Ministry of the Interior officials have said that they plan to speed up the implementation of the “health inspection” program for old buildings, giving priority to six southern cities and counties in the aftermath of the Feb. 6 earthquake.
Construction and Planning Agency Director-General Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍) on Friday said owners applying to have their buildings inspected would be eligible for NT$8,000 in government subsidies and a total of 2,000 building units would be covered under the program.
Planning for the program began in July last year and was to be carried out over two years, Hsu said.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
“However, southern Taiwan was hit by a big earthquake on Feb. 6, so we decided to fast-track the program, which is to begin taking applications at the beginning of next month. The original allocation was for 500 buildings, and now we have expanded it to 2,000 buildings,” he said.
Liu Tien-tsai (劉田財), a section head in the agency’s Management Division, said 1.13 million units obtained a building operating permit before 1997.
“However, it is estimated that more than 40 percent of these will not pass current earthquake-resistance standards for design, so it is necessary to conduct an assessment to check up on these old buildings,” Liu said.
He said the “health inspection” looks into eight main areas: determining if the building is structurally sound; its fire safety condition; handicap accessibility and safety; wind and air circulation; lighting environment; sound environment; water use efficiency and regular maintenance by the building’s management committee.
The most important aspect of the inspection is a building’s structural safety and its earthquake resistance properties, for which the subsidy of NT$8,000 per building is to be provided, Liu said.
Buildings are to be inspected to determine if there are fissures or cracks in their support columns, and if there are peels or other defacement in exterior walls, and then checks are to be made on other items that could show possible structural damage, he said.
Under the program, construction engineering associations in each city and county are to review the cases to determine which units might require a more detailed building inspection, with the agency subsidizing 45 percent of the cost of the follow-up inspection, to a maximum of NT$300,000 per building, Liu said.
Hsu said that given the concern expressed by people in the south following the earthquake, they would be given priority for subsidies under the program.
“If the need is there, we would consider setting aside more funds for subsidies in the future,” Hsu said.
The agricultural sector, along with chicken farming and other animal husbandry industries, also sustained extensive losses from the recent earthquake, and their representatives have asked the central government to implement programs to assess the damage, provide financial relief and offer low-interest loans so that these industries can return to business.
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