Noel daCosta
Jamaica Institution of Engineers
2010/12/08

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Provisions that must be observed in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings.
Purpose is to ensure that in a disaster:
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Lives are protected.
Physical damage is limited.
Structures critical to human welfare remain operational.
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Embody accumulated knowledge of leading scientists, engineers and building construction experts, that will produce structures that are ‘Fit for purpose’.
Provide the first line of defence against damage from natural hazards and help ensure public safety.
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Embody accumulated knowledge of scientists, engineers and building construction experts, that will ensure safe and predictable building performance.
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Provide the first line of defence against damage from natural hazards and help ensure public safety.
Produce structures that are comfortable and fit for purpose.
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Must be updated regularly to include new technological developments as well as new information after a disaster.
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New Florida code after hurricane
Andrew would have saved 60% of damage if available prior.
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Buildings use 40% of a country's energy, so retrofitting older buildings for safety and energy use is critical.
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Paso Robles (USA)
December 23, 2003
6.5 Richter
2 died
46 buildings damaged
Buildings were code compliant
Designed / built by qualified professionals
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Bam (Iran)
December 26, 2003
6.5 Richter
>30,000 died
85% city destroyed
Buildings were not code compliant
Buildings ad-hoc
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Haiti – January 12 th 2010
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Approximately 230,000
Dead
Magnitude = 7.0
Maximum Intensity= X
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Chile – February 27 th 2010
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Approximately 520 Dead
Magnitude = 8.8
Maximum Intensity= IX
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Built environment is a significant % of national capital
Need to mitigate against a single disaster wiping out national physical assets.
Jamaica lies in earthquake Zone 3 and has a high probability of major damage from magnitude 6 - 7 earthquakes.
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 70% of buildings informal, designed and built without professional inputs.
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Designs are not submitted for code compliance evaluation.
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Generally more unsafe and suffer more damage in any natural or man-made disaster.
Many of these buildings are not energy efficient and are uncomfortable for their occupants.
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Probability of 50 yr occurrence
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MMI VII – 73% (Very Strong)
MMI VIII – 44% (Destructive)
MMI IX – 30%(Violent)
MMI X – 16% (Cataclysmic)
Damage from the 1907 Earthquake
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40 to 70% of buildings in Kingston are expected to collapse under a major seismic event.

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Jamaica does not have a mandatory up-todate Building code.
Current legal Building code is from 1908.
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Updated code published in 1983 as a policy document and is not enforceable.
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Caribbean Uniform Building Code (CUBiC) produced in 1985 now 25 years old, not a legal document.
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46 % of engineers use CUBiC
30 % of engineers do not know about
CUBiC.
43 % of engineers use foreign codes. BS,
ASCI, SEAOC, ASTM, ASHRAE, IBC and other codes
24 % of engineers know of CUBiC but don’t use it.
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In 1995 extant revision of the Jamaican
Building Code comprised six volumes and patterned after CUBiC.
Bureau of Standards mandated by
Government to complete the revision of the code, but project stalled for eight years.
Jamaican Institution of Engineers decided in
2003, to take over the development of a
Building Code for Jamaica.
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Engineers met and decided to abandon the partially completed work and to adopt the
International Building Codes (IBC) as the base document, and to develop an appropriate ‘ application documents’.
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Private sector stakeholders requested to fund and participate in this work.
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Incorporate special construction practices peculiar to Jamaica.
Specify environmental and climatic conditions for Jamaica.
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Incorporate local hazards
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Include energy efficiency features.
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Staying current with technological advances will be easier.
Improves quality and safety of the built environment
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Best returns from limited resources
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Easy access to structured training for
Building Inspectors and others.
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No need to ‘reinvent the wheel’
The IBC covers construction designs that resist all the natural disasters which affect Jamaica.
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Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Floods
Landslides
Storm Surges
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Government requires a Jamaican
Code to include:
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Recent disaster experience, e.g. wind speed to move from 120 to 150 mph ( Hurricane
Gilbert).
Improved access to buildings by the disabled.
Need to prevent a single natural disaster from wiping out building stock
IBC satisfies these requirements.
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Updating of Jamaica ’ s Building Code did not occur because of limited resources.
Outdated codes used way beyond their useful lives.
Adopting the IBC means benefiting from the frequent updating of this
Code.
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Using IBC Jamaica can get:
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International accreditation for building
Inspectors.
Re-insurers will consider building risks no less favourably than others within the region.
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Acceptance that its built environment meets international standards.
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Tour operators now require that tourist hotels are built using internationally recognised building codes
Facilitates certification of construction products and services, creating easier access to international markets.
Training and international mobility for
Building inspectors
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11 of 14 international codes are adopted and an application document developed for each.
Application Document specifies areas of IBC which do not apply, gives alternate pathways, contains local hazard data for use in formulae and allows for local practices.
Local hazard maps ( seismic, high winds, annual rainfall intensity, land slippage, flood plains, temperature zones ) have been developed and inserted in the appropriate area of the codes.
the IBC plus the application document will constitute Jamaica’s building code.
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International Existing Building Code (IEBC)
International Building Code (IBC)
International Residential Code (IRC)
International Plumbing Code (IPC)
International Code Council Electrical Code
(ICCEC) & National Electric Code (NEC)
International Mechanical Code (IMC)
International Energy Conservation Code (IECC)
International Private Sewage Disposal Code
(IPSDC)
International Fire Code (IFC)
International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC)

