Design regulations

Afghanistan

A formal building code, the Afghanistan Building Code (ABC), was introduced in 2012 and makes reference to the 2009 International Building Code (IBC). However, implementation of the building code is limited due to a variety of factors that include accessibility (the code is in English), insufficient local government capacity, and rampant corruption (Haziq and Kiyotaka 2017).

Bangladesh

Bhutan

India

Nepal

Pakistan

The first seismic design code was published in 1986 as an “advisory document”, but was not officially adopted or enforced (Rossetto and Peiris 2008; Shabbir and Ilyas 2007).

After the 2005 Kashmir earthquake killed 87,000, the 2007 Building Code of Pakistan (BCP) was introduced, representing the first seismic design regulations to be refereced in national policy in Pakistan (UNDP 2015). BCP largely references American codes and standards, which require some adaptation for use within the Pakistani context (e.g., different construction practices and materials).

References

Haziq, Daryoosh, and Morisako Kiyotaka. “Afghanistan building codes (ABC): Focused on comparative analysis and the viability of enforcement.” In AEI 2017, pp. 138-149. 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/9780784480502.013

Rossetto, T., and N. Peiris. “Kashmir Earthquake of October 8, 2005: Field Observations and Study of Current Seismic Provisions for Buildings in Pakistan.” In The 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering October, pp. 12-17. 2008. Available at: https://www.iitk.ac.in/nicee/wcee/article/14_01-1310.PDF

Shabbir, Mumtaz Jawed, and Mohammad Ilyas. “Development and adoption of building code of Pakistan.” In Proceedings of CBM-CI International Workshop, Karachi, Pakistan, pp. 535-549. 2007.

UNDP. 2007 Building Code of Pakistan. 2015. Available at: https://www.undp.org/pakistan/publications/seismic-design-pakistan