Driven by high-impact disaster events that disproportionally affect the poor and the marginalized, the need for revisiting and updating of the National Building Code of the Philippines (NBCP), including its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) and the different laws/codes/standards related to public safety of structures had been accentuated to mainstream disaster risk reduction. In 2015, the UP Building Research Service extended its services in reviewing and reconciling the provisions of the NBCP and its IRR to address disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in building design, construction, maintenance, use, and occupancy.
Three (3) key aspects of the building regulatory framework were strengthened by the UP BRS: the legal and administrative framework at the national level, the building code, and the implementation mechanisms at the local level. To attain these developments, the unit carried out the following specific tasks:
- Reviewed building code development models and practices implemented in other countries, such as the United States, Japan, Canada, and other deemed relevant in the Philippine context, which were recommended for the development and updating of the NBCP and its IRR.
- Reviewed, together with group of experts and specialists from relevant professional disciplines, the P.D. No. 1096 and its 2004 IRR, R.A. No. 7160, Batas Pambansa 220, and the latest approved editions of the various referral codes of P.D. No. 1096.
- Formulated revisions and modifications to the different provisions of the P.D. No. 1096 and/or its implementing rules and regulations.