Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Documentation of Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

1. Background
During the 11thNepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC)1 Steering Committee meeting in June 2014,
committee members endorsed a recommendation for MoUD/DUDBC, MoFALD, KVDA to establish
common analysis of current programming efforts towards safer urban/semi-urban construction, good
practices, lessons learned, challenges and gaps, which would lay the foundation for the development of
a national plan of action which would provide a clear framework for cohesive planning for implementing
safer building construction for Nepal for a specified period of time in the near future.
Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) took a lead role to initiate a
consolidated effort with relevant stakeholders towards stronger, safer building construction. The initial
step by DUDBC was to map out the efforts of relevant development partners/organizations on safer
building construction to learn and understand who is doing what/where/how, note best practices, as
well as to understand what actions the Government of Nepal should take in order to ensure safer
building construction in Nepal. The findings were compiled into Analysis Report and the report received
technical inputs from the members of the Technical Support Group (TSG) for Safer Urban/Semi-urban
Building Construction -which comprises of key governmental and non-governmental technical
stakeholders to discuss and prepare for the national level workshop on safer building construction in
November.
The national workshop in November is expected to have the key participants to have a shared
understanding of current programming and challenges on safer building construction in Nepal, and it is
expected that the workshop brings out the recommendation of key elements for the national plan of
action for the near future.
While TSG members validate the Mapping Analysis Report, it was identified that even though the report
provides good analysis of the approaches by various organizations, it would be useful to further
understand a) the real experiences of the municipalities on the ground in safer building construction,
and b) governments initiatives on safer building construction in order for TSG to be able to have more
in-depth discussion toward the November workshop. With this background, DUDBC together with DOE
and Flagship 5 was given a task to jointly lead the quick documentation of the government initiatives
and share with TSG members.
2. Purpose
The documentation of the government initiatives will help providing the input to the discussion among
TSG members on the future potential plan of action on safer building construction, and aid the
preparation of the national workshop in November.

The Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) is a unique arrangement that unites humanitarian and development partners with financial
institutions in partnership with the Government of Nepal in order to reduce Nepal's vulnerability to natural disasters. Based on the Hyogo
Framework and Nepal's National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management, the NRRC has identified 5 flagship priorities for sustainable disaster
risk management.

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

3. Objectives and Scope

The documentation of the government initiatives aims to capture relevant government ministries
initiatives on safer building construction by the relevant government entities that were not covered in
the Analysis Report.
4. Methodology
The information was compiled based on the knowledge within DUDBC/MoUD, as well as other key
relevant government institutions including MOFALD (LGCDP II), MoE/DoE as well as KVDA by the team of
Sub-Group 2 under NRRC Flagship 5 Safer Building Construction Technical Support Group.
5. Governments Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Contents:
5.0 Summary
5.1 MOUD/DUDBC
5.2 KVDA
5.3 MOFALD
5.4 Hospitals and Schools (DUDBC, MOE, MOHP)
5.5 MOE/DOE
Annex I Prototype school building designs by DOE

P2
P3
P8
P8
P10
P11
P17

5.0 Summary
The documentation of government initiatives provides an overview of the efforts being made by
respective ministries/department and partially a regional development authority such as Kathmandu
Valley Development Authority (KVDA) to promote safer building construction. The document does not
intend to analyze complementarity and/or gaps of these effort since the objective of this documentation
activity is only to capture and compile the information from the governments perspective.
Safer Building Construction is a cross-ministerial priority issue for the Government of Nepal. Ministry of
Urban Development with its technical department, Department of Urban Development and Building
Construction (DUDBC), provides overall regulation and guidance on safer building construction.
Development and review of National Building Code (NBC) as well as National Building Regulation is one
example. The implementation of the NBC at municipality level is promoted and supported by Ministry of
Federal Affairs (MOFALD) with some technical support provided by DUDBC based on the municipalities
needs. At the VDC level, currently DUDBC takes responsibility of supporting VDC secretariat in the
implementation of NBC.
School and hospital (public and private) building safety is a joint work among Ministry of Education
(MOE)/Department of Education (DOE), Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP), and MOUD/DUDBC.
DOE strongly leads the structural safety of school building by providing specific policy guidance and
technical guidance (provision of prototype building design, provision of engineer trainings etc.) Private

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

schools are hospitals are also being targeted though enforcing the NBC compliance as part of business
licensing system.

