Sichuan Shelter Assessment Report Final Report

Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

SHELTER ASSESSMENT REPORT SICHUAN PROVINCE, CHINA

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

Table of Contents

..............................................................................................................2 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................5 2 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT..........................................................................7 3 TERMS OF REFERENCE..................................................................................7 4 LIMITATIONS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO THE ASSESSMENT.............................................8

4.1 Time constraints................................................................................................................8 4.2 Geographical implementation area...................................................................................9

5 GOVERNMENT MASTER PLAN..........................................................................9

5.1 Government subsidies and instalment plan......................................................................9 5.2 Criteria............................................................................................................................10 5.3 Credits for reconstruction...............................................................................................11 5.4 Time lines........................................................................................................................11 5.5 Monitoring of quality......................................................................................................11 5.6 Twinning Plans with Extremely Affected Counties .......................................................11 5.7 Centralized locations.......................................................................................................11 6 RED CROSS SOCIETY OF CHINA (RCSC)..............................................................12 7 RCSC PROPOSAL TO IFRC ON RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT......................................13 8 ASSESSMENT TEAM AND METHODOLOGY............................................................13

8.1 Members of the team......................................................................................................13 8.2 Methodologies................................................................................................................14

9 KEY FINDINGS...........................................................................................14

9.1 Interviews with affected families....................................................................................14 9.2 Reactions to the GoC reconstruction plan......................................................................15 9.3 Vulnerabilities.................................................................................................................16 9.4 RCSC project management.............................................................................................16 9.5 RCSC visibility...............................................................................................................16 9.6 Monitoring......................................................................................................................17 9.6.1 Monitoring by governmental authorities.................................................................17 9.7 TRANSITIONAL SHELTERS.......................................................................................17 9.8 PERMANENT HOUSING.............................................................................................18 9.8.1 Possible impact on environment .............................................................................18 9.8.2 Impact on construction industry..............................................................................18 9.8.3 Increase of construction costs..................................................................................19 9.8.4 Applied construction techniques..............................................................................19 9.8.5 Land tenure..............................................................................................................20 9.8.6 Building permits and other regulations....................................................................20 9.8.7 Main Challenges Identified .....................................................................................21 9.8.8 Quake resistance......................................................................................................22 9.8.9 Other possible models and construction materials..................................................22 9.8.10 Beneficiary participation.......................................................................................23 9.8.11 Cooperative approaches.........................................................................................23 9.8.12 Financial Capacity.................................................................................................23 9.8.13 Financial Feasibility...............................................................................................23 9.9 Water and sanitation........................................................................................................27 9.10 Health............................................................................................................................28 9.11 Livelihood.....................................................................................................................29 10 RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................29

10.1 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION........................................................................................29 2

Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

10.2 PROGRESSIVE HOUSING AS ALTERNATIVE “CORE” HOUSE.........................30 10.3 OWNER DRIVEN RECONSTRUCTION MODEL...................................................30 10.4 IMPLEMENTATION MODEL....................................................................................31 10.5 PUBLIC INFORMATION/AWARENESS COMPONENT.........................................32 10.6 INTEGRATED PROGRAMMING..............................................................................32 10.7 COORDINATION WITH RCSC AND HKRC............................................................32 10.8 MONITORING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL...........32 10.9 TIMELINE FOR HOME CONSTRUCTION..............................................................33 10.9.1 Construction programming:...................................................................................33 10.9.2 Management model...............................................................................................34 10.10 Transitional shelters....................................................................................................35 10.11 Possible support transitional shelters..........................................................................35 11 LIST OF ANNEXES.....................................................................................35 References................................................................................................36

