Code of Practice for Caribbean builders launched

Post disaster damage and loss assessments have revealed that in the Caribbean, a significant portion of damage from disasters has been experienced in the housing sector.

Some of the costly disasters include Hurricane Murray in 2017 ($1.3 billion in damage and loss in Dominica); the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano in SVG in 2021 (US$ 223 million in damage and loss); and on August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake which struck the southern peninsula of Haiti causing more than US$1.6 billion in damage.

With this at the forefront, interested builders now have a “Code of Practice (COP) for the Construction of Houses in the Caribbean Region”, and theyare being encouraged to use it.

The COP, dubbed, “Safer Building Programme”, is a regional initiative under the theme, “Build Safe: Constructing Homes for Tomorrow”, and is aimed at improving building  standards and bolstering the capacity of construction professionals and artisans in the Caribbean.

The much needed construction disaster management effort is being led by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA), and the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ).

Speaking at the launch of the initiative last on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at Courtyard Marriot, Barbados, Executive Director of CDEMA, Elizabeth Riley said, Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) addresses all hazards, all aspects of the disaster management cycle and requires leadership by all people and sectors in building resilience across the region.

“We have been very pleased to partner with critical regional and development partners represented here today towards achieving the goal of resilience, particularly as it relates to the housing sector,” Riley noted.

She said the economic cost of disasters in the region has been substantial, exceeding US$28 billion over the last seven decades.

“While hydro-meteorological hazards are most prevalent, the region experiences a diversity of other hazards including geological, biological, and man made and there is no doubt that climate change has triggered phenomenal changes in our weather patterns, and this is translating into severe and catastrophic impacts within our region,” Riley noted.

CDEMA has provided grants to eight pilot countries, to ensure an impactful first round of training sessions. These countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis (SKN), Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

“Safe housing is a basic need, it is a human right and it’s foundational to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Riley stressed on Tuesday.

She said the most recent post disaster damage and loss assessment has once again proven that a significant portion of damage from disasters usually comes in the housing sector.

“This has been demonstrated most recently with the passage of Hurricane Beryl, the earliest category five system to form in recorded history in the Atlantic Basin and which devastated 90 to 98 percent of the housing stock in Carriacou, Petit Martinique, the sister islands of Grenada, as well as Union Island and other sister islands in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” the CDEMA head said.

The Safer Building Programme hopes to bolster the capacity of construction professionals and artisans, as Riley says that many homes in the region have been built and continue to be built through the “informal construction sector” which does not necessarily adhere to formal building codes and standards.

The initiative is a six-week training course which is based on the CARICOM Code of Practice for the Construction of Houses, and provides training to experienced residential contractors and foremen in construction planning, construction material, and construction methods.

Riley said the initiative responds to challenges by promoting safer, more resilient housing construction practices across the Caribbean, and marks a significant step forward in enhancing the safety and resilience of Caribbean homes, protecting lives and property from future disasters.

Riley is also encouraging governments to make the adoption of certification a national requirement, through partnerships with the private sector, and incentives to contractors and homeowners. She said monitoring is also important and should be enforced through established surveillance measures.