GUYANA’S current building codes, which had been implemented since 1999, are being reviewed by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS).

GNBS Executive-Director, Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, at a recent press conference at the Sophia Exhibition Complex, said the existing specifications of the old building codes need to be reviewed, as they are out-dated.

“When you look at the codes now for example, persons are thinking of codes with requirements for energy- efficiency, some of the type of materials that are available then, we have newer materials available now, newer technologies, but there is no formal enforcement arm as is required by the building code, as is specified in that standard,” the GNBS head noted

Further, Walcott-Bostwick said the Minister of Business, under which the agency falls, will be reviewing the policies that are recommended.

“We have a set of building codes and they are currently being reviewed. The one for septic tanks is just a review of the existing specifications and that committee is currently working on it. So for example, they may be looking at certain areas like the size, the type of materials that are being used and so forth. So it’s just updating what currently exists,” she said.

The GNBS director said some regulatory authorities are available that enforce aspects of the building codes – for example the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), which uses the codes to enforce the parts which are applicable to them – when persons are constructing buildings, as well as the Government Electrical Department which implemented the electrical codes.

“At this moment, those regulators will carry out their enforcement, but the thing is, there is not an enforcement body to oversee all of the building codes,” she said.
However, although there are currently no enforcement arms of these codes, there are penalties for those who refuse to follow the codes that are currently available.

The codes have been up for review for the past two years, however, because of on-going development, the requirements are ever-changing.