Experts for strict laws to ensure high-rise buildings safety

ISLAMABAD – Raising con­cerns over rising incidents of multi-storey buildings collapses in the country, experts at a live session have stressed the need for pragmati­cally assessing the reasons for build­ing collapses and recommending policy solutions to prevent such ten­dencies in future.

They were of the consensus view that it is imperative to completely rethink about the cities and urban spaces to encourage resilient, envi­ronment-friendly, and sustainable development practices.

Various experts and leading fig­ures including Dr. Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, Vice-Chancellor NED Uni­versity of Engineering Technol­ogy, Dr. Ashfaq Ahmed Sheikh, Ad­ditional Registrar-CPD (PEC), Dr. Shahid Mehmood, Member Planning and Design (CDA), Lt. Gen M. Haroon Aslam (Retd), President IIPS Adviso­ry Board, Brig Khaliq ur Rashid Ki­yani, CEO Architectural and Civil En­gineering Services (ACES), Major Nawaz Minhas, CEO Kingcrete Build­ers, and Mr. Khurram Farid Bargatt, Member IIPS Advisory Board spoke during the session organized by the Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies (IIPS) here yesterday.

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Lt. Gen (R) Haroon Aslam, acting as moderator of webinar, highlight­ed that absence of regulatory com­pliance is one of the major causes of fragile built environment in Paki­stan.

He said that there is an urgent need to eliminate bottlenecks like such as corrupt practices in the con­struction industry, improve land regulation and building control, standardize and implement build­ing laws.

Contributing to the issue, Dr. Sa­rosh Hashmat Lodhi highlighted that the most fundamental cause of building collapse is the non-ob­servance of construction codes and safety codes.

He highlighted that there are mul­tiple factors leading to structur­al failure in Pakistan which include poor design, lack of testing before and after construction, foundation failure, and lack of maintenance or a combination of these factors.

According to Dr. Shahid Mehmood, old buildings that have outlived their useful life are more prone to collapse.

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Poor maintenance of buildings can reduce the life of structures and need periodical checks and inspec­tion for faults.

Giving his insight on the matter, Brig Khaliq ur Rashid Kiyani, CEO ACES, demanded that building au­thorities must exercise authority over the construction companies.

Major Nawaz Minhas, CEO King­crete Builders, shed light on one of the most important but often ne­glected causes of building collapse in Pakistan which is the uneven con­sistency of concrete used in con­struction.

Article source: https://nation.com.pk/02-Jul-2020/experts-for-strict-laws-to-ensure-high-rise-buildings-safety