Building occupancy requirements in residential developments in Kampala; an assessment of compliance.

Abstract

The pattern and form of the built environment in any city, is determined by the established planning, design standards and building regulations in place. Building Control regulations provide means through which development authorities can control the use of buildings, available land resources and infrastructure facilities to ensure proper spatial organization and environmental protection in the urban setting. Though building regulations do exist in developing countries, they are sometimes not implemented as stipulated in the documents. The government of Uganda developed a number of regulations that control the development of buildings which are Policy for Development and strengthening of the National Construction Industry 2010, The Public Health Act and The Building Control Act 2013, Building Control Regulations by the Ministry of Works and Transport and other regulations that control professionals in the building sector. These regulations do not permit construction and occupancy of any building that is breach of any of the regulations. Building regulations are developed for different purposes. The study sought the implementation of building control regulations with emphasis laid on building occupancy requirements in residential developments in Kampala. The study viewed that prescriptive regulations concerning building occupancy are not adequately implemented in Uganda. This shows that residential buildings in Uganda are constructed and occupied without complying with some of the building regulations.