October 08, 2007	Monday	Ramazan 25, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: The Ministry of Housing and Works has finalised a new building code for the entire country and set the seismic rating of each tehsil.

According to the new code nine tehsils have been placed in zone-4 (highly dangerous). These include Muzaffarabad, Balakot, Bagh, Chitral, Pishin and Ziarat.

Twenty-two tehsils have been put in zone-3 (moderate-to-severe earthquake intensity area), 142 in zone-2B (mild-to-moderate earthquake intensity area), including Islamabad and Karachi, and 166 in zone-2A (very mild earthquake area).

The new building code was finalised after a technical committee comprising geologists from different universities and departments, like the Pakistan Engineering Council, revised the interim guidelines issued by the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK) last year, Housing and Works secretary Chaudhry Abdul Rauf told Dawn on Sunday.

He said the centre had directed all provinces to incorporate the new code in building laws of their development bodies like the Karachi Development Authority, Lahore Development Authority and the Peshawar Development Authority.

“It is for the first time that each and every tehsil of the country has been surveyed and put in the seismic rating,” the official said.

In the new code, the seismic rating of most tehsils had been increased by one step.

For example, Muzaffarabad and adjacent areas were in zone-3 but now they had been put in zone-4.

He said that in the previous code and the guidelines of NESPAK, the country had been divided into four zones and there was no district- or tehsil-wise study about it.

Mr Rauf said the ministry was printing the new building code and the book would be available to people at a nominal price.