Legislation for protection against earthquakes
The powerful earthquakes that affected Turkey and Syria last month and also the recent seismic activity in southern Romania have prompted the Romanian authorities to focus on the issue of strengthening the buildings posing a higher seismic risk in this co
Daniela Budu, 02.03.2023, 13:50
During the government meeting on Wednesday, Romanias Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said that Romania is a country with a high seismic risk, adding that the procedures under which certain construction companies can get certified in various fields of activity must be soon implemented. Furthermore, the Prime Minister says that certain regulations must be adopted forcing construction companies to assume responsibility regarding the earthquake-resistant structure of a building.
The Prime Minister gave assurances that the government would carry on its efforts in the field of assessing the seismic risk and the measures to be implemented by the Executive and the local authorities for all the programmes and projects aimed at reinforcing the infrastructure
In the meantime the Romanian Ministry of Development is already running the National Programme for the Consolidation of the Buildings with High Seismic Risk, which has this year been earmarked 40 million Euros worth of budgetary credits and 100 million Euros in commitment appropriation with a 100% funding.
That means that neither the owners of the aforementioned buildings, nor the local authorities will have to reimburse the money used for their consolidation. According to official data, applications for the structural reinforcement of 400 such buildings have been registered since the beginning of the year. According to Development Minister Cseke Atilla, the first 50 projects have already been selected for funding within the National Programme for the Consolidation of the Buildings with High Seismic Risk.
Education institutions, social-cultural buildings, blocks of flats, administrative buildings and healthcare units all over Romania have been included on the list of those eligible for funding. The sum for their structural reinforcement accounts for 148 million Euros. Furthermore, on Wednesday the government decided to submit for Parliament approval a bill aimed at banning the rent of apartments in blocks of flats included in vulnerable buildings. The ban will be lifted only after the reinforcement construction has ended.
According to the Development Minister, after the aforementioned law has come into effect the rent contracts are to be terminated within 30 days at the most.
Also on Wednesday, the Executive in Bucharest endorsed an emergency ordinance on a programme entitled Safe and Healthy Schools, which proposes a simplified procedure for the introduction of vulnerable schools into the aforementioned investment programme. The list is to be drawn up by the Ministry of Education and will be submitted to the Ministry of Regional Development. According to official figures, besides the buildings to be reinforced through the National Consolidation Programme, the Ministry is funding the reinforcement of another 251 buildings through the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) and of another 57 buildings through the National Investment Company.
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