5.1 MOUD/DUDBC
5.1.1. Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD)
Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD) was formed about two and half years ago as the
succeeding body of Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MOPPW). Building Construction,
Housing, Urban Development, Water Supply and Sanitation works are all under the jurisdiction of
MOUD. Under MOUD, there are two major technical departments; Department of Water Supply and
Sewerage and Department of Urban Development and Building Construction.
National Building Code (NBC) was developed and officially endorsed by MOUD in 2003. NBC was
enforced legally only after amendment in Building Act in 2005. Since then MoUD (then MoPPW) has
been involved in enforcement by sending official request to Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local
Development (then Ministry of Local Development), DUDBC and Municipalities.
National Building Regulation was developed and legally endorsed in 2006 to facilitate use of NBC in
building construction permit system which is legally done by the local bodies. Several interactions
and discussions were undertaken on effective implementation of NBC by local bodies.
As per provision of Building Act, an apex body/committee for endorsing NBC and giving legal
solution to any problem related to building safety is formed under the chairmanship of Secretary of
MoUD. Several decisions and orders regarding NBC implementation have been made by this
committee in the past. The recent decision was about the preparation of national strategy for
implementation of NBC under the leadership of MoUD. This strategy will be prepared in this fiscal
year (2014/2015). MoUD considers that there is an urgent need for a national-level strategy to
promote NBC implementation in the country. The strategy would be an overall framework to give a
clear vision of NBC implementation in the longer-term. Later on, this would require a detailed plan
of action with set standards to follow, time-bound measurable targets and goals with monitoring
mechanism. Technical Support Group for Safer Urban and semi-urban Building Construction, which
was established by Flagship 5 Advisory Committee and led by DUDBC, has started discussing some of
the elements that could be considered under a national plan of action. This discussion is expected to
feed into such vision set in master plan.

5.1.2. DUDBCs initiatives so far (recent and past)

DUDBCs recent and past initiatives on safer building construction covers various aspects including
policy/act/regulation, guideline development, technical support to municipalities, awareness raising
campaign, reconstruction after major earthquake, as well as enhancement of knowledge and
technical capacity of engineers and masons on safer building construction.
Policy, act, regulation document formulation, revision and update:
Formulation of Nepal national Building Code
Prepared in 1994 and approved by the GoN on 2003/7/28
Safety against Earthquake, Fire, Wind, Landslide etc.
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Implemented through following Acts and Regulations

Local Self Governance Act/ Rule, 1999
Town Development Act, 1998
Building By-law of Kathmandu Valley, 2007
Building Act 1998 and its amendment (2007)/Building Regulations, 2008
Ownership of Joint Housing Act, 1997 / Ownership of Joint Housing Rule, 2003
Recently, Revision of NBC 206 Architectural Design Code has been approved, and MRT series
codes including 202: Mandatory Rule of Thumb for masonry structure, NBC 205: MRT for RCC
structure have been completed. The revision of other 200 series codes are under process.

Guidelines development:
Following official guidelines/manuals have been developed by DUDBC.
a) Seismic Vulnerability Evaluation Guideline for Private and Public Building (For pre disaster
vulnerability and post disaster damage assessment)
b) Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings vol I: Engineers training on
NBC
c) Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Design of Buildings vol II : Engineers training on
Computer Aided Design based on NBC
d) Recovery Principles and Guidelines
e) Guidelines for Trainers on "Mason Training on Earthquake Resistant Construction of
Buildings"
f)
Mason Training Manual on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings
g) Illustrated Guideline for Construction of Earthquake Safe Residential Buildings
h) Construction Management Guideline
i)
Illustrative Guideline on Earthquake resistance Building Construction

Support to municipalities
DUDBC conducted GIS mapping 34 municipalities, and developed Risk Hazard Map of Banepa,
Panauti, Bharatpur & Bhimdutta Municipality on the aspect of Earthquake, Landslide, Flood,
Environment, and Industrial. Further, through ERRRP (Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery
Preparedness Program), seismic hazard and mitigation mapping of municipalities was conducted
and this contributed to the development of municipalities profiles on Earthquake Risk and
Vulnerability. Based on this, reports were produced on Impact of settlement Pattern, land use
practice and option in high risk areas in 5municipalities (Dhangadi, Birendranagar, Pokhara,
Hetauda and Biratnagar).
Support to municipalities on enforcement NBC has been provided by DUDBC through "on the
job support. DUDBC supported 9 municipalities (Butawal, Birgunj, Janakpur, Panauti, Dhulikhel,
Banepa, Ilam, Mechi Nagar, Damak municipalities) by deploying DUDBC personnel Deployment
for capacity building for Building Code implementation. For example, DUDBC resource persons
provided trainings for engineers, consultants, and masons at the training sessions that were
organized by the municipalities. Orientation workshop on basic training on climate change
(mitigation and adaptation) was additionally conducted. Also, vulnerability assessment of
community schools in different municipalities was conducted.

