An estimated 500,000 Nepali earthquake-affected homeowners in Nepal can now choose to retrofit their damaged homes. In doing so, an estimated 2.5 million lives would be made safe from future earthquakes and 30 megatons of construction materials, and 1 billion USD could be saved. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) approved the retrofitting type design submitted by Build Change for stone masonry buildings in mud mortar on June 4th, 2017, after review by Technical Committee including representatives from the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and leading Nepali structural experts. By approving this retrofit type design, the Government of Nepal opens the door to retrofitting being used at scale by homeowners across the earthquake affected areas to seismically strengthen their earthquake damaged houses. This is a turning point in the history of Nepal’s reconstruction, as for the first time, a clearly defined … Read More
Retrofit evaluations in Haiti
Our staff is still evaluating houses for retrofit in Port-au-Prince. We’re currently doing evaluations in Kanpèch. These evaluations help us determine what interventions a structure needs in order to be earthquake-resistant.