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The rapid shelter assessment was jointly conducted by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) and the IFRC from 15 to 25 September 2008, visiting four counties in the Deyang Prefecture and one county in the Guangyuan Prefecture in the Sichuan Province, severely affected by the devastating earthquake of May 12. The earthquake has been the worst to hit China in 30 years, have left 69,195 dead, 374,177 injured, 18,404 missing, and over 15 million displaced, of whom five million are homeless and will require permanent shelter. The assessment’s overall objectives were: 1. To provide an analysis of the winter needs for families living in GoC prefabs and self-made transitional shelters in areas where RCSC/IFRC proposes to build village homes. 2. Recommend appropriate programming options and provide analysis of the constraints, opportunities and recommendations on the appropriate reconstruction programming options in areas where RCSC/IFRC proposes to build village homes. Given the extend of the destruction, we are facing a huge challenge which will require creative and flexible programming. The victims of the earthquake did not only lose their property, they also lost their financial and emotional security. The emotional security is one of humans basic needs in accordance with Maslow’s pyramid. The loss of the property also limits the financial capacity of the families as their destroyed dwelling no longer can be pledged for credit. As a result of the earthquake, the GoC developed a reconstruction policy and guidelines and intensified building regulations resulting in higher costs for construction. Technicians from local and regional authorities attend special training programs focused on the regulation for EQ resistant construction. Local government authorities are responsible for providing technical assistance, monitoring and quality control. A rural revitalization program is underway promoting the centralization of scattered rural farming and improving access to facilities like water and sewage treatment. Each centralized rural location would ideally consist of 10-40 households depending on the area topography. Relocation to the centralized developments is on a voluntary basis and is strongly supported by regional and local authorities. It would be reasonable to suppose that these developments will receive prioritized support from the authorities. Due to high level of government support and lower costs associated with centralized construction, centralized developments offer an opportunity to initiate and quickly scale up the RCSC/IFRC reconstruction program. While centralized developments may provide a good starting point for RCSC/IFRC reconstruction program, RCSC/IFRC should not overlook the needs of homeowners rebuilding on their own land. These projects may require a longer lead time but the need is as great or even greater than centralized developments due to increased costs anticipated with slower start in construction, increased cost in transporting building materials and possible greater need for self-reliance. The official GoC target for reconstruction of rural homes is to finalize 60% before the end of 2008, and finalize the rest before the end of 2009. This seems however very ambitious and the assessment team would estimate that a more realistic figure of maximum 20% could be habitable before the end of 2008. This corresponds with figures determined

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China during household surveys where only 17% of the interviewed families have actually started reconstruction of their homes. It is most likely that those who have already initiated rebuilding their home are from better off families with access to their own financial resources. The remainder of the families seem to be waiting to have a more clear picture on the type of assistance they will have access to before they commit their limited savings to start rebuilding their homes. Generally, families do not feel that the government contribution of CNY 19.000 (for 3 and 4 person HH) together with their own existing resources is sufficient to rebuild their destroyed homes. The conservative rural population is hesitant to apply for credit lines before they are certain that this additional financial input would make rebuilding financially feasible. Once financial feasibility is realized, homeowners are open to the idea of progressive building. Progressive development is an alternative to the core house, were the building is divided into the sole structure and finishing works. This alternative approach was successfully implemented by the Spanish RC in Salvador, Nicaragua in 2001. The sole structure includes the basic essential structure (foundation, reinforced concrete structure, floor and roof, external and internal load bearing walls, windows and doors) whilst the finishing (plastering, ceramic tiling, installations, optional partition walls) can be realized at a later date in accordance with financial capacity. The assessment team favours the concept of progressive development since earthquake resistant structures in reinforced concrete are not flexible for future expansion. Expansion of core units requires special attention and skills to retain the integrity of the structure and maintain earthquake resistance. For example, extending earthquake resistant structures horizontal would require a new independent free standing concrete frame and foundation. The progressive development makes the construction of 90 m2 house feasible with a limited contribution of CNY 16-20.000 from the beneficiary. Most families would qualify to borrow this amount from the “rural agricultural credit union”. As the majority of farmers generate their income as day labours, the construction projects will offer opportunities for income generation. Whether this will encourage the conservative rural population to commit themselves to credit is a challenge. The prices for construction materials like bricks have risen dramatically over the past months, most likely due to the reduced capacity and increasing costs for production and transport. Once the capacity is recovered by the end of the year and new production facilities in operation, the trend might slow down. The destruction of rural housing only is five times the normal construction capacity of the region. Affected families living in the transitional shelters, strongly express their wish for quick reconstruction of their homes. Whether this will be realistic within the 2 years set by the government is the question. The centralized developments may be realized assuming the local authorities manage to identify suitable locations and finalize special planning. For those families whom prefer to rebuild their home on the original location, it will be more complicated. They not only face additional financial costs, but also the majority of homeowners have not mastered the skills of building an earthquake resistant dwelling. Owner-driven reconstruction is the model of home reconstruction that the GoC follows. Under this model, the primary decision making responsibility and overall driving force for home construction is the homeowner. This is the model that is being adopted by RCSC and HKRC, as well as other NGOs involved in home construction in the area. This approach is well suited to meet the needs of the affected population. IFRC/RCSC should follow this

