NEW BUILDING CODE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 82, Issue 305, 24 December 1938, Page 6

NEW BUILDING CODE

ISSUE EXPECTED EARLY IN 1939 EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE QUESTION OF GENERAL ENFORCEMENT Designed to ensure safer types of building, particularly against earthquake risk, the major portion of the new National Building Code draft model by-laws are expected to be issued early in the new year. For many months, experts working under the Standards fnstitute of New Zealand have been compiling these model regulations, which, it is considered, are bound to have an important effect in tightening up the building regulations of all major local authorities. There has been a long delay in completing the preparation of this new code, which will replace the original model by-laws issued in December, 1935, by the New Zealand Standards Institute before it was taken over by the Government. But this delay was caused principally by the research activities of those engaged in compiling the new set, a work which involved an enormous amount of detailed study. The new by-laws embody all the latest results of research here and overseas into earthquake resistance construction and other important relevant details, including protection from fire and gales. No Compulsion. The portions of the new code which are to be issued run from Parts 1 to 6, these being the most vital of the set. The original model was issued for the guidance of local authorities, and while there was nothing compelling those authorities to adhere to the new conditions of building construction, they became the standard for all major centres, where new buildings were being dealt with. The new code, it is statea, will contain considerable changes on the original model by-laws based on further discussions not onL with architects and builders, but also with many experts in other relevant avenues. So far there is no official indication of the intentions of the Government over the code, although in some interested quarters it is believed that action will be taken to enforce the code by legislation, and so make it compulsory for all builders to adheit to the new provisions. It is considered that the Government’s interest in the preparation of the new code, through the State-controlled Standards Institute, indicated evidence of the value of the new code as a precautionary measure against the menace of earthquakes was given by the Minister of industries and Commerce, the Hon. 1;. G. Sullivan, when speaking at Westport soon after the revision was proposed. The provision of a building code was one way of minimising danger by making structures better able to resist the effects of earthquakes, he said. “Using the tentative code which has been prepared, investigations have been made to prove its efficacy, and on the basis of those investigations simplifications have been made. Soon we hope to be able to issue a revised code.” He indicated that enforcement of the code might be of more value in the long run than big expenditure on research. Position of Old Buildings. There is also a great deal of interest being taken in the city by architects