The government has launched a national initiative to draw up Sri Lanka’s first legally established National Building Code, intended to set common rules for the safety, quality, sustainability and disaster resilience of buildings across the country (Daily Mirror; Daily FT).

Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Sampath Thuyacontha chaired a meeting on the project at the Ministry of Defence on 8 October, attended by senior officials from the National Building Research Institute (NBRI), the National Planning Department, the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA).

What is being replaced

Sri Lanka has no single national building code with legal force. Design and construction practice instead draws on a mix of imported standards — the International Building Code, Eurocodes, British Standards and Indian Standards — layered over local regulations and sector-specific requirements.

Officials say relying on several standards at once can produce inconsistencies in how designs are verified, how approvals are granted and how rules are enforced. The proposed code is meant to pull these into one framework aligned with international practice but adapted to local conditions, including Sri Lanka’s exposure to natural hazards such as flooding.

Timeline and approvals

The NBRI’s project proposal, submitted to the National Planning Department, has been approved for implementation during 2026-2028. Cabinet approval was granted on 21 October 2025, on a memorandum submitted by the President in his capacity as Minister of Defence.

Implementation is to be managed jointly by the NBRI, CIDA and UDA, in consultation with other government institutions, professional bodies, academia and the construction industry.

Not reported

No budget figure was given for the project, and no date was set for when a draft code might be published or brought before Parliament. Neither report says what legal instrument would give the code binding force, how it would apply to buildings already standing, or which agency would enforce it once adopted.