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China approach and in additional to cash contributions to households, could provide additional monitoring and technical support. There are also many opportunities for RCSC/IFRC to empower homeowners with access to information to make good decisions and to closely monitor the progress of reconstruction of their home in this homeowner-driven approach.. Building with concrete hollow blocks is a simple, “do it yourself” friendly, earthquake resistant construction technique. The assessment team believes this technique is very suitable for the self construction of the detached dwellings and recommends the introduction of CHB thru the livelihood programming. The training program of CHB might offer assistance for the most vulnerable beneficiaries as elderly and single headed households. The RCSC offices, administrating the implementation of the reconstruction projects face a huge expansion of the daily routines. It is recommendable that the Red Cross partners apply the same monitoring systems and provide training of the project administration teams. The holistic approach of complementary programming ensures a continuous presence in the field, promoting the Red Cross values leading to recruitment of new volunteers. The interaction with beneficiaries and coordination with local and regional authorities will promote the Red Cross and its principles amongst a large public.

2 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT A major earthquake measured 8.0 Richter scale struck Wenchuan, Sichuan Province at 14:28 on May 12, 2008. By 29 June, the earthquake and aftershocks, which has been the worst to hit China in 30 years, have left 69,195 dead, 374,177 injured, 18,404 missing, and over 15 million displaced, of whom five million are homeless and will require permanent shelter. The International Federation revised emergency appeal on May 30 sought CHF 96,742,674 in cash, kind, or services to support the RCSC relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts for the next 36 months. To date, the IFRC supported the RCSC response supplying relief items as quilts, hygiene kits, 100.000 tents and the deployment of Emergency Response Units (ERUs) – providing water, mass sanitation and base camp facilities in 4 townships in Mianzhu County, Deyang Prefecture in Sichuan. The total value of the operational support reached approximately CHF 40 million.

3 TERMS OF REFERENCE The ToR for the shelter assessment was developed by the Shelter Department in Geneva and incorporated feedback from the operation and the regional delegation. This assessment was suggested to focus on shelter, not only addressing the needs for the permanent housing, identifying constraints and opportunities but also the needs and options for the winterisation of transitional shelter. Originally, the assessment of potential school and clinic reconstruction projects was also included in the ToR but removed due to the large territory involved (Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi), limited time in the field

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China available (two weeks) and the need to address village home construction in more depth. The ToR is attached as annex 1. The main objectives of the shelter assessment are: 1. To provide an analysis of the winter needs for families living in GoC prefabs and self-made transitional shelters in areas where RCSC/IFRC proposes to build village homes. 2. Recommend appropriate programming options and provide analysis of the constraints, opportunities and recommendations on the appropriate reconstruction programming options in areas where RCSC/IFRC proposes to build village homes. Key issues to be addressed: 1. Needs of families living in transitional shelters in the RCSC/IFRC project areas for the coming winter season. 2. Existing rural housing, planning and construction practices. 3. RCSC experiences and construction programming methodologies. 4. Programming methodologies. 5. GoC recovery strategy and regulations. 6. Complementary programming opportunities.

