MAKING Yangon’s buildings disaster-proof – that’s the aim of new guidelines set by the city’s building quality controllers.

The Committee for Quality Control of High-rise Building Projects Construction (CQHP) expects to complete the guidelines, which govern buildings of nine storeys and above, by the end of November, said U Than Myint, president of the committee.

“We’ve had guidelines for high rise-buildings since 2003, but now we need to update them. That’s why we organised a technical consultative group with experts,” he said.

The technical group will focus on strengthening resistance to earthquakes and high winds, ways of strengthening foundations and other measures, on the basis of the latest international standards.

The committee, which is independent of the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), will inspect developers’ designs and decide within one month on a recommendation for permission. The designs can be submitted to YCDC for a building permit only with a positive recommendation from CQHP.

“We keep checking the buildings even after construction has started. The developers must follow our guidelines, or we won’t give permission. Recently, we’ve been focusing on designs to improve resistance to earthquakes and high winds,” said U Than Myint.

U Ko Ko Kyi, director of MMB construction, said: “All developers should comply with the guidelines, even for buildings below nine storeys, because Yangon is sitting on the Sagaing fault.”

Though compliance would increase costs, he says: “We’ve got to emphasise the disaster reduction design plan for the future. People must be aware of the potential for these disasters and of what would happen without the guidelines. Safety is more important than cost,” he said.

According to CQHP statistics, there are three high-rise projects awaiting permission, located in Lamadaw, Kamayut and Bahan townships.

“Three 12-storeys projects are now under inspection,” said U Than Myint.
CQHP has registered a total of 58 projects in Yangon.