3 Govt Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

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Documentation of Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

1. Background During the 11thNepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC)1 Steering Committee meeting in June 2014, committee members endorsed a recommendation for MoUD/DUDBC, MoFALD, KVDA to establish common analysis of current programming efforts towards safer urban/semi-urban construction, good practices, lessons learned, challenges and gaps, which would lay the foundation for the development of a national plan of action which would provide a clear framework for cohesive planning for implementing safer building construction for Nepal for a specified period of time in the near future. Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) took a lead role to initiate a consolidated effort with relevant stakeholders towards stronger, safer building construction. The initial step by DUDBC was to map out the efforts of relevant development partners/organizations on safer building construction to learn and understand who is doing what/where/how, note best practices, as well as to understand what actions the Government of Nepal should take in order to ensure safer building construction in Nepal. The findings were compiled into Analysis Report and the report received technical inputs from the members of the Technical Support Group (TSG) for Safer Urban/Semi-urban Building Construction -which comprises of key governmental and non-governmental technical stakeholders to discuss and prepare for the national level workshop on safer building construction in November. The national workshop in November is expected to have the key participants to have a shared understanding of current programming and challenges on safer building construction in Nepal, and it is expected that the workshop brings out the recommendation of key elements for the national plan of action for the near future. While TSG members validate the Mapping Analysis Report, it was identified that even though the report provides good analysis of the approaches by various organizations, it would be useful to further understand a) the real experiences of the municipalities on the ground in safer building construction, and b) government’s initiatives on safer building construction in order for TSG to be able to have more in-depth discussion toward the November workshop. With this background, DUDBC together with DOE and Flagship 5 was given a task to jointly lead the quick documentation of the government initiatives and share with TSG members.

2. Purpose The documentation of the government initiatives will help providing the input to the discussion among TSG members on the future potential plan of action on safer building construction, and aid the preparation of the national workshop in November.

1The Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) is a unique arrangement that unites humanitarian and development partners with financial

institutions in partnership with the Government of Nepal in order to reduce Nepal's vulnerability to natural disasters. Based on the Hyogo Framework and Nepal's National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management, the NRRC has identified 5 flagship priorities for sustainable disaster risk management.


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3. Objectives and Scope The documentation of the government initiatives aims to capture relevant government ministries’ initiatives on safer building construction by the relevant government entities that were not covered in the Analysis Report.

4. Methodology The information was compiled based on the knowledge within DUDBC/MoUD, as well as other key relevant government institutions including MOFALD (LGCDP II), MoE/DoE as well as KVDA by the team of Sub-Group 2 under NRRC Flagship 5 Safer Building Construction Technical Support Group.

5. Government’s Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Contents:

5.0 Summary P2 5.1 MOUD/DUDBC P3 5.2 KVDA P8 5.3 MOFALD P8 5.4 Hospitals and Schools (DUDBC, MOE, MOHP) P10 5.5 MOE/DOE P11 Annex I Prototype school building designs by DOE P17

5.0 Summary The documentation of government initiatives provides an overview of the efforts being made by respective ministries/department and partially a regional development authority such as Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA) to promote safer building construction. The document does not intend to analyze complementarity and/or gaps of these effort since the objective of this documentation activity is only to capture and compile the information from the government’s perspective. Safer Building Construction is a cross-ministerial priority issue for the Government of Nepal. Ministry of Urban Development with its technical department, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), provides overall regulation and guidance on safer building construction. Development and review of National Building Code (NBC) as well as National Building Regulation is one example. The implementation of the NBC at municipality level is promoted and supported by Ministry of Federal Affairs (MOFALD) with some technical support provided by DUDBC based on the municipalities’ needs. At the VDC level, currently DUDBC takes responsibility of supporting VDC secretariat in the implementation of NBC. School and hospital (public and private) building safety is a joint work among Ministry of Education (MOE)/Department of Education (DOE), Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP), and MOUD/DUDBC. DOE strongly leads the structural safety of school building by providing specific policy guidance and technical guidance (provision of prototype building design, provision of engineer trainings etc.) Private


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schools are hospitals are also being targeted though enforcing the NBC compliance as part of business licensing system.

