Local government units (LGUs) must comply with the requirements of House Bill 8500, once the bill is passed into law.
The bill mandates the adoption of disaster-resilient buildings and preserves the powers of LGUs to issue building permits.
However, LGUs must adjust their building ordinances to comply with the requirements of the measure.
House Bill 8500 also replaces the 46-year-old Building Code and names the Secretary of Public Works and Highways as the National Building Official tasked to supervise the implementation of the law at the local level.
HB 8500, or the “New Philippine Building Act” mandates the adoption of new construction rules meant to make all structures more resilient against natural calamities and disasters, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the bill’s authors, said.
“Climate change and the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters that hit the country make it necessary for us lawmakers to update our building and construction laws. Improvements in building regulations and standards are necessary to help us respond to our vulnerabilities to such disasters as earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions, given that the Philippines is situated along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said the World Risk Report of the United Nations University Institute of Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) has pointed to the vulnerability of the Philippines to the impact of climate change by ranking it in 2020 as the 9th most affected country by extreme weather events.
Despite the creation of the Office of the NBO (ONBO), Villafuerte said that local governments shall keep their autonomy on issuing regulations in their respective localities, as the consolidated HB 8500 retains the provision of HB 3686, which states that: “Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to prevent LGUs, pursuant to local autonomy, from enacting local ordinances relating to buildings or structures and their location and planning that will better safeguard life, health, property, and public welfare, consistent with the objectives of this Act and the charter of the concerned LGU.”
HB 3686, which was one of the 10 bills consolidated into the House-passed HB 8500, was authored by Villafuerte with fellow CamSur Reps. Luis Miguel Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and the Bicol Saro partylist.
The measure classifies, and prescribes construction standards and requirements for every category of buildings, including residential, business, commercial/mercantile, educational, agricultural, institutional, factory/industrial, storage, utilities, and high-hazard structures.
It also slaps penalties for violations, including fines, administrative sanctions and jail time of up to six years on violators.