BRIEFS: Construction

Uniform construction code proposed by Mivi

Reasonable observers might suppose that for all the construction going on in Panama there must be a uniform construction code that regulates structural design, materials, energy conservation, fire safety, electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling, ventilation, indoor air quality, accessibility, safety, acoustics, disaster mitigation, green building, and more.

But anyone with more than a passing familiarity with building in the country can tell you no such code exists.

That could change, however, if reforms proposed by the Ministerio de Vivienda (Mivi) are approved and adopted.

“At present, both professionals and investors find it difficult to develop projects because there is no guide for the processes and requirements,” said Gabriel Diez, heads the Mivi.

“The code will establish the necessary mechanisms and processes that the various people involved in construction need to know,” Diez said, from the conception of a project to its final disposition.

The subject of a uniform construction code has been under discussion among Panamanian authorities for more than 10 years, the Mivi official added. But nothing was done, even though construction codes are the norm in other countries.