5.1 MOUD/DUDBC

5.1.1. Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD) Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD) was formed about two and half years ago as the succeeding body of Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MOPPW). Building Construction, Housing, Urban Development, Water Supply and Sanitation works are all under the jurisdiction of MOUD. Under MOUD, there are two major technical departments; Department of Water Supply and Sewerage and Department of Urban Development and Building Construction. National Building Code (NBC) was developed and officially endorsed by MOUD in 2003. NBC was enforced legally only after amendment in Building Act in 2005. Since then MoUD (then MoPPW) has been involved in enforcement by sending official request to Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (then Ministry of Local Development), DUDBC and Municipalities. National Building Regulation was developed and legally endorsed in 2006 to facilitate use of NBC in building construction permit system which is legally done by the local bodies. Several interactions and discussions were undertaken on effective implementation of NBC by local bodies. As per provision of Building Act, an apex body/committee for endorsing NBC and giving legal solution to any problem related to building safety is formed under the chairmanship of Secretary of MoUD. Several decisions and orders regarding NBC implementation have been made by this committee in the past. The recent decision was about the preparation of national strategy for implementation of NBC under the leadership of MoUD. This strategy will be prepared in this fiscal year (2014/2015). MoUD considers that there is an urgent need for a national-level strategy to promote NBC implementation in the country. The ‘strategy’ would be an overall framework to give a clear vision of NBC implementation in the longer-term. Later on, this would require a detailed plan of action with set standards to follow, time-bound measurable targets and goals with monitoring mechanism. Technical Support Group for Safer Urban and semi-urban Building Construction, which was established by Flagship 5 Advisory Committee and led by DUDBC, has started discussing some of the elements that could be considered under a national plan of action. This discussion is expected to feed into such vision set in ‘master plan’. 5.1.2. DUDBC’s initiatives so far (recent and past) 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. Policy, act, regulation document formulation, revision and update: Formulation of Nepal national Building Code

Prepared in 1994 and approved by the GoN on 2003/7/28 Safety against Earthquake, Fire, Wind, Landslide etc.


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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 (2007)/Building Regulations, 2008 • Ownership of Joint Housing Act, 1997 / Ownership of Joint Housing Rule, 2003

Recently, Revision of NBC 206 Architectural Design Code has been approved, and MRT series codes including 202: Mandatory Rule of Thumb for masonry structure, NBC 205: MRT for RCC structure have been completed. The revision of other 200 series codes are under process.

Guidelines development: Following official guidelines/manuals have been developed by DUDBC.

a) Seismic Vulnerability Evaluation Guideline for Private and Public Building (For pre disaster vulnerability and post disaster damage assessment)

b) Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings vol I: Engineers training on NBC

c) Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings vol II : Engineers training on Computer Aided Design based on NBC

d) Recovery Principles and Guidelines e) Guidelines for Trainers on "Mason Training on Earthquake Resistant Construction of

Buildings" f) Mason Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings g) Illustrated Guideline for Construction of Earthquake Safe Residential Buildings h) Construction Management Guideline i) Illustrative Guideline on Earthquake resistance Building Construction

Support to municipalities DUDBC conducted GIS mapping 34 municipalities, and developed Risk Hazard Map of Banepa, Panauti, Bharatpur & Bhimdutta Municipality on the aspect of Earthquake, Landslide, Flood, Environment, and Industrial. Further, through ERRRP (Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery Preparedness Program), seismic hazard and mitigation mapping of municipalities was conducted and this contributed to the development of municipalities’ profiles on Earthquake Risk and Vulnerability. Based on this, reports were produced on Impact of settlement Pattern, land use practice and option in high risk areas in 5municipalities (Dhangadi, Birendranagar, Pokhara, Hetauda and Biratnagar). Support to municipalities on enforcement NBC has been provided by DUDBC through "on the job support”. DUDBC supported 9 municipalities (Butawal, Birgunj, Janakpur, Panauti, Dhulikhel, Banepa, Ilam, Mechi Nagar, Damak municipalities) by deploying DUDBC personnel Deployment for capacity building for Building Code implementation. For example, DUDBC resource persons provided trainings for engineers, consultants, and masons at the training sessions that were organized by the municipalities. Orientation workshop on basic training on climate change (mitigation and adaptation) was additionally conducted. Also, vulnerability assessment of community schools in different municipalities was conducted.


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On seismic retrofitting, DUDBC held demonstrative seismic retrofitting works in e seismic retrofitting works in Dhangadi, Birendranagar, Pokhara, Hetauda & Biratnagar municipalities. Further, support to some of the municipalities in its land use plan was provided by DUDBC. Development of Municipal Periodic plan (integrates multi sectors: physical, environment, social, economic, financial and institutional – DRM component added since 2009), and Physical Development Plan of Small Towns and Market Centers (Includes Environmental Sensitive Plan) are some of the examples. Others Though it is not a direct support to VDCs or municipalities, DUDBC was involved in some of the assessment and studies below; • 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

Preparedness Awareness Campaign • Sensitization Program on “Earthquake Risk Reduction and Preparedness” for Municipality

personnel, Local Political bodies, general public • Public Education and Awareness (PEA) on Earthquake Safety and Preparedness for Risk

Reduction including Evacuation Plan for schools • School Earthquake Orientation and Safety Drills at 20 schools in different municipalities

including Kathmandu Valley • Public Service Announcement (PSA) and Broadcasting in FM • Preparation of Information, education and communication materials e.g. Video Documentary • Pull down Test on Existing Building