4 LIMITATIONS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO THE ASSESSMENT 4.1 Time constraints The assessment was scheduled for two weeks period with nine days for field visits to four counties in the Deyang Prefecture and one county in the Guangyuan Prefecture. The Regional Shelter Delegate, appointed as team leader, faced difficulties with the visa application and joined the Shelter Assessment Team (SAT) four days later than planned. A second delegate was only available to arrive in-country on 17th September due to prior commitments. In consequence of these delays, only one delegate started the assessment on the 15th of September whilst the other two joined the team late afternoon on the 18th. The field trip lasted until the 25th when the SAT returned to Chengdu and started processing the data from interviews, collecting additional information and compiling this report. The original time schedule of the assessment is attached as annex 2. To support the shelter assessment, a local expert would provide relevant background information to the SAT (shelter assessment team) prior to their arrival in-country. The scope of the assignment was collecting information regarding legislations, applied techniques and materials, traditional rural designs etc. Due to the short amount of time available to complete the procurement process and additional complications, the consultant started at the same time as the SAT. To adjust to this situation, the SAT and consultant made arrangements to meet on a regular basis during the assessment and flagged key elements in the consultant’s ToR to focus on. This approach was successful given the context and the full report addressing the consultant’s ToR will be available following the shelter assessment report. The assignment of the consultant is attached as annex 3. One additional time constraint to note is the national holiday, known as the “Golden Week” (September 28 – October 5). During this week, the public organisations and commercial businesses are closed and not reachable for additional information. The SAT

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China used this time to analyze findings and write up their report but were not able to crossreference or fact check if any questions or gaps in the collected information arose.

4.2 Geographical implementation area The initial proposed area of operation for the IFRC shelter program covers a vast area with numerous townships and villages. The SAT therefore only visited 14 out of the 46 proposed villages in the Deyang Prefecture and 5 of the proposed 8 villages in Guangyuan Prefecture. It should be mentioned that the proposed areas of operation by RCSC often only address one village in a township with 5 to 15 villages. The reason given by the local government for this approach was to spread out the limited available resources over the vast area affected by the EQ.

5 GOVERNMENT MASTER PLAN The GoC master plan provides a firm foundation for long term reconstruction of the areas affected by the earthquake. The speed and scale of the Chinese government response to the disaster is impressive and unprecedented, and might stand as an example for future disasters worldwide. The UN mission in China has sought to complement the reconstruction plan “building back better” with recommendations strengthening particular attention towards the most vulnerable people as the poor, minorities, women, children, elderly and disabled and the rural areas. The UN also underlines the importance of environmental sustainability in the monumental reconstruction plan and encourages the use of local materials and promotion of labour intensive construction principles. The programs for rural areas should focus on the economical development and income generation. For rural housing the UN suggests that consideration should be given to education and training of rural population not only on the technical specifics of building codes on earth quake resistant constructions but also the basic reasoning that underlie them.

5.1 Government subsidies and instalment plan The financial assistance from the GoC for the affected households is divided into different programs. The Central Government and Provincial, Prefecture and County level all contribute. The contribution can be divided into: • Financial assistance for emergency relief • Financial compensation for the suffered damage Financial assistance for emergency relief: As a direct response towards the victims of the EQ, the GoC provided two programs for financial relief. Every family received CNY 10 per person per day for a period of three months, equalling CNY 900 pp. A 3 person HH would receive CNY 2.700 (they additionally provide ½ kilo of rice/person/day). The second financial relief was a budget to purchase materials to build transitional shelter, which is again related to the number of members in the household. The threshold for a 1 or 2 person households is set to CNY 2.000, whilst larger HH receive CNY 800 per person. A three member HH would receive CNY 2.400.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

Financial compensation for the suffered damage: The contribution from the GoC to the affected families for reconstruction is related to the number of family members. The threshold for a 1 or 2 person households is set to CNY 16.000, whilst a 3 to 4 person HH receives CNY 19.000 and larger HH receive CNY 22.000. From the government contribution, CNY 10.000 is provided by the central government and the remaining budget is covered by the provincial and prefecture authorities. In addition to the financial compensation for the suffered losses, vulnerable families qualify for a flat rate topping of CNY 