DOHA: A standard GCC building code is to be launched by year-end, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs H E Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al Khulaifi said yesterday.
He said ministerial and other committees and agencies concerned with housing will be consulted before the unified code is finalised for launch. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of GCC housing ministers. Al Khulaifi’s ministry is also in charge of housing affairs.
About other panels and agencies, he said for instance in Qatar, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning, Ashghal (Public Works Authority) and Specifications and Standards Authority will be consulted on the draft of the code.
Al Khulaifi said experiences of member states in housing were also discussed by GCC housing ministers at their meeting. He said in December housing ministers of Arab countries will meet at Arab League in Cairo and discuss Arab architecture, among other things. GCC housing ministers will coordinate with one another at the meeting, said Al Khulaifi. Next year, they will meet in Saudi Arabia.
Experts said the code will be based on international best practices and focus on safety and sustainable development. It will take into consideration environmental needs of the region, its topography and Arab and Islamic architecture.
In his opening address to the ministerial meeting, Al Khulaifi highlighted the important role being played by the private sector as an economic growth engine and generator of high-added-value job opportunities through which young people would contribute to building, enhancing and improving the performance of the GCC counties’ economies towards a bright future.
Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) said the code will be unveiled on December 28 in Doha with the participation of GCC housing ministers.
The launch will include the first edition of six codes, Kuna reported late on Wednesday, quoting a senior Kuwaiti official who attended a preparatory meeting before yesterday’s housing ministers’ conclave. According to Kuna, the code will help provide safe and reasonably comfortable buildings and houses for people. The ministerial meeting also discussed housing information rules and database for the region and a website.
Three housing prizes of SR100,000, SR70,000 and SR30,000 were awarded to top winners. The first went to a simplified housing project for youth in Riyadh, second was bagged by a housing project at Al Jibail and the third was given to a project about alternative design to reduce housing costs. The Peninsula