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

On seismic retrofitting, DUDBC held demonstrative seismic retrofitting works in e seismic

retrofitting works in Dhangadi, Birendranagar, Pokhara, Hetauda & Biratnagar municipalities.
Further, support to some of the municipalities in its land use plan was provided by DUDBC.
Development of Municipal Periodic plan (integrates multi sectors: physical, environment, social,
economic, financial and institutional DRM component added since 2009), and Physical
Development Plan of Small Towns and Market Centers (Includes Environmental Sensitive Plan)
are some of the examples.
Others
Though it is not a direct support to VDCs or municipalities, DUDBC was involved in some of the
assessment and studies below;
Evacuation Plan & Assessment of Non-structural Vulnerability of the Office of the President
Vulnerability Assessment of Mobile Towers in Kathmandu Valley
Study of Existing Practices in High Rise Building & Recommendation for safety
Preparedness Awareness Campaign
Sensitization Program on Earthquake Risk Reduction and Preparedness for Municipality
personnel, Local Political bodies, general public
Public Education and Awareness (PEA) on Earthquake Safety and Preparedness for Risk
Reduction including Evacuation Plan for schools
School Earthquake Orientation and Safety Drills at 20 schools in different municipalities
including Kathmandu Valley
Public Service Announcement (PSA) and Broadcasting in FM
Preparation of Information, education and communication materials e.g. Video Documentary
Pull down Test on Existing Building
Reconstruction & Rehabilitation
Recovery/Reconstruction/Rehabilitation after 1988 Udaypur Earthquake
Damage Assessment of the Earthquake Affected Area & Reconstruction/Rehab after Sept 18,
2012 Taplejung Earthquake
NRs 4.5M allocated for purchasing Land and 5.5M for Resettlement of Flood victims in West
Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Project for Sept 18, 2012 Earthquake
Prepare 130 resource persons trough TOT (Training for Trainers). Target group: Technical
staffs of District level Technical Offices, NGOs and Private Consultants
Conduct total 162 trainings to Local Mesons on "Earthquake Resistance Construction
Technology (9 training in each district: 12 Highly affected and 6 moderately affected
districts). Total 162.

5.1.3. DUDBCs ongoing initiatives

One of DUDBCs current initiatives is the enforcement of National Building Code in selected focus
VDCs (Direct execution and coordinate for support) across the country. Kathmandu Division Office,
Ilam Division Office, Bhirahawa Division Office, and Gorkha Division Offices are supporting VDCs in
the implementation of NBC on the ground.
Kathmandu Division office 10 VDCs
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Ilam Division Office 1 VDC

Bhirahawa Division Office 1 VDC
Gorkha Division Office 2 VDCs

Kathmandu Division Offices support to 10 VDCs is undertaken with some support from
UNDP/CDRMP and NSET as follows;
Organization

VDCs

DUDBC
UNDP/CDRMP

Kapan, Manamaiju
Imadole, Balakot, Jorpati, Mahankal, Dhapasi, Gongaabu

NSET

Sainbu, Balakot

After finalizing the submitted drawings, DUDBC authorized engineers check the drawings for NBC
enforcement. The service provides in the VDC office as per schedule.
The followings are the Building Approval procedure that is recommended by DUDBC in VDCs for the
enforcement of NBC;
Support team facilitate designers and owners to make submitted drawings as per NBC.
Support Specialist Consultants has been provided in these VDCs by DUDBC along with
supporting partners.
After finalizing the submitted drawings, DUDBC authorized engineers check the drawings for
NBC enforcement. The service provides in the VDC office as per schedule.
Meanwhile, specialist service support to Kathmandu Metropolitan, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan, and
Dharan municipalityis provided as per the request from the municipalities on the commercial
building NBC implementation. DUDBC is a member of Specialist Panel board in these municipalities.
DUDBC also takes charge of compliance checking of National Building Code in special important
Structures including;
Hospital buildings constructed under Hospital Construction Unit of DUDBC.
NBC compliance checking in Apartment and joint ownership Buildings (as per Joint Ownership
act)
Some other activities taken up by DUDBC include;
Organizing Safer Building Construction Camps in newly urbanizing areas for awareness
raising in public.
Sample checking for compliance of NBC in construction of Buildings permitted by
Municipalities
Study for compliance of NBC in Government buildings.

Human resource development has been and still is DUDBCs focus areas. Continuous support has
been provided by DUDBC in;
Training engineers on earthquake resistant design and building code implementation,

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Training engineers on Damage Assessment, Vulnerability Assessment, Retrofitting Design

and
Construction Techniques
Training of Trainers (TOT) for Engineers & Sub-Engineers on Earthquake Resistant
Construction of Buildings for Masons.
Training masons on earthquake resistant construction of Buildings
Training supervisors training on earthquake resistant construction
Training on Post Disaster Need Assessment (UNDP supported)

These various training programs mentioned above started after the draft National Building Code
was prepared in 1995, and are still continuing today. The following table shows the types of skill
enhancement training carried out by DUDBC and the accumulative figure of the direct
beneficiaries.
Capacity building Trainings
Training for masons on Earthquake Resistance Construction

# of beneficiary
To date
8990

Training for Supervision and Small Contractors on Construction

Technology as per National Building Code and Construction
Management

213

Training for Engineers/Junior Engineers on implementation of

National Building Code.
Training on computer aided structure analysis design for
municipal engineers, consultants and DUDBC engineers

632

Sensitization trainings for political and social workers, municipality

staffs

10 Municipality
and 10 VDCs

Support MoLD providing Resource persons for training Eng. /Junior

Eng. of 4 Development Region

100

Trainings of Trainers for Engineers and Sub-Engineers on

Earthquake Resistant Construction of Buildings for Mason

94

Masons Training on Earthquake Resistant Construction of Building

for Build Back Better in Sept 18th Earthquake Affected area

1400

180

Proposed training program for this year:

20 trainings for masons (one in each division office)- beneficial600 masons
1 training for engineers on Retrofitting of Buildings beneficial
30 engineers
On mason training for 2014, DUDBC plans to conduct 20 training sessions (one session per
division office) to target 600 masons. It also plans to conduct 1 training for 30 engineers on
retrofitting of buildings.
It is planned that DUDBC also provides trainings to 10 municipalities on Building Code
7

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

implementation in through Urban Governance and Development Program (UGDP) supported by

German Government and Secondary Town Urban Environment Improvement (STUEI) supported
by Asian Development Bank.

5.2 KVDA
Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA), officially established in April 2012 under the
Kathmandu Valley Development Authority Act 2045, has a mandate to prepare and implement an
integrated physical development plan for Kathmandu Valley. KVDA supports and promote safer building
construction from planning perspectives. It provides planning permit for group housing construction,
develops and operates land pooling projects for producing developed plots for building construction.
Currently KVDA focuses on updating its building byelaws integrating disaster risk into the Land Use
Planning. The existing building byelaws used by the municipalities in the valley lack the consideration of
overall risk sensitive land use plan with geophysical consideration such as liquefaction susceptibility at
the time of earthquake, vulnerability to floods and landslides. With a view to updating current building
byelaws, KVDA commissioned the study on multi-hazard risk sensitive land use plan based on the
scientific study2. The study had already produced a report based on which KVDA will develop a land use
plan and convert it into the new building byelaws.
KVDA considers that the optimal safer building construction cannot be achieved without consideration
of National Building Code supplemented by disaster risk sensitive building byelaws/spatial land use or
urban development planning3.

5.3 MOFALD
MOFALD has been playing a key role for advocating safer building construction practices in
municipalities and VDCs. Implementation of National Building code in Municipalities/VDCs comes under
one of the key priorities of MOFALD. MOFALD has given clear instructions to all municipalities to take
initiation for enforcement of National Building Code in building permit process. MOFALD has circulated
instruction to all municipalities for compulsion of building permission of official/public buildings
following building byelaws and NBC. MOFALD has also circulated instructions for formulation of Local
Level Disaster Management Committees (LDMC) at VDCs and Community Level Disaster Management
Committees (CDMC) at municipalities. These committees have been playing an advocacy role for safer
building construction. The Disaster/Risk Management and Planning Section of MOFALD has been taking
lead role in coordination and facilitation for implementation process of NBC in Municipalities.
Minimum Conditions and performance measures (MCPM) system that been introduced by MOFALD for
measuring efficiency/effectiveness of service delivery and overall financial performance of municipalities
has included enforcement of NBC as Performance Measures (PM). Inclusion of NBC implementation in
MCPM system has motivated municipalities for enforcement of NBC.

Study supported by UNDP CDRMP

Outside Kathmandu Valley, there is no similar regional development authority like KDVA. Municipalities themselves try to
develop their own building by-laws this often requires technical guidance. Some municipalities have zoning maps to assist
their urban planning, but this often does not fully integrate multi-hazard risk such as earthquake, flood and landslide.
3

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

MoFALD has been implementing multi-donor funded program like Local Government and Community
Development Program (LGCDP). Output 6 of LGCDP-II (Access to and quality of local infrastructure and
other socio-economic services administered by LBs are improved) has incorporated component of
supporting program to enforce building code in municipalities and urban-centric VDCs. One Local
Infrastructure and Building Code specialist has been deputed in MOFALD through LGCDP for providing
technical backstopping to the municipalities for implementing NBC. Series of capacity building trainings
and orientations programs on NBC have been conducted by MOFALD that has been listed in table below.
Disaster/Risk Management and Planning Section has been planning to conduct more mass awareness
and orientation programs on NBC in new 72 municipalities as campaign for safer building constructions.

Initiatives of MOFALD for safer building constructions

S.No.
1.

2.
3.

4.

Description of the activities

Target Area/ group

Training on Earthquake Resistant

Design of Buildings and
Implementation of Nepal
National Building Code
Sensitization on National Building
Code
Mason Training on Earthquake
Resistant
Construction
of
Buildings
Interaction
on
NBC
implementation action Plan

Municipal Engineers/Sub-Engineers
of Mid/Far Western,Central and
Eastern Regions
Bhimeshwor, Triyuga, Ghorahi,
Tikapur and Lekhnath Municipalities
Bhimeshwor, Triyuga, Ghorahi,
Tikapur and Lekhnath Municipalities

5.

Advocacy for NBC enforcement

6.

