Revised Building Code: No dedicated body yet to enforce

The government is yet to form an authority dedicated to enforce the revised Bangladesh National Building Code, the gazette of which was issued two years ago.

The revised code mentions that Bangladesh Building Regulatory Authority (BBRA) must be formed to enforce the code.

Urban planning expert M Abu Sadeque, who was in the team that formulated the revised Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), said the revised code is a complete set of rules to ensure the safe construction of buildings, use of quality materials, accountability of professionals, and conservation of the environment.

Urban expert Adil Mohammad Khan said loss of lives and properties continue to happen in building disasters in the absence of a national regulatory authority.

Meanwhile, fire safety measures are largely neglected in building constructions, he added.

"Negligence in complying to fire safety measures make high-rise buildings particularly vulnerable to fires," Adil told The Daily Star recently.

As per the revised code, the BBRA is the authority to monitor all safety issues.

In large cities like Dhaka and Chattogram, fire-safety regulations mentioned in Building Construction Rules are often flouted.

Developers often do not ensure fire safety measures, and to increase the space for flats, they do not install fire escape stairs.

Following a devastating fire at the FR Tower in the capital's Banani in 2019, the Rajuk in April carried out a field survey on buildings with over 10 storeys and found 475 were constructed without its approval and 1,343 had more floors or floor space than approved by Rajuk.

Fire escape, alarm, fire suppression system, and fire safety drills are almost non-existent in high-rise buildings in Dhaka and other urban areas in the country, Adil said.

Citing last Sunday's fire at a 12-storey apartment building in Gulshan-2 that left two people dead and many injured, former Buet professor Maksud Helali said the fact that some people jumped off the building in order to escape the flames is an indication that fire drills were not conducted there.

"Fire safety training must be done at every high-rise building at least once a year," he said.

M Abu Sadeque, also a former director of the Housing and Building Research Institute, said, "Complying to the building code will ensure a life-saving system with enough fire-safety measures and earthquake resilience in buildings."

If buildings are constructed in accordance with the BNBC, there will be fewer fire incidents and casualties, he added.

"Most of the fire incidents in our country are caused by electric short circuits that happen due to lack of proper electrical design," he said.

Contacted, Kazi Wasi Uddin, secretary of ministry of housing and public works, said the ministry is working to form the BBRA, but it will take time.

"Currently, we are working on forming the Building Construction Committees by this month," he said.