Reconstruction & Rehabilitation • Recovery/Reconstruction/Rehabilitation after 1988 Udaypur Earthquake • Damage Assessment of the Earthquake Affected Area & Reconstruction/Rehab after Sept 18,

2012 Taplejung Earthquake • NRs 4.5M allocated for purchasing Land and 5.5M for Resettlement of Flood victims in West

Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Project for Sept 18, 2012 Earthquake • Prepare 130 resource persons trough TOT (Training for Trainers). Target group: Technical

staffs of District level Technical Offices, NGOs and Private Consultants • Conduct total 162 trainings to Local Mesons on "Earthquake Resistance Construction

Technology (9 training in each district: 12 Highly affected and 6 moderately affected districts). Total 162.

5.1.3. DUDBC’s ongoing initiatives One of DUDBC’s current initiatives is the enforcement of National Building Code in selected focus VDCs (Direct execution and coordinate for support) across the country. Kathmandu Division Office, Ilam Division Office, Bhirahawa Division Office, and Gorkha Division Offices are supporting VDCs in the implementation of NBC on the ground.

Kathmandu Division office – 10 VDCs


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Ilam Division Office – 1 VDC Bhirahawa Division Office – 1 VDC Gorkha Division Office – 2 VDCs

Kathmandu Division Office’s support to 10 VDCs is undertaken with some support from UNDP/CDRMP and NSET as follows;

Organization VDCs

DUDBC Kapan, Manamaiju

UNDP/CDRMP Imadole, Balakot, Jorpati, Mahankal, Dhapasi, Gongaabu

NSET Sainbu, Balakot

After finalizing the submitted drawings, DUDBC authorized engineers check the drawings for NBC enforcement. The service provides in the VDC office as per schedule.

The followings are the Building Approval procedure that is recommended by DUDBC in VDCs for the enforcement of NBC; • Support team facilitate designers and owners to make submitted drawings as per NBC. • Support Specialist Consultants has been provided in these VDCs by DUDBC along with

supporting partners. • After finalizing the submitted drawings, DUDBC authorized engineers check the drawings for

NBC enforcement. The service provides in the VDC office as per schedule. Meanwhile, specialist service support to Kathmandu Metropolitan, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan, and Dharan municipalityis provided as per the request from the municipalities on the commercial building NBC implementation. DUDBC is a member of Specialist Panel board in these municipalities.

DUDBC also takes charge of compliance checking of National Building Code in special important Structures including; • Hospital buildings constructed under Hospital Construction Unit of DUDBC. • NBC compliance checking in Apartment and joint ownership Buildings (as per Joint Ownership

act) Some other activities taken up by DUDBC include;

Organizing Safer Building Construction Camps in newly urbanizing areas for awareness raising in public.

Sample checking for compliance of NBC in construction of Buildings permitted by Municipalities

Study for compliance of NBC in Government buildings.

Human resource development has been and still is DUDBC’s focus areas. Continuous support has been provided by DUDBC in;

Training engineers on earthquake resistant design and building code implementation,


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Training engineers on Damage Assessment, Vulnerability Assessment, Retrofitting Design and

Construction Techniques

Training of Trainers (TOT) for Engineers & Sub-Engineers on “Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings for Masons.”

Training masons on earthquake resistant construction of Buildings

Training supervisors training on earthquake resistant construction

Training on Post Disaster Need Assessment (UNDP supported) These various training programs mentioned above started after the draft National Building Code was prepared in 1995, and are still continuing today. The following table shows the types of skill enhancement training carried out by DUDBC and the accumulative figure of the direct beneficiaries.

On mason training for 2014, DUDBC plans to conduct 20 training sessions (one session per division office) to target 600 masons. It also plans to conduct 1 training for 30 engineers on retrofitting of buildings. It is planned that DUDBC also provides trainings to 10 municipalities on Building Code

Capacity building Trainings # of beneficiary To date

Training for masons on Earthquake Resistance Construction 8990

Training for Supervision and Small Contractors on Construction Technology as per National Building Code and Construction Management

213

Training for Engineers/Junior Engineers on implementation of National Building Code.

632

Training on computer aided structure analysis design for municipal engineers, consultants and DUDBC engineers

180

Sensitization trainings for political and social workers, municipality staffs

10 Municipality and 10 VDCs

Support MoLD providing Resource persons for training Eng. /Junior Eng. of 4 Development Region

100

Trainings of Trainers for Engineers and Sub-Engineers on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings for Mason

94

Masons Training on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Building for Build Back Better in Sept 18th Earthquake Affected area

Proposed training program for this year: 20 trainings for masons (one in each division office)- beneficial- 600 masons 1 training for engineers on Retrofitting of Buildings – beneficial – 30 engineers

1400


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implementation in through Urban Governance and Development Program (UGDP) supported by German Government and Secondary Town Urban Environment Improvement (STUEI) supported by Asian Development Bank.

