SECTION III: CONSTRUCTION
Community mobilisation, planning and design are important
steps for producing safer school buildings. But when
floodwaters rise, earthquakes shake or high winds blow,
the physical construction matters most. Without quality
workmanship and materials, the work of the previous
stages is undermined. Good design, when poorly
implemented, leaves schools highly vulnerable under normal
circumstances, and especially vulnerable when hazards
strike. To achieve good design and good construction, those
doing the construction need to understand the design and
implement it correctly using good quality materials. Effective
construction management, drawings and specifications,
adequate financing and availability of skilled tradespersons,
and construction monitoring are important to achieve safe,
quality construction.
Government agencies provide:
• Construction inspection
• Funds
Community
construction
key activities:
• Construction
monitoring and site
supervision
• Building local
capacity
• Practising and
communicating
safety
In a community-based approach, construction must
be carefully paired with an investment in training and a
transparent process of oversight. Without these aspects,
a community-based approach can quickly devolve into
community-based unsafe school construction.
Community-based safe school construction must also be a
transparent process. School management committees and
community stakeholders should receive communication –
through signage, public hearings and other communication
mechanisms – about the status of the project and the steps
to reach completion.
Local community
provides:
• Construction workers
• Community monitors
• Community labour
School management
committee
Commitment
to safer schools
Implementing organisation
(e.g. NGO, CBO, local authority) provides:
During the Community Construction Stage safer schools are
achieved by putting a construction monitoring and site supervision
process in place, building local capacity, and practising and
communicating safety. The program manager facilitates training
and ensures construction quality through independent monitoring.
School management committees may also be involved in
construction and monitoring.
• Program manager
to facilitate process
• Construction
monitoring to
ensure quality
• Community
training
• Funds
Local
stakeholders
SECTION III: CONSTRUCTION
The Community
Construction Stage
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