The pandemic readiness assessment of building design and engineering service-related legislation in Kazakhstan and the EU
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 7 December 2022
Issue publication date: 2 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The current COVID-19 pandemic is influencing our life in every aspect, including working and living environments. Millions of people were forced to isolate themselves in their homes, which has posed significant pressure on buildings and shown us that our dwellings are not designed for such purposes. This is partly due to the fact that homes are designed and built for occasional use rather than isolated and long-term occupation. The legislative system of a country plays an important role in defining and shaping the conditions of people living there. Hence, the aim of the study is to evaluate the readiness of Kazakhstani and the EU construction-related legislation for pandemics.
Design/methodology/approach
Previously developed pandemic-resilient indicators were used for the evaluation of construction legislation. Both legislative systems were reviewed, and the quality of responses was evaluated by assigning response scores.
Findings
The results based on response scores indicate that the environmental resource consumption sub-category was better covered by EU legislation. At the same time, the buildings’ health, safety and comfort are better taken into account in Kazakhstani legislation. Seven pandemic-resilient indicators were not responded to by any legislative system indicating a gap between current legislation and requirements for new living conditions.
Originality/value
No study has analyzed how COVID-19 can transform construction legislation. The study reveals the limitation of current construction legislation in Kazakhstan (KZ) and the EU, indicating the need for transformation to meet the requirements of the pandemic era.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Nazarbayev University Faculty Development Competitive Research Grant Program (FDCRGP; Funder Project Reference: 280720FD1904).
Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Citation
Tokazhanov, G., Tokbolat, S., Tleuken, A. and Karaca, F. (2024), "The pandemic readiness assessment of building design and engineering service-related legislation in Kazakhstan and the EU", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 1585-1607. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-07-2022-0661
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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