5.2 KVDA Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA), officially established in April 2012 under the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority Act 2045, has a mandate to prepare and implement an integrated physical development plan for Kathmandu Valley. KVDA supports and promote safer building construction from planning perspectives. It provides planning permit for group housing construction, develops and operates land pooling projects for producing developed plots for building construction. Currently KVDA focuses on updating its building byelaws integrating disaster risk into the Land Use Planning. The existing building byelaws used by the municipalities in the valley lack the consideration of overall risk sensitive land use plan with geophysical consideration such as liquefaction susceptibility at the time of earthquake, vulnerability to floods and landslides. With a view to updating current building byelaws, KVDA commissioned the study on multi-hazard risk sensitive land use plan based on the scientific study2. The study had already produced a report based on which KVDA will develop a land use plan and convert it into the new building byelaws. KVDA considers that the optimal safer building construction cannot be achieved without consideration of National Building Code supplemented by disaster risk sensitive building byelaws/spatial land use or urban development planning3.

5.3 MOFALD MOFALD has been playing a key role for advocating safer building construction practices in municipalities and VDCs. Implementation of National Building code in Municipalities/VDCs comes under one of the key priorities of MOFALD. MOFALD has given clear instructions to all municipalities to take initiation for enforcement of National Building Code in building permit process. MOFALD has circulated instruction to all municipalities for compulsion of building permission of official/public buildings following building byelaws and NBC. MOFALD has also circulated instructions for formulation of Local Level Disaster Management Committees (LDMC) at VDCs and Community Level Disaster Management Committees (CDMC) at municipalities. These committees have been playing an advocacy role for safer building construction. The Disaster/Risk Management and Planning Section of MOFALD has been taking lead role in coordination and facilitation for implementation process of NBC in Municipalities. Minimum Conditions and performance measures (MCPM) system that been introduced by MOFALD for measuring efficiency/effectiveness of service delivery and overall financial performance of municipalities has included enforcement of NBC as Performance Measures (PM). Inclusion of NBC implementation in MCPM system has motivated municipalities for enforcement of NBC.

2 Study supported by UNDP CDRMP 3 Outside Kathmandu Valley, there is no similar regional development authority like KDVA. Municipalities themselves try to develop their own building by-laws this often requires technical guidance. Some municipalities have ‘zoning maps’ to assist their urban planning, but this often does not fully integrate multi-hazard risk such as earthquake, flood and landslide.


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MoFALD has been implementing multi-donor funded program like Local Government and Community Development Program (LGCDP). Output 6 of LGCDP-II (Access to and quality of local infrastructure and other socio-economic services administered by LBs are improved) has incorporated component of supporting program to enforce building code in municipalities and urban-centric VDCs. One Local Infrastructure and Building Code specialist has been deputed in MOFALD through LGCDP for providing technical backstopping to the municipalities for implementing NBC. Series of capacity building trainings and orientations programs on NBC have been conducted by MOFALD that has been listed in table below. Disaster/Risk Management and Planning Section has been planning to conduct more mass awareness and orientation programs on NBC in new 72 municipalities as campaign for safer building constructions. Initiatives of MOFALD for safer building constructions

S.No. Description of the activities Target Area/ group No of beneficiaries

Remark

1. Training on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings and Implementation of Nepal National Building Code

Municipal Engineers/Sub-Engineers of Mid/Far Western,Central and Eastern Regions

82 nos Conducted in 2011and 2012 in coordination with DUDBC

2. Sensitization on National Building Code

Bhimeshwor, Triyuga, Ghorahi, Tikapur and Lekhnath Municipalities

249 nos Conducted in 2011and 2012

3. Mason Training on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings

Bhimeshwor, Triyuga, Ghorahi, Tikapur and Lekhnath Municipalities

134 nos Conducted in 2011and 2012

4. Interaction on NBC implementation action Plan

Kavre Vallley Municipalities (Panauti, Banepa, Dhulikhel), Thimi and Kirtipur

- Conducted in 2011and 2012

5. Advocacy for NBC enforcement • Technical Support for Developing Guidelines/ Directives/Application form for Implementation of NBC in municipalities

• Preparation and dissemination of Handout/ leaflets on Earthquake Risk, National Building Code and Safer construction