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A JIE committee along with the Ministry of Local Government, prepared drafting instructions for a new Act and
Regulations.
Parliamentary Counsel currently working on the first draft of the Act.
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Joins a long queue
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Code compliant designs and construction can be carried out only by legally registered or licensed professionals.
Building approval process should be much quicker if drawings, contract documents and specifications are sealed, signed and submitted by a registered engineer or architect.
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The new code compliance system will be significantly different in scope and effectiveness over the extant system.
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All inspectors, regulators, building officials must be ICC certified.
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Local Authorities need not have all the compliance expertise needed since they can contract private sector personnel

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Recognizes that earthquakes are amongst the major natural hazards affecting buildings in Jamaica and has developed data and calculation methods which if used correctly, can result in buildings that will successfully resist powerful earthquakes.

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The seismic data was generated from
Jamaican earthquake historical data spanning more than 500 years and involving well over 600 events.
This has made irrelevant the use of data from other countries deemed similar to Jamaica, which in reality may be vastly different.

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The NNBC identifies buildings according to their Seismic Use Group.
Buildings such as schools, fire stations and hospitals have various SUG ratings, and must successfully resist structural loads up to 40% greater than other buildings, and withstand the earthquake to give service to the survivors.

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Modern structural designs are based on spectral response acceleration.
The NNBC gives seismic maps of both short and long spectral response acceleration values that allow the designer to specify safer buildings anywhere in Jamaica, and also prevents the costly overdesign of structures.
Jamaican values for short and long term spectral response acceleration has obviated mimicking other areas of the world, thought to approximate the Jamaican situation.

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The likely damage to buildings in an earthquake is based not only on the seismic intensity but also on the soil type on which the building sits.
The NNBC seismic intensity maps considers soil types, so for the first time building designers have appropriate data for building in any part of Jamaica.

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In the case of the Residential/Small
Building Code where seismic data is reduced to classification zones of seismic severity, Jamaica is almost equally divided into zones C and D
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The application document has placed the entire island in the more severe zone D
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Buildings conforming to this code should have better earthquake resistive structures.

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Building code work done voluntarily by 108
Professionals at a value of US$3M, with actual costs of US$200k.
With 70% informal buildings, can the majority afford code designed small buildings? Are predesigned incrementally constructed buildings an alternative?
Now that various Hazard maps are available, insurers are using them to set rates. How can the public become informed?
Regional model Code and Act?