Risk Wise

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• RICS is seen as a way for the community to access firms in the

built environment private sector, which it has not engaged in

the past

• The humanitarian sector does not generally have expertise in

the built environment

• There is a need for immediate professional advice at the

scene of a disaster (for example mapping damage to infra-

structure to identify routes to sites, assessing buildings for

safety before people can return to their homes, identifying

rubble materials that can be used again), and during the

recovery phase

• The international community is looking more at disaster relief

in terms of risk reduction and preparedness, so the work of the

Commission should address this area.

Whilst initiatives such as the Hyogo Framework for Disaster Risk

Reduction

have put into place policies for risk reduction, tools and

processes are required for implementing these policies.

Skills of a chartered surveyor

Millions of people live in areas vulnerable to natural disasters due to

rapid urban growth.

More of the urban population is living in

poverty, so increased urbanization has led to more people being

vulnerable due to insecure land rights, poorly built housing and

unstable informal settlements.

Chartered surveyors are involved in the whole lifecycle of land

and buildings, including:

• Master planning

• Building quality audits pre- and post-disaster, particularly

resistance to disaster risks

• Advising on building standards

• Knowledge of local regulatory frameworks and ways they could

be improved

• Land surveying, GIS and rapid mapping of disaster impacts and

risks

• Assessing structural damage to buildings

• Knowledge of land and property legislation,

providing support on land rights and claims and

resolving disputes

• Valuation, cost planning and spending priorities

• Sourcing construction materials and equipment

• Managing money, and accounting for it to allow

reporting back to donors with confidence

• Project managing construction – delivering

buildings on time and on budget, by managing a

range of competing interests and deadlines safely

and sustainably

• Building local capacity and partnerships – training

and knowledge transfer

• Links with other built environment professions;

inter-disciplinary and team working

• Contacts with local business and industry.

There are chartered surveyors all over the world – RICS

has 140,000 members in 146 countries. Local knowl-

edge is important to applying some of these skills.

It is important that those involved in disaster risk reduc-

tion and management are aware of the diversity of skills

offered by the built environment community, and one of

the aims of RICS has been to raise awareness of these skills.

BuildAction – delivering built environment skills

The MDMC works with the private and public sector to

provide built environment professionals on a ‘for the

public good’ basis to help deliver projects initiated or iden-

tified by humanitarian agencies. The MDMC is calling this

initiative BuildAction, and it will be managed by RICS.

This opportunity is available to not-for-profit organiza-

tions working in disaster risk reduction or disaster recovery

and reconstruction. Our member organizations are based

all over the world, providing an ideal partnership to deliver

staff with regional expertise on a ‘public good’ basis.

Vilufushi, March 2007: after land reclamation but before the start of construction. The

original island is within the ring of palm trees (the only things that survived the tsunami)

Image: Rob Worthington

Vilufushi, May 2008: building progress on the 250 houses. The plots

are small, as the Government wants to move more people here from

more vulnerable islands

Image: Barry Davies