Resilience codes and plans for buildings need more input, reports say

Even though the survivability of buildings in disasters and terror incidents has improved dramatically since 9/11, more needs to be done, said reports by groups hoping to establish worldwide standards for more resilient structures.

Two reports by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Homeland Security Standards Panel (HSSP) detailed findings from the Tenth Plenary meeting held last November by the groups.

Since 2003, ANSI-HSSP has worked to accelerate the development of voluntary standards for homeland security and emergency preparedness in support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. At the tenth plenary meeting, participants examined progress that the homeland security and emergency preparedness communities have made in advancing security since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and set a strategic path for continued work in this area.

Participants noted in the ANSI-HSSP’s tenth plenary report, that international harmonization on standards and conformity assessment activities is vital to global security. They also found that while public-private-sector partnerships are largely in place to develop standards, more test methods and conformity assessment programs are still needed.

Participants also agreed that the business case for standards needs to be made to builders and other end users to get them more involved in the standards development process. The ANSI-HSSP also the insurance industry, the small business community, and other stakeholders less represented in the standards development process also need to be engaged in the process in order to move forward with the successful development and adoption of standards.

In conjunction with the plenary meeting, the ANSI-HSSP hosted a disaster resilience workshop: Standards for Disaster Resilience for Buildings and Physical Infrastructure Systems to examine areas where standards and codes are needed to further support physical infrastructure and building resilience in the United States. The workshop, said the groups, provided an opportunity for all participants – government, standards developers, program developers, and small businesses – to engage in an open dialogue to identify information needed to develop a framework document that will help guide the development of standards and codes for disaster resilience.

Workshop participants provided input for the proposed framework in the following key areas: community resilience, water and wastewater, electric power, transportation, and buildings, they said. Participants, they said, noted that as a multifaceted issue, additional insight on disaster resilience is needed in order to develop standards- and conformance- based solutions that can be used nationwide.