• The Department of Planning observes Building Safety Month for the first time.
• “Building Codes Save Lives” is the 2018 theme.
• Public education will be a primary focus of the campaign.

GRAND CAYMAN (GIS) – May marks the start of the first ever Building Safety Month in the Cayman Islands.

The public awareness campaign was developed by the International Code Council (ICC), an association affiliated with the Department of Planning, with the department leading the local observation.

This year’s theme is “Building Codes Save Lives”.  The purpose of the campaign is to help the public better understand what it takes to create safe structures, and why the adoption of modern, regularly updated building codes is important.

Following the growth of the financial services and tourism sector, and its accompanying construction boom in the 1970’s, the Department of Planning began the process of developing a Building Code for the Cayman Islands in the 80’s. In 1991 the Building Code was accepted as a working document and tabled in the Legislative Assembly to strengthen development requirements.

“Cayman’s infrastructure is truly among the best in our region, and so much of that is a credit to our Building Codes,” says Director of Planning Haroon Pandohie. “That’s a big part of why we wanted to observe Building Safety Month, we want to take this opportunity to educate the public about the importance of our buildings codes.”

In addition to educating the public on the importance of building codes, the department is also taking the opportunity to help the public better understand what the department does, its process and structure, and how customers can have a better experience working with it.

Throughout the month the department will share helpful information on both the government’s and the Ministry of Planning’s social media pages. Additionally the department will host an information booth at A.L. Thompson’s onSaturday 26 May, where the public can meet with and ask questions of the department’s staff. The booth will also feature give-aways, and prizes for children who complete a fun activity worksheet.