Standards in Trade:
Building and Construction Workshop
July 19-21, 2000

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NIST and the Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) in Vietnam co-sponsored a workshop on building and construction from July 19-21, 2000 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The workshop was supported by the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) in Hanoi and the Institute for Building Science and Technology of Vietnam's Ministry of Construction. Six U.S. representatives and sixteen from Southeast Asia and the ASEAN Secretariat participated in the workshop, which was attended by more than two hundred people from Vietnamese agencies with interests in building and construction. Attendees came from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. In addition to NIST and USFCS, U.S. organizations included: International Code Council, Inc. (ICC); International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO); National Fire Protection Association (NFPA); and, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL).

The three-day program featured presentations by representatives from the United States and from throughout the Southeast Asia region. They covered building codes and standards, model code organizations, standards development processes, market access requirements for building products and materials, building regulatory systems, the code review and permitting process, and building design and regulatory interfaces. Ample opportunities were available for questions and answers and networking. Participants expressed great satisfaction at the extensive amount of information on the U.S. and Southeast Asian systems exchanged during the program, and expressed the hope that this exchange would continue.

The workshop concluded with recommendations to create a building and construction working group within the Southeast Asia region; to place a NIST standards expert in Southeast Asia; and to continue cooperation in the building design and construction area.

For more information, please contact Christine DeVaux at: christine.devaux@nist.gov, tel. 301-975-4679, fax 301-963-2871.