• Preparation and dissemination of action plan/strategy for implementation of NBC

ongoing

6. Orientation on National Building Code in New Municipalities

Phidim, Koshi Haraicha,Beshi Sahar, Kohalpur Municipalities -

Planned for 2014 through LGCDP

7. Construction of Earthquake Resistant Ward Office Buildings (Load Bearing Model Building)

Chandranigahapur, Lumbini Sanskritik, and Teharathum Municipalities

-

Planned for 2014 with support from OXFAM

8. Construction of Low Cost Houses (Ward Office Buildings) including 10 days practical training on low cost housing for Masons in 9 municipalities

Rajapur, Atariya, Lumbini Sanskritic, Chandrapur, Shambhunath, Dhanusha Dham, Panchkhal, Shukla Gandaki and Suryodaya Municipalities

-

Planned for 2014 with Support from Habitat for Humanity


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MoFALD aims to maximizing the number of municipalities that can start implementing NBC by providing guidance and technical support through LGCDP II. Amid the government’s declaration of 72 new municipalities, municipalities’ expecting from MOFALD for providing clear guidance and technical and financial support. In response to this, Building Code Process Guidelines for Municipalities has been drafted as a guiding document that provides minimum characteristics/process required for a municipality to be able to implement NBC. There are 4 characteristics set: a) Establishment of permit system, process and policies, b) Training, orientation, capacity programs, c) Awareness programs at community level, and d) field inspection, monitoring set in the draft guidance document including format for structural drawings, structural calculation reports, checklist for field inspections, action plan for enforcement of NBC as annexes . This document requires further consultation with DUDBC and final approval by MoFLAD to finally be able to be disseminated to the municipalities. Also, MoFALD recognizes the importance of its role of not only to provide guidance to municipalities, but also to coordinate with relevant ministries such as MOUD/DUDBC, MOHA and other development partners who are directly/indirectly involved for supporting NBC implementation for more effective role out of NBC implementation in the country. While increasing its support to municipalities for NBC implementation, MOFALD recognized the importance of green building construction. Some municipalities have already been receiving external support (eg. UN Habitat). MoFALD considers that it is important to have a guiding document on green building and technical support to extend this to many municipalities with the technical guidance from DUDBC.

5.4 Hospitals and Schools (DUDBC, MOE, MOHP) Public hospitals are designed by DUDBC and they supervise the construction of the hospitals. Ministry of Health and Population has developed guidelines for building infrastructure of health related institutions or hospitals (public and private) and compliance with NBC is to be certified by DUDBC. On private hospitals, under the leadership of MoUD, a comprehensive study on the building safety of private hospitals and nursing homes was conducted in 2011. Several recommendation were suggested in this study as follows:

a. Any developer of private hospital must attain a compliance certificate from DUDBC for structural safety as per NBC before Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) gives formal permission to run the hospital

b. MoHP to amend the legal provision for providing formal permission to run private hospitals on the part of building safety

c. Compliance with NBC for building with running private hospital to be made mandatory for renewal of permission

d. Necessary provisions to include compliance with NBC to be considered in the legal provisions related to running private hospitals or nursing homes etc

MOHP immediately started implementing the recommendations together with DUDBC. Now, private hospitals and health facilities are required to attain a permit every year. Respective responsible DUDBC division offices are in charge of checking code-compliance, permit renewal as well as retrofitting permit process.


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As per DUDBC’s report, there have been 35 applications from private health facilities this year in KV, and only 2-3 hospitals received approval. Many private health facilities tend to use the residential buildings that are not necessarily up to the standard quality, and this reduces the number of permit issued by DUDBC to the private health facilities. Similarly, on private schools, MOUD led studies of building safety for private schools in 2011 made recommendations as follows;

a. Any developer of private school must attain a compliance certificate from DUDBC for structural safety as per NBC before Ministry of Education (MOE) gives formal permission for running the private school

b. MoE to amend the legal provision for providing formal permission to run private schools on the part of building safety

c. Compliance with NBC for building with running private school to be made mandatory for renewal of permission/license of the existing private schools

d. Necessary provisions to include compliance with NBC to be considered in the legal provisions related to running private schools

MOE immediately started to implement the recommendation made above. However, unlike private hospital, private schools’ permit and permit renewal system is still very weak, and there is urgent need for enforcing the permit system. DOE and MOUD/DUDBC recognize that the importance of providing appropriate legal provision to enforce the permit compliance, this has to be initiated as soon as possible. Retrofitting and vulnerability assessment of public facilities such as hospitals and schools have been taken up by DUDBC. DUDBC has conducted vulnerability assessment of community schools in various municipalities in the past. On retrofitting, DUDBC conducted seismic retrofitting of Chettrapati Free Clinic (3-story completed, and 2-story planned in 2014) as well as Patan Hospital main building.

