Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2019-04-30

Preparation of a National Building Code

- In recent times, there has been an increasing trend in Sri Lanka for incidents of building collapses, fire and damages of buildings as a result of natural disasters. It has been found that most of these incidents have been the result of adoption of non-engineering practices and deploying of non-competent persons in the constructions. Further, attention has also been focused on the non-availability of a proper regulatory system in Sri Lanka to identify the unsafe buildings and to evaluate the conditions of such buildings. As such, the Government has recognized the necessity of preparing a series of regulation of design manuals, construction, deviation and maintenance activities in the form of a National Building Code. Accordingly, the joint proposal made by Hon. Sajith Premadasa, the Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs and Hon. Ranjith Madduma Bandara, the Minister of Public Administration & Disaster Management, to prepare a National Building Code for the Building Construction Sector of Sri Lanka with the participation of relevant stakeholders, was approved by the Cabinet.