Soil test required instead:Baguio does away with building height limit

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city government no longer considers imposing a four-storey height limit on buildings as effective earthquake safety measure but will instead impose strict requirements for soil tests and compliance with the standards of the National Building Code for future constructions in the various zones.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan said last week this was in view of the findings by experts that the buildings’ susceptibility to temblors is not based on the number of levels but on the capability of the soil on which they are built and on the soundness of the structures.

He said a study of the buildings that collapsed during the July 16, 1990 supported these findings prompting the city to abandon plans to impose a height limit and instead focus on policies requiring soil tests for buildings more than two floors, imposing restrictions on danger zones and ensuring sound constructions by strictly requiring compliance to the building code.

He said the soil test will determine how many levels the ground can hold while the building code compliance will assure quality and earthquake-proof structures.

The city will be also strict in disallowing structures to be built on areas considered as danger zones like sinkholes and waterways.

The mayor said experts found that most of the buildings that collapsed during the 1990 temblor had structural defects or violated construction standards.

The mayor said the Hyatt Hotel had defective design and construction that were not addressed properly while Hilltop Hotel and Nevada Square had built additional floors that were not in accordance to their buildings’ original design.  Baguio Park Hotel also had structural issues as the base piling procedures recommended by the engineer were not followed during the construction.

As its policy, the city now requires soil rest for structures with more than two floors before a building permit can be issued.