Towards increasing awareness of the Eurocodes in Brunei Darussalam - Workshop on training needs

The Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), funded by the EU, is a development cooperation programme that facilitates dialogue forums between the EU and ASEAN in priority policy areas of joint interest across all three ASEAN Community pillars (Political and Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural).

As part of the EU-ASEAN Cooperation for Regional Integration, the E-READI supported EU-ASEAN dialogue on Eurocodes has been established through a multi-annual concept note with the ASEAN Buildings and Construction Working Group (BCWG), ASEAN Secretariat and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC). The Eurocodes dialogue aims to bring a coherent approach to the adoption of the design standards for the construction sector across the ASEAN member states, through a regional approach. ASEAN member states are currently being at various stages of awareness on the Eurocodes concepts and/or their adoption at national level.

On 5-6 July 2022 a Eurocodes workshop is organised dedicated to relevant authorities in Brunei Darussalam. The primary objective of this workshop is to respond to the training and capacity needs of Brunei Darussalam towards increasing awareness of the benefits of using Eurocodes, its impact to the future of construction sector and implications of climate change, as well as facilitate their implementation as national design codes.

The workshop will outline the needs and the availability of necessary technical assistance in support of the Eurocodes adoption and introduction into the national regulatory environment of Brunei Darussalam. European and ASEAN experts will share knowledge with representatives from competent organisations in Brunei Darussalam on technical methods and techniques underpinning policy implementation in the construction sector. The event will provide an opportunity to build on the experience, initiatives and difficulties concerning the adoption of standards and policies for the construction sector in Europe.

Participants

The attendance of the event was reserved to invited delegates of National Authorities, standardisation bodies and main stakeholders of ASEAN countries - policymakers, standards writers, representatives of professional engineers, industry, academics.

Through the workshop, outstanding experts from CEN/TC 250 'Structural Eurocodes' shared knowledge and provided awareness increase on the EN standardization system for the construction sector to the different stakeholders attending the workshop, as well as detailed technical contents - especially on EN 1991 - Eurocode 1 "Actions on structures", EN 1992 "Design of concrete structures" and EN 1997 "Geotechnical design".

As well, ASEAN MS experts - especially on the side of professional practice - enlightened the opportunities and challenges of transition from National Standards for structural design to the Eurocodes, the regional aspects of collaboration in elaboration of National Annexes to the Eurocodes, and the achievements of design engineering practice with Eurocodes in Brunei Darussalam - especially the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien bridge.

Then, experts from the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and from the E-READI team presented the EU support for the adoption and implementation of the Eurocodes.

Due to the pandemics restrictions, the whole workshop was provided online only. In total, more than 100 participants attended the event.