5.4 MOE/DOE 5.4.1 Policy for improvement of school facilities

Department of Education (DOE) has made a policy for the improvement of school physical facilities. It is in line with the commitment that has been made with the different Development Partners. As Nepal lies in active seismic zone, the hazards due to earthquake are very high. Due to geological and economical condition of the people, it is very difficult to make same policy and guidelines for every location. Hence, DOE has made the following policy for the improvement of school facilities in the country.

Education Sector is the one of the priority programs and improvement of school physical

facility improvement program is one of the most weighted activities. School Buildings should be environment and child friendly, disaster safe & affordable. Development of different alternative type design those are suitable for different geological

condition. Coordination with professional organizations like Institute of engineering, National Society of

Earthquake Technology, Save the Children etc. in design preparation & Earthquake Safe Construction Training for Engineers & Sub-Engineers.

Preparation and Enforcement of National Environmental Management Guidelines Preparation and enforcement of School Design and Construction Manual.


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Enforcement of National Building Code. Collaboration with I/NGOs for effective construction management:

• Orientation before construction for local masons, teachers, students & community people on good construction practice & procedure.

• Social audit of construction work for transparency & assurance of quality-construction. • Mobilization of social workers for raising awareness of community people in safe

building construction.

5.5.2 Preparation of alternative design of school buildings Department of Education has developed different types of design for school buildings based on the following principles;

• All the design for school buildings should be designed as per Nepal National Building code (NBC) or Indian Standard Code (ISC).

• Design should be earthquake resistant i.e use of earthquake resistant features. • Design should be cost effective. • Design should be simple and easy to understand so that local people can easily understand and

is fast to construct. • Design should be child friendly, environment friendly & disable friendly

Based on above principle different study/research have been done for the preparation of types of design for school buildings. Till date, Department of Education has developed 22 types of design for construction of school buildings in different geological or geographical region of Nepal. Some of the designs prepared by DOE are explained in the Annex I. 5.5.3 Program and progress on School Construction from Department of Education Before 1970, almost all the primary school buildings were constructed and maintained by the communities themselves without any government support. Due to the lack of government control, such buildings were not up to the standard and mainly influenced by the local pattern and technology. However, 1980s onwards, the government started implementing different programs and projects with more guidance on the construction and rehabilitation of school buildings. The followings are the projects implemented by the government on safer school construction in chronological order. Table 1 summarizes the number of schools constructed through each program/project, and Table 2 shows the progress of school building retrofitting so far. Further, DOE combines the safer school construction with some ‘soft’ support of training the engineers/masons and conducting awareness raising programs

i. Seti Education for Rural Development Project (SERDP) (1981 onwards): This project was the first pilot project for the improvement of the Education Program in Nepal and was funded by UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO. This project constructed a total of 1060 new classrooms (212- five classroom buildings) and 53 resource centers in 5 districts.

ii. Primary Education Project (PEP) (1985-1990): The PEP focused only on Primary School construction and rehabilitation, and it was implemented under the support of World Bank by concerned District Education Offices through School Management Committee (SMC). A total of 2652 classrooms in 747 schools of 6 districts were constructed. This project also constructed some administrative buildings including 4 District Education Offices, 2 Regional Educational Directories, one Controller of Examinations and 133 Resource Center Buildings.


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iii. Earthquake Affected Areas Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project (EAARRP) (1988-1996):

Nepal was devastated by an earthquake on August 21, 1988. The government set up EAARRP project funded by the World Bank to construct and rehabilitate school buildings destroyed by the earthquake. A total of 15,496 classrooms were constructed in 32 districts under the management of Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning (MHPP). School buildings were designed, for the first time, with the provision of earthquake safety. Major structural parts including steel frame structure, roofing sheets etc. were supplied by the project to ensure the construction quality and other minor components were on the part of community contribution.

iv. Primary Education Development Project (PEDP) (1990 onwards): This project was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and implemented by the Ministry of Education. It constructed 2,392 classrooms in 11 districts and Primary Teacher Training Center (PTTC) buildings in 9 districts.

v. Basic and Primary Education Project I (BPEP I) (1992-1999): This project was launched by the government to fulfill it’s commitment to improve the quality of education in line with Jomtien Declaration on “Education for All”-1990 and the summit goals of the “Convention on the Rights of Children”-1990. The project was funded by the World Bank and DANIDA and constructed a total of 14,156 classrooms, 406 Resource Center Buildings, 330 Toilets, 191 Water Supply Facilities and 20 District Education Office Buildings in 40 districts. This time, construction fund was given to the schools for implementation adopting a modality of community participation with a share of community contribution of 40% of total construction cost. This was the first project, to start school mapping exercise and school physical survey to identify the physical need of the schools.

