Developing Building Code Compliance in the Eastern Caribbean with Local Traditional Techniques to Enable Climate Change Resilience

The threat from a changing climate to the Caribbean is likely to exacerbate already existing vulnerabilities in the built environment. Building Codes are generally regarded as powerful regularity tools for increasing people’s safety and resilience in housing but are not always adhered to in countries in the Eastern Caribbean, where resources and technical training are often scarce. The research project documented in this paper is part of the first author’s Professional Doctorate in Sustainable Built Environment (DSBE), which proposes to mitigate this lack of adherence to Building Codes in lower income housing in Antigua and Barbuda, part of the Leeward Islands, Eastern Caribbean, by the development, implementation and testing of a protocol that it is hoped will facilitate compliance with building code standards already developed in the country. This could enhance resilience from the challenges posed by climate change. This change in approach, from a list-based Western approach to building code compliance, to a more flexible demonstrative approach, will also potentially unlock development loan finance to more—and better—lower income housing, and incentivize local builders to construct buildings that adhere to the building code in the first instance, as well as provide them with a pathway to do so.