passage and Relocation: Ensure regulations allow for the safe and dignified passage of citizens, including time for transporting belongings and settling into new environments.
- Prevention of Homelessness: Create guidelines to prevent homelessness by determining where relocated individuals can go, ensuring sound and supportive environments.
- Regulation for Cross-Agency Collaboration: Foster collaboration among various agencies and NGOs to provide capacity development and upskilling programs.
- Sustainable Integration: Through such collaboration develop programs to help individuals acquire skills that enable them to move upward from informal settlements into more regulated living conditions.
Disaster-Resilient Design and Construct
Affordability of Disaster-Resilient Design in Poor Countries
Designing buildings to withstand local natural disasters can be challenging for low-income countries due to cost constraints. However, several strategies can make disaster-resilient designs more affordable:
- Phased Implementation: Implement disaster-resilient features in phases, starting with the most critical aspects.
- Local Resources and Labour: Use locally sourced materials and labour to reduce costs.
- Simplified Techniques: Adapt traditional construction techniques to enhance resilience without significantly increasing costs.
- External Funding and Aid: Seek international aid and funding from global organizations focused on disaster resilience.
- “The net benefit on average of investing in more resilient infrastructure in low and middle income countries would be $4.2 trillion with $4 in benefit for each $1 invested, according to a new report from the World Bank and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery”. Washington June 19, 2019,
Quotes from Professor Alfred Omenya and Professor Kim Lovegrove in ICC & IBQC Podcast.
- On the Purpose of Guidelines:
- “These guidelines are what a lot of emerging economies need because they speak to the fundamental challenges that these emerging economies have; they ask fundamental questions around building codes and standards and what they are meant to do” (Professor Alfred Omenya, ICC Pulse Podcast).
- “The three-paradigm theme in good practice legislation that will resonate with the reality on the ground will require the Building Act to have three major components to it. The largest will be the engineered solution component, very reminiscent of Western regulation” (Professor Kim Lovegrove, ICC Pulse Podcast).
2. On the Pragmatic Tailoring of Regulations:
- “The thinking was that if you regulate the engineered buildings and then the informal and vernacular, you have regulated a huge percentage of the building stock; you are then, in a democratic sense, provisioning maximum safety and security to the highest number of people and the highest numbers of building typologies” (Professor Alfred Omenya, ICC Pulse Podcast).
- “A good practice Building Act that resonates with the contemporary reality of emerging economies will have 3 discrete divisions to it, engineered, vernacular building guidelines; enforcement powers for the informal settlement” (Professor Kim Lovegrove, ICC Pulse Podcast).
3. On Local Relevance:
- “We ask how do we deal with rural settlements in Malawi, what do we turn into law; and in Afghanistan, how do we deal with issues of disasters; in Kenya who are practitioners, what are they allowed to do, inspectors and what do they do? What do we turn into law and how does that relate to the different local framework?” (Professor Alfred Omenya, ICC Pulse Podcast).
- “By virtue of the fact that in the traditional and rural paradigms your village elders are the community leaders, it is absolutely critical that they are interconnected with the consultative mechanisms with local government and building controllers” (Adjunct Professor Kim Lovegrove, ICC Pulse Podcast).
Conclusion
Effective building regulations for emerging economies must be tailored to local contexts, addressing economic, institutional, cultural, and environmental challenges. By developing simplified, adaptable codes, investing in capacity building, engaging communities, utilizing local resources, promoting sustainable practices, implementing risk-based classification and inspection methods, and ensuring disaster resilience, these regions can improve building quality and safety. It must also be aspirational in its nuancing in recognition of the fact that many low-income economies are dynamic and on-the- move and as economic capacitation improves there will be a transition from informal and vernacular settings to building typologies of engineered solution derivation. It follows that there must be some elasticity in the framing of the vernacular settings of regulation that both encourages and facilitates a transition for the non-regulated to a more extensively regulated paradigm to improve the safety of the citizen of the nation state.
About the writer
Kim Lovegrove is the founder of Lovegrove & Cotton and a renowned building regulatory law reform adviser with over 30 years of experience in Australia and New Zealand. He served as Principal Legal Adviser on the Building Act 1993 and led the development of the National Model Building Act. Internationally, he has consulted for the World Bank on building regulations in Mumbai, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tokyo, and chaired law reform think tanks for the Japanese government.
Kim chairs the International Building Quality Centre (IBQC), promoting global best practices in building regulation. He has held academic positions as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra and Southern Cross University, and as a Conjoint Professor at Western Sydney University. His Honours include the Royal Medal of the Lion and the Order of the Star of Honour of Ethiopia. For more details, visit Lovegrove & Cotton Lawyers and the International Building Quality Centre.
Disclaimer: “The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. For specific legal advice related to building regulations and compliance, please consult a qualified construction lawyer. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any affiliated organizations or entities.”
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