Over the years, both man-made and natural disasters have threatened Jamaica’s built environment. There was a dire need not only for a modern building code but also for appropriate legislation to enforce the code to ensure safety in the built environment.
In response to this need Parliament passed the Building Act of 2018 (“the Act”), which came into operation on January 15, 2019. The Act repealed the Kingston and St. Andrew Building Act and the Parish Councils Building Act and makes new provisions for the regulation of the building industry in Jamaica. Although the regulations made under the repealed Acts were preserved, new regulations will soon be promulgated.
Application of the Act
The Act generally applies to building work and the change of building use in Jamaica, whether the building was constructed before or after the date that the Act came into force. “Building work” under the Act refers to the design, construction, erection, alteration, repair, extension, modification, demolition or removal of a building and all activities relating thereto. “Building use” includes activities done in or on a building.
Although certain categories of building work are exempted, they may still be subject to the provisions of the Act if the local authority decides that it is in the public interest that this be done. The Act provides that in determining what constitutes “public interest”, the local authority must have regard to the objects of the Act.
Introduction of a National Building Code
The Act establishes a National Building Code for Jamaica, which is comprised of a series of regulations for different categories of building work. Under the Act, The International Building Code together with 11 documents which have been declared by the Bureau of Standards to be standards of specification, are prescribed as the National Building Code of Jamaica.
The persons required to comply with the building code are: the builder, the owner or occupier of the land where the work is being carried out, persons concerned with the management of the building work and the building practitioner or building professional who prepares plans and specification for the building work.
The Act identifies the Bureau of Standards as the body responsible for making recommendations to the Minister with respect to the National Building Code, determining the extent to which the International Building Codes apply to Jamaica and recommending accreditation standards relating to building work, building material or products, construction methods, design, building components and building systems connected with building work.
