RICS to help assess Japan earthquake devastation

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has said it will use its emergency task force to help rebuild areas of Japan devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country last week.

The RICS Disaster Management Commission will work with Japanese surveyors to assess the scale of the damage, and help developing countries also affected by the tsunami to rebuild cities so that they are more resilient to future disasters, the institution said.

Shailesh Kataria, Director of RICS Disaster Management Commission, said: “RICS remains ready to respond to specific requests from governments, UN agencies, private sector and civil society organisations for technical expertise through the RICS Disaster Management Commission (DMC), and global network of over 100,000 members – many of whom are in the Asia-Pacific region.

“RICS DMC supports disaster hit communities to build back better. Japan’s highly developed earthquake mitigation and preparedness work has undoubtedly saved countless lives, however, it will need considerable support from surveyors and other built environment professionals to deal with the devastation caused by this powerful earthquake and tsunami.

“RICS DMC will collaborate with Japanese surveyors and other built environment professionals to promote better earthquake mitigation measures in developing countries, especially through DMC’s work in the UN’s Global Task Force on building codes.

“Furthermore, RICS DMC and RICS members expect to provide technical expertise to support post-disaster damage assessments, and promote the ‘build back better’ agenda not only in Japan, but also in other countries that may be affected by the tsunami” .