Fijians must procure baseline drawings, design before home construction

Fijians intending to construct homes may soon be required by law to procure baseline drawings and designs of their property before they can proceed with construction.

In their presentation, to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, members of the Fiji Building Designers Association (FBDA) said most properties in Fiji, specifically in the rural areas, did not have proper documentation.

Buildings need to adhere to engineering standards before they can qualify for cyclone insurance coverage, however a good percentage of homes in Fiji are constructed without any documentation.

“At the end of the day everything boils down to documentation,” the association said.

“We need some sort of baseline drawings or designs. Those buildings that are designed or documented by our members or other stakeholders are sort of okay they actually qualify for insurance, for engineering certification. “The issue is when buildings are erected without any documentation, mostly in the rural areas. They do not have any design criteria and they do not meet any engineering requirements.”

Opposition Member of Parliament Viliame Gavoka said authorities need to go above and beyond to ensure that village homes have Cyclone Engineers Certificates because they are the most vulnerable in times of natural disasters.

In raising a concern association vice president, Alvin Singh, said he had come across instances where approved engineers on the Insurance Association of Fiji panel have refused to issue cyclone certificates for existing timber buildings.

“There is a list of engineers sitting on the Fiji insurance panel that are the only ones that can issue a cyclone certificate, but there have been instances and I have come across a few myself where they do not issue cyclone certificates for existing timber buildings,” Mr Singh said.

“Where does this leave the home owners? They issue cyclone covers for newly constructed timber buildings but not existing structures.”

Mr Singh said he was happy to see that the World Bank had issued a pamphlet telling people of basic building requirements and standards that came near to complying with cyclone requirements.