Orientation on National Building

Code in New Municipalities

Kavre Vallley Municipalities (Panauti,

Banepa, Dhulikhel), Thimi and
Kirtipur
Technical Support for Developing
Guidelines/ Directives/Application
form for Implementation of NBC in
municipalities
Preparation and dissemination of
Handout/ leaflets on Earthquake
Risk, National Building Code and
Safer construction
Preparation and dissemination of
action
plan/strategy
for
implementation of NBC
Phidim, Koshi Haraicha,Beshi Sahar,
Kohalpur Municipalities

Construction of Earthquake
Resistant Ward Office Buildings
(Load Bearing Model Building)

Chandranigahapur,
Sanskritik,
and
Municipalities

Construction of Low Cost Houses

(Ward Office Buildings) including
10 days practical training on low
cost housing for Masons in 9
municipalities

Rajapur, Atariya, Lumbini Sanskritic,

Chandrapur,
Shambhunath,
Dhanusha Dham, Panchkhal, Shukla
Gandaki
and
Suryodaya
Municipalities

7.

8.

Lumbini
Teharathum

No of
beneficiaries
82 nos

249 nos
134 nos

Remark
Conducted in
2011and 2012
in coordination
with DUDBC
Conducted in
2011and 2012
Conducted in
2011and 2012
Conducted in
2011and 2012
ongoing

Planned
for
2014 through
LGCDP
Planned
for
2014
with
support from
OXFAM
Planned
for
2014
with
Support from
Habitat
for
Humanity

Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

MoFALD aims to maximizing the number of municipalities that can start implementing NBC by providing
guidance and technical support through LGCDP II. Amid the governments declaration of 72 new
municipalities, municipalities expecting from MOFALD for providing clear guidance and technical and
financial support. In response to this, Building Code Process Guidelines for Municipalities has been
drafted as a guiding document that provides minimum characteristics/process required for a
municipality to be able to implement NBC. There are 4 characteristics set: a) Establishment of permit
system, process and policies, b) Training, orientation, capacity programs, c) Awareness programs at
community level, and d) field inspection, monitoring set in the draft guidance document including
format for structural drawings, structural calculation reports, checklist for field inspections, action plan
for enforcement of NBC as annexes . This document requires further consultation with DUDBC and final
approval by MoFLAD to finally be able to be disseminated to the municipalities.
Also, MoFALD recognizes the importance of its role of not only to provide guidance to municipalities, but
also to coordinate with relevant ministries such as MOUD/DUDBC, MOHA and other development
partners who are directly/indirectly involved for supporting NBC implementation for more effective role
out of NBC implementation in the country.
While increasing its support to municipalities for NBC implementation, MOFALD recognized the
importance of green building construction. Some municipalities have already been receiving external
support (eg. UN Habitat). MoFALD considers that it is important to have a guiding document on green
building and technical support to extend this to many municipalities with the technical guidance from
DUDBC.

5.4 Hospitals and Schools (DUDBC, MOE, MOHP)

Public hospitals are designed by DUDBC and they supervise the construction of the hospitals. Ministry of
Health and Population has developed guidelines for building infrastructure of health related institutions
or hospitals (public and private) and compliance with NBC is to be certified by DUDBC.
On private hospitals, under the leadership of MoUD, a comprehensive study on the building safety of
private hospitals and nursing homes was conducted in 2011. Several recommendation were suggested
in this study as follows:
a. Any developer of private hospital must attain a compliance certificate from DUDBC for
structural safety as per NBC before Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) gives formal
permission to run the hospital
b. MoHP to amend the legal provision for providing formal permission to run private hospitals on
the part of building safety
c. Compliance with NBC for building with running private hospital to be made mandatory for
renewal of permission
d. Necessary provisions to include compliance with NBC to be considered in the legal provisions
related to running private hospitals or nursing homes etc
MOHP immediately started implementing the recommendations together with DUDBC. Now, private
hospitals and health facilities are required to attain a permit every year. Respective responsible DUDBC
division offices are in charge of checking code-compliance, permit renewal as well as retrofitting permit
process.
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

As per DUDBCs report, there have been 35 applications from private health facilities this year in KV, and
only 2-3 hospitals received approval. Many private health facilities tend to use the residential buildings
that are not necessarily up to the standard quality, and this reduces the number of permit issued by
DUDBC to the private health facilities.
Similarly, on private schools, MOUD led studies of building safety for private schools in 2011 made
recommendations as follows;
a. Any developer of private school must attain a compliance certificate from DUDBC for
structural safety as per NBC before Ministry of Education (MOE) gives formal permission for
running the private school
b. MoE to amend the legal provision for providing formal permission to run private schools on
the part of building safety
c. Compliance with NBC for building with running private school to be made mandatory for
renewal of permission/license of the existing private schools
d. Necessary provisions to include compliance with NBC to be considered in the legal provisions
related to running private schools
MOE immediately started to implement the recommendation made above. However, unlike private
hospital, private schools permit and permit renewal system is still very weak, and there is urgent need
for enforcing the permit system. DOE and MOUD/DUDBC recognize that the importance of providing
appropriate legal provision to enforce the permit compliance, this has to be initiated as soon as possible.
Retrofitting and vulnerability assessment of public facilities such as hospitals and schools have been
taken up by DUDBC. DUDBC has conducted vulnerability assessment of community schools in various
municipalities in the past. On retrofitting, DUDBC conducted seismic retrofitting of Chettrapati Free
Clinic (3-story completed, and 2-story planned in 2014) as well as Patan Hospital main building.

