The Ministry of the Interior yesterday outlined recent changes to building codes that include new mandates to reinforce structures susceptible to earthquakes.
The amendments to the Building Earthquake Resistance Design Regulations and Explanation (建築物耐震設計規範及解說) went into effect on Oct. 1.
Many tall buildings in Taiwan have been improperly modified to house street-level shop fronts, which can compromise structural integrity during a quake, National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering Director-General Chou Chung-che (周中哲) told a news conference.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
Illegal constructions on top of buildings are another vulnerability common in buildings throughout the nation, he said.
The new rules require susceptible buildings to install ad hoc structural reinforcements to boost safety until a long-term solution can be implemented, be it an overhaul or demolition, Chou said.
The ministry and the center have ensured that every vulnerable student dormitory up to the junior-high school level has been reinforced, he said, adding that they are now focusing on hotels, markets and other public buildings.
People who are concerned about the structural integrity of the building they live in can contact the center for help, especially for structures that have exposed pillars, he said.
The new rules revised quake resistance standards for structures near fault lines to include the ability to withstand shallow earthquakes, he added.
This means new buildings near fault lines must be 20 to 30 percent more resistant to quakes than before, which translates into an estimated 5 percent increase in construction costs, Chou said.
The center is collating information on land liquefaction cases to map risks nationwide while fine-tuning testing protocols and quality-control procedures for base isolation and quake reduction components, he said.
People are encouraged to use government subsidies to check the quake resistance of their residential buildings, Construction and Planning Agency Director-General Wu Hsin-hsiu (吳欣修) said.
“The safety of your house is far more important than its real-estate value,” he said.
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