vi. JICA supported Program (1994-till now): The Government of Japan has been continuously supporting in the construction of schools physical facilities including classrooms, toilets, water supply units and classroom furniture. The first Phase of the Japanese Project started in 1994 and ended in 1998. The Second Phase – 1999-2002, and the Third Phase – 2003-2006. The Fourth Phase of the Project completed in 2008-2009 and the Fifth Phase program is going on. A total of 8,748 classrooms have been constructed under this project. The current year program is going on in 8 districts and targeted to construct 700 classrooms. The classrooms have been designed by using earthquake resistant features and in accordance with the Nepal National Building Code (NBC) and Indian Standard Code (ISC). This project was also implemented with the modality of community participation. Construction methodologies in this program are quite different than the rest of the program. There are three parties involved in the project implementation. Supplier supplies the major construction materials after quality and quantity checking from the consultant and Government agencies through school management. Community manage the construction of school buildings using supplied materials. The community participation is also crucial in this program; however there is no exact rules and regulation regarding the amount of community participation

vii. Basic and Primary Education Program Second Phase (BPEP II) (1999-2004): The program was jointly funded by World Bank, DANIDA, NORAD, the Government of Finland and the Government of Nepal. The main objectives of the program were a) Expanding access and improving retention which included School Physical Facilities; b) Improving learning achievement; and c) Strengthening capacity at the national, district and sub-district level.


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In BPEP II, 5,400 classrooms were constructed and 10,800 existing classrooms were rehabilitated. In BPEP II, different design variants suitable for different geographical regions were prepared and a study of the structural elements and cost comparison was conducted and revised designs were pilot-tested. As compared to the designs of BPEP I, classroom designs were improved in this project. Minimum classroom space was increased and adopted to 0.75 m2 per pupil, maximum number of students per classroom was fixed to be 55, 45, 35 in Terai, Hill and Mountain respectively based on population density. Galvanized structural steel frame was used to make the buildings light and earthquake resistant and doors and windows were also made from steel sheets and channels to minimize deforestation. School buildings were constructed by the communities under a cost sharing modality. Structural components including steel frame, CGI roofing sheets and door/windows were supplied by the Department of Education and a fixed grant amount was given to the schools for local materials, labor charge and transportation cost. This project was very successful in terms of structural safety, construction quality, community participation and timely progress of building construction.

viii. Education for All Program (EFA program 2004-09): Inspired from the collective commitment expressed in the Dakar Framework for Action (DFA) 2000, Nepal adopted the ‘Education for All National Plan of Action’ (NPA EFA) 2001-2015 in 2003. The governments of Denmark, the United Kingdom (UK), Finland and Norway, and the International Development Association (IDA) provide support under the Joint Financing Arrangement (JFA), whereas the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UN Agencies such as the UNESCO, the UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), and the I/NGOs also support under separate arrangement. The program began implementation from July 16, 2004. One of the largest components of this program is development of school physical facilities. In this project, further more alternative type-designs of classrooms have been developed with consideration of additional features of conducive teaching learning environment. These designs are child-friendly, environment-friendly, disable-friendly, earthquake safe and cost effective. Though the initial target of classroom construction was 8,000 numbers for the period of five years, a total of about 26,742 classrooms were constructed during EFA period.

ix. Secondary Education Support Program (SESP) (2004-2009): This program is jointly funded by ADB, DANIDA and G/N. In this program also, one of the largest component is school physical facilities improvement. The specific objective of this component is to improve access to public secondary schools in 10 poor and remote districts. This program completed construction of school buildings in 190 schools in 10 program intensive districts. This program is drastically different from all above-mentioned programs. Under this program 190 model schools, with many facilities as per their master plan, will be constructed through contractors. Consultants, hired by the Department of Education, prepared master plan and design of facilities.

x. School Sector Reform Program (SSRP) (2010 - till now) The School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP) is the 7-year (2009/10–2015/16) strategic plan of the Government for achieving the Education For All (EFA) goals (MOE, 2009). The SSRP is funded by nine pooling development partners and a number of non-pooling development partners. The program is being implemented through a sector-wide approach. The SSRP aims to (i) expand access and equity, (ii) improve quality and relevance, and (iii) strengthen the institutional capacity of the entire school education system to improve system performance. In this program,


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priority has been given to improve the school physical facilities of the public schools. Till date, under SSRP, total 22,420 new classrooms have been constructed. DOE has developed school selection criterion for the selection of school for construction in the district. Community participation plays an important role in this program as well. All the construction activities of school buildings run through community participation. The Government provides some fixed grant which is about 75 percent of the total construction and remaining need to be managed by the community. The amount of community participation varies from area to area depending upon the availability of construction materials and mason for construction. The technical personnel (Engineer and Sub-Engineer) from District Education Offices supervise the construction activities. Table 1 shows status of construction of different educational facilities under different program in Nepal.

