‘Uniform building codes for low-cost houses formulated’

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan was told on Thursday that the Pakistan Engineering Council had formulated uniform national standard specifications for construction of the low-cost houses, for the first time in country’s history.

Chairing a meeting of National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development, the prime minister was apprised that the said building codes had been formulated within record period of four months, in light of his directives and after consultation and consensus of all provinces.

The prime minister lauded the efforts of the Pakistan Engineering Council and others for formulating the uniformed building codes for low-cost houses.

The Punjab chief secretary told the meeting that they had received 25,607 applications for construction projects over total area of 120.84 million square feet.

Out of these, 17,572 applications had been approved for construction over 46.29 msf including 46.09 msf for residential and 17.56 msf for commercial projects.
Additional Chief Secretary Sindh told the meeting that so far, 33 construction projects had been approved in the province.

The Punjab chief secretary said keeping in view the experience and bylaws of Lahore Development Authority, all other areas had also been asked to follow the LDA bylaws which would assist in the effective utilization of the land.

The Surveyor General of Pakistan apprised the prime minister of the progress on digitization of cadastre, as well as the record of nationwide forests.

The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to complete approval processes for construction projects within the stipulated timeframe.

Underscoring the importance of environmental protection and digitization of their record, the prime minister said the forest conservation was a must to cope with the impacts of the climate change.

He viewed that the digitization of the cadastre would not only help protect the forests but also help to get rid of the land mafia as well as encroachments.