5.4 MOE/DOE
5.4.1 Policy for improvement of school facilities
Department of Education (DOE) has made a policy for the improvement of school physical facilities. It
is in line with the commitment that has been made with the different Development Partners. As Nepal
lies in active seismic zone, the hazards due to earthquake are very high. Due to geological and
economical condition of the people, it is very difficult to make same policy and guidelines for every
location. Hence, DOE has made the following policy for the improvement of school facilities in the
country.

Education Sector is the one of the priority programs and improvement of school physical
facility improvement program is one of the most weighted activities.
School Buildings should be environment and child friendly, disaster safe & affordable.
Development of different alternative type design those are suitable for different geological
condition.
Coordination with professional organizations like Institute of engineering, National Society of
Earthquake Technology, Save the Children etc. in design preparation & Earthquake Safe
Construction Training for Engineers & Sub-Engineers.
Preparation and Enforcement of National Environmental Management Guidelines
Preparation and enforcement of School Design and Construction Manual.
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Enforcement of National Building Code.

Collaboration with I/NGOs for effective construction management:
Orientation before construction for local masons, teachers, students & community
people on good construction practice & procedure.
Social audit of construction work for transparency & assurance of quality-construction.
Mobilization of social workers for raising awareness of community people in safe
building construction.

5.5.2 Preparation of alternative design of school buildings

Department of Education has developed different types of design for school buildings based on the
following principles;
All the design for school buildings should be designed as per Nepal National Building code (NBC)
or Indian Standard Code (ISC).
Design should be earthquake resistant i.e use of earthquake resistant features.
Design should be cost effective.
Design should be simple and easy to understand so that local people can easily understand and
is fast to construct.
Design should be child friendly, environment friendly & disable friendly
Based on above principle different study/research have been done for the preparation of types of design
for school buildings. Till date, Department of Education has developed 22 types of design for
construction of school buildings in different geological or geographical region of Nepal. Some of the
designs prepared by DOE are explained in the Annex I.

5.5.3 Program and progress on School Construction from Department of Education

Before 1970, almost all the primary school buildings were constructed and maintained by the
communities themselves without any government support. Due to the lack of government control, such
buildings were not up to the standard and mainly influenced by the local pattern and technology.
However, 1980s onwards, the government started implementing different programs and projects with
more guidance on the construction and rehabilitation of school buildings. The followings are the
projects implemented by the government on safer school construction in chronological order. Table 1
summarizes the number of schools constructed through each program/project, and Table 2 shows the
progress of school building retrofitting so far. Further, DOE combines the safer school construction with
some soft support of training the engineers/masons and conducting awareness raising programs
i. Seti Education for Rural Development Project (SERDP) (1981 onwards):
This project was the first pilot project for the improvement of the Education Program in Nepal
and was funded by UNDP, UNICEF and UNESCO. This project constructed a total of 1060 new
classrooms (212- five classroom buildings) and 53 resource centers in 5 districts.
ii. Primary Education Project (PEP) (1985-1990):
The PEP focused only on Primary School construction and rehabilitation, and it was
implemented under the support of World Bank by concerned District Education Offices through
School Management Committee (SMC). A total of 2652 classrooms in 747 schools of 6 districts
were constructed. This project also constructed some administrative buildings including 4
District Education Offices, 2 Regional Educational Directories, one Controller of Examinations
and 133 Resource Center Buildings.
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

iii. Earthquake Affected Areas Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project (EAARRP) (1988-1996):
Nepal was devastated by an earthquake on August 21, 1988. The government set up EAARRP
project funded by the World Bank to construct and rehabilitate school buildings destroyed by
the earthquake. A total of 15,496 classrooms were constructed in 32 districts under the
management of Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning (MHPP). School buildings were
designed, for the first time, with the provision of earthquake safety. Major structural parts
including steel frame structure, roofing sheets etc. were supplied by the project to ensure the
construction quality and other minor components were on the part of community contribution.
iv. Primary Education Development Project (PEDP) (1990 onwards):
This project was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and implemented by the Ministry
of Education. It constructed 2,392 classrooms in 11 districts and Primary Teacher Training
Center (PTTC) buildings in 9 districts.
v. Basic and Primary Education Project I (BPEP I) (1992-1999):
This project was launched by the government to fulfill its commitment to improve the quality of
education in line with Jomtien Declaration on Education for All-1990 and the summit goals of
the Convention on the Rights of Children-1990. The project was funded by the World Bank
and DANIDA and constructed a total of 14,156 classrooms, 406 Resource Center Buildings, 330
Toilets, 191 Water Supply Facilities and 20 District Education Office Buildings in 40 districts. This
time, construction fund was given to the schools for implementation adopting a modality of
community participation with a share of community contribution of 40% of total construction
cost. This was the first project, to start school mapping exercise and school physical survey to
identify the physical need of the schools.
vi. JICA supported Program (1994-till now):
The Government of Japan has been continuously supporting in the construction of schools
physical facilities including classrooms, toilets, water supply units and classroom furniture. The
first Phase of the Japanese Project started in 1994 and ended in 1998. The Second Phase 19992002, and the Third Phase 2003-2006. The Fourth Phase of the Project completed in 20082009 and the Fifth Phase program is going on. A total of 8,748 classrooms have been
constructed under this project. The current year program is going on in 8 districts and targeted
to construct 700 classrooms. The classrooms have been designed by using earthquake resistant
features and in accordance with the Nepal National Building Code (NBC) and Indian Standard
Code (ISC). This project was also implemented with the modality of community participation.
Construction methodologies in this program are quite different than the rest of the program.
There are three parties involved in the project implementation. Supplier supplies the major
construction materials after quality and quantity checking from the consultant and Government
agencies through school management. Community manage the construction of school buildings
using supplied materials. The community participation is also crucial in this program; however
there is no exact rules and regulation regarding the amount of community participation
vii. Basic and Primary Education Program Second Phase (BPEP II) (1999-2004):
The program was jointly funded by World Bank, DANIDA, NORAD, the Government of Finland
and the Government of Nepal. The main objectives of the program were a) Expanding access
and improving retention which included School Physical Facilities; b) Improving learning
achievement; and c) Strengthening capacity at the national, district and sub-district level.
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

In BPEP II, 5,400 classrooms were constructed and 10,800 existing classrooms were
rehabilitated. In BPEP II, different design variants suitable for different geographical regions
were prepared and a study of the structural elements and cost comparison was conducted and
revised designs were pilot-tested. As compared to the designs of BPEP I, classroom designs were
improved in this project. Minimum classroom space was increased and adopted to 0.75 m 2 per
pupil, maximum number of students per classroom was fixed to be 55, 45, 35 in Terai, Hill and
Mountain respectively based on population density. Galvanized structural steel frame was used
to make the buildings light and earthquake resistant and doors and windows were also made
from steel sheets and channels to minimize deforestation. School buildings were constructed by
the communities under a cost sharing modality. Structural components including steel frame,
CGI roofing sheets and door/windows were supplied by the Department of Education and a
fixed grant amount was given to the schools for local materials, labor charge and transportation
cost. This project was very successful in terms of structural safety, construction quality,
community participation and timely progress of building construction.
viii. Education for All Program (EFA program 2004-09):
Inspired from the collective commitment expressed in the Dakar Framework for Action (DFA)
2000, Nepal adopted the Education for All National Plan of Action (NPA EFA) 2001-2015 in
2003. The governments of Denmark, the United Kingdom (UK), Finland and Norway, and the
International Development Association (IDA) provide support under the Joint Financing
Arrangement (JFA), whereas the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA), UN Agencies such as the UNESCO, the UNICEF and the World Food
Program (WFP), and the I/NGOs also support under separate arrangement. The program began
implementation from July 16, 2004. One of the largest components of this program is
development of school physical facilities.
In this project, further more alternative type-designs of classrooms have been developed with
consideration of additional features of conducive teaching learning environment. These designs
are child-friendly, environment-friendly, disable-friendly, earthquake safe and cost effective.
Though the initial target of classroom construction was 8,000 numbers for the period of five
years, a total of about 26,742 classrooms were constructed during EFA period.
ix. Secondary Education Support Program (SESP) (2004-2009):
This program is jointly funded by ADB, DANIDA and G/N. In this program also, one of the largest
component is school physical facilities improvement. The specific objective of this component is
to improve access to public secondary schools in 10 poor and remote districts. This program
completed construction of school buildings in 190 schools in 10 program intensive districts. This
program is drastically different from all above-mentioned programs. Under this program 190
model schools, with many facilities as per their master plan, will be constructed through
contractors. Consultants, hired by the Department of Education, prepared master plan and
design of facilities.
x. School Sector Reform Program (SSRP) (2010 - till now)
The School Sector Reform Plan (SSRP) is the 7-year (2009/102015/16) strategic plan of the
Government for achieving the Education For All (EFA) goals (MOE, 2009). The SSRP is funded by
nine pooling development partners and a number of non-pooling development partners. The
program is being implemented through a sector-wide approach. The SSRP aims to (i) expand
access and equity, (ii) improve quality and relevance, and (iii) strengthen the institutional
capacity of the entire school education system to improve system performance. In this program,
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

priority has been given to improve the school physical facilities of the public schools. Till date,
under SSRP, total 22,420 new classrooms have been constructed. DOE has developed school
selection criterion for the selection of school for construction in the district. Community
participation plays an important role in this program as well. All the construction activities of
school buildings run through community participation. The Government provides some fixed
grant which is about 75 percent of the total construction and remaining need to be managed by
the community. The amount of community participation varies from area to area depending
upon the availability of construction materials and mason for construction. The technical
personnel (Engineer and Sub-Engineer) from District Education Offices supervise the
construction activities. Table 1 shows status of construction of different educational facilities
under different program in Nepal.
Table 1: School Building constructed by different programs
S
Program/Project
New
Resource
N
classrooms
Center
1
SERDP (1981 onwards) 1060
0
2
PEP (1985-1990)
2652
133
3
EAARRP (1988-1996)
15496
0
4
PEDP (1990 Onwards)
2392
0
5
BPEP I (1992-1999)
14156
406
6
JICA (1994 till now)
8028
115
7
BPRP II (1999-2004)
5400
141
8
9

EFA (2004 2009)

SSRP (2010- till now)

26742
22420

38

Rehabilitation
of Classrooms
1170
1047
0
0
7122
0
10794

District Education
Office Buildings
0
4
0
6
20
0
15

5810

3
5

Total
95388
718
25943
63
Source: BPEP (1992-98), A Synthesis of Experiences, October 1999 & Progress Report of DOE,
2013
Table 2: Progress of retrofitting works (Hardware) from Department of Education
Program/School Buildings
Completed Rapid Visual Vulnerability
Assessment
Completed design for retrofitting

KV
285

Outside valley
160

Total
445

201

35

236

Design reviewed (approved from Technical

Committee)

201

35

236

Ongoing retrofitting works

55

35

90

Retrofitting Construction completed

149

Ongoing design works

84

149
125

209

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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Some Activities: Software

1.Engineers Training : Target by 2014: 180Nos.
Status: Complete in which
3 Days Vulnerability Assessment Training.
5 Days Retrofit Design.
5 Days Training for Masters Instructors on Seismic Retrofitting
2. Masons Training: Target by 2014: 1050 Nos.
Status: 715 complete

Masons Trained on the Job

Masons trained through 5 days training on Retrofitting

3. Teachers and students Training: Target by 2014: Teachers:4000 Nos.

Students: 50000 Nos

Status: teachers: 3417 complete

4.Orientation to Students
Status: 50000 complete

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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Annex I: Prototype school building designs according to the different geographical features
across Nepal Developed by Department of Education
a) Building Typology: Load Bearing Wall and Steel Truss

Typical example of load bearing wall and steel truss buildings

Main features and Earthquake safety measures

Vertical and horizontal reinforcement at corners and junctions
Reinforced Cement Concrete stitching at corners and junctions
Reinforced Cement Concrete band at DPC, Lintel and Gable levels
Steel truss and Corrugated Galvanized Iron Roofing Sheet are used as roofing materials

b) Building Typology: Galvanized Lipped Channel Frame Structure

Typical example of Galvanized Lipped Channel Frame Structure

Major features and Earthquake safety measures

Galvanized lipped channel steel frame structure.
Light Structure
More ductility achieved
Galvanization for structural durability & low maintenance
Wind Bracing for roof protection
Steel Door / Window frames and shutters.
Use of Corrugated Galvanized Iron Roofing Sheet as roofing materials.
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

c) Building Typology: Tubular Steel Frame Structure

Typical example of Tubular Steel Frame structure building

Major features and Earthquake safety measures

Tubular steel frame structure
Wind Bracing for roof protection
Steel Door / Window frames and wooden shutters
Gable height reduced by providing CGI sheet panel
Use of Corrugated Galvanized Iron Roofing Sheet as roofing materials.

d) Building Typology: Temporary Classroom

Typical example of Temporary School Building

Major features and Structural Components (with EQ Safety Elements):

An immediate solution to high enrollment of students
Locally a Locally available construction materials mainly Bamboo used
Low cost, EQ resistant and Quick construction (15 Days)
Design finalized after model construction
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Tightening of vertical bamboo with GI wire and Nuts/Bolts Both sides view
Very simple, but effective measure for EQ-safety of central wall
Connection of Double-Bamboo Post with Trussed Beam
Bamboo Post and Trussed-Beam Joint strengthened by GI wire
Joint having both side wooden plank, Nail, GI Wire increase structural safety

e) Building Typology: Load Bearing Wall -2 Storey

Typical example of Load Bearing wall- 2 story

Major Structural Components (with Earthquake Safety Elements):

Stonemasonry in mud mortar with 18 wall with Buttress walls
Wooden/RCC Band at DPC, Lintel & Roof levels & Stitches at wall junctions
Vertical Bars or wooden posts at wall junctions
Corner wall through/key Stones in wall

f)

Building Typology: RCC Frame more than 2 Stories

Typical RCC Frame more than 2 stories building

Major features and structural components (with Earthquake Safety Elements):

Designed for urban areas to address the land scarcity
RCC Columns having 12 x 12 size
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Government Initiatives on Safer Building Construction

Adequate reinforcement in Column and Beam

Design as per Building Code.
Ductile detailing
Beam-Column Joint = Specially EQ-Safe
Top Floor with CGI sheet roof for light superstructure

20