Table 1: School Building constructed by different programs

SN

Program/Project New classrooms

Resource Center

Rehabilitation of Classrooms

District Education Office Buildings

1 SERDP (1981 onwards) 1060 0 1170 0

2 PEP (1985-1990) 2652 133 1047 4

3 EAARRP (1988-1996) 15496 0 0 0

4 PEDP (1990 Onwards) 2392 0 0 6

5 BPEP I (1992-1999) 14156 406 7122 20

6 JICA (1994 – till now) 8028 115 0 0

7 BPRP II (1999-2004) 5400 141 10794 15

8 EFA (2004 – 2009) 26742 38 5810 3

9 SSRP (2010- till now) 22420 5

Total 95388 718 25943 63

Source: BPEP (1992-98), A Synthesis of Experiences, October 1999 & Progress Report of DOE, 2013

Table 2: Progress of retrofitting works (Hardware) from Department of Education

Program/School Buildings KV Outside valley Total

Completed Rapid Visual Vulnerability Assessment

285 160 445

Completed design for retrofitting 201 35 236

Design reviewed (approved from Technical Committee)

201 35 236

Ongoing retrofitting works 55 35 90

Retrofitting Construction completed 149 149

Ongoing design works 84 125 209


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Some Activities: Software 1.Engineers’ Training : Target by 2014: 180Nos.

Status: Complete in which

3 Days Vulnerability Assessment Training.

5 Days Retrofit Design.

5 Days Training for Masters Instructors on Seismic Retrofitting 2. Masons Training: Target by 2014: 1050 Nos.

Status: 715 complete

• Masons Trained on the Job • Masons trained through 5 days training on Retrofitting

3. Teachers and students Training: Target by 2014: Teachers:4000 Nos.

Students: 50000 Nos

• Status: teachers: 3417 complete

4.Orientation to Students • Status: 50000 complete


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Annex I: Prototype school building designs according to the different geographical features across Nepal – Developed by Department of Education

a) Building Typology: Load Bearing Wall and Steel Truss

Typical example of load bearing wall and steel truss buildings

Main features and Earthquake safety measures • Vertical and horizontal reinforcement at corners and junctions • Reinforced Cement Concrete stitching at corners and junctions • Reinforced Cement Concrete band at DPC, Lintel and Gable levels • Steel truss and Corrugated Galvanized Iron Roofing Sheet are used as roofing materials

b) Building Typology: Galvanized Lipped Channel Frame Structure

Typical example of Galvanized Lipped Channel Frame Structure Major features and Earthquake safety measures • Galvanized lipped channel steel frame structure. • Light Structure • More ductility achieved • Galvanization for structural durability & low maintenance • Wind Bracing for roof protection • Steel Door / Window frames and shutters. • Use of Corrugated Galvanized Iron Roofing Sheet as roofing materials.


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c) Building Typology: Tubular Steel Frame Structure

Typical example of Tubular Steel Frame structure building

Major features and Earthquake safety measures • Tubular steel frame structure • Wind Bracing for roof protection • Steel Door / Window frames and wooden shutters • Gable height reduced by providing CGI sheet panel • Use of Corrugated Galvanized Iron Roofing Sheet as roofing materials.

d) Building Typology: Temporary Classroom

Typical example of Temporary School Building

Major features and Structural Components (with EQ Safety Elements): • An immediate solution to high enrollment of students • Locally a Locally available construction materials mainly Bamboo used • Low cost, EQ resistant and Quick construction (15 Days) • Design finalized after model construction


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• Tightening of vertical bamboo with GI wire and Nuts/Bolts – Both sides view • Very simple, but effective measure for EQ-safety of central wall • Connection of Double-Bamboo Post with Trussed Beam • Bamboo Post and Trussed-Beam Joint strengthened by GI wire • Joint having both side wooden plank, Nail, GI Wire increase structural safety

e) Building Typology: Load Bearing Wall -2 Storey

Typical example of Load Bearing wall- 2 story

Major Structural Components (with Earthquake Safety Elements): • Stonemasonry in mud mortar with 18” wall with Buttress walls • Wooden/RCC Band at DPC, Lintel & Roof levels & Stitches at wall junctions • Vertical Bars or wooden posts at wall junctions • Corner wall through/key Stones in wall

f) Building Typology: RCC Frame more than 2 Stories

Typical RCC Frame more than 2 stories building

Major features and structural components (with Earthquake Safety Elements): • Designed for urban areas to address the land scarcity • RCC Columns having 12” x 12” size


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• Adequate reinforcement in Column and Beam • Design as per Building Code. • Ductile detailing • Beam-Column Joint = Specially EQ-Safe • Top Floor with CGI sheet roof for light superstructure

3 Govt Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Documents

safer building construction

building construction

government of nepal

national workshop

tsg members

national plan of action

national level workshop

committee members