Project News

On April 27, 2021, the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MIDUVI), with the support of JICA's "Project for Safe and Resilient Cities for Disasters against Earthquake and Tsunami Disasters", held the online workshop: "Dissemination and socialization of the Standard Ecuadorian Construction and regulation of construction processes. This seminar was conducted as one of the activities of output 3 of the project, whose objective:

"The implementation structure of construction processes regulation management is established at municipal level, based Building Regulation Management Handbook ", with the following purpose:

• Present the legal framework, structure and development process of the Ecuadorian Construction Standard (NEC 15).
• Deepen the knowledge of the seismic design standards for buildings of the Ecuadorian Construction Standard (NEC 15).
• Present the content of the "Building Regulation Management Handbook - with a focus on earthquake-resistant constructions", prepared by the project.
• Highlight the importance of efforts to improve earthquake resistance and difficulties.
• Share information, exchange opinions and answer questions about the operation of building systems.

On April 16, 2016, an M7.8 earthquake (announced by the United States Geological Survey) struck northern Manabi province, Ecuador and it is estimated that more than 660 people died, around 30,000 people were evacuated and many buildings, including houses and schools, were badly damaged. One of the causes of human and building damage due to the earthquake was that the construction system was not properly implemented. Therefore, one of the objectives of this project for "Output 3 is that: At municipal level, the implementation structure construction processes regulation management is established, based on the Building Regulation Management Handbook ".

This seminar was conducted in order to improve the earthquake resistance of buildings and the implementation structure of construction processes regulation management throughout Ecuador. It is the continuation of the National Webinar held in Quito in March 2020 and the Guayaquil-Cuenca Webinar held in October the same year. The objective of the webinar was to promote the understanding of the Ecuadorian Construction Standard (NEC 15) and the development at national level of the "Building Regulation Management Handbook - with a focus on earthquake-resistant constructions", with the participation of 100 people , among which were building and planning officials of the territory of several cities in Ecuador.

MIDUVI and the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador (AME) will continue to hold seminars for all cities in Ecuador to disseminate and socialize the handbook and promote its dissemination at national level as a final step of the project.

"Building Regulation Management Handbook" in webpage of MIDUVI (external link)

Written by Yu Kumagai (CSR Project Coordinator by JICA)

MIDUVI presentation at the workshop

Positioning of the "Manual for the Regulation of Construction Processes".

"Manual for the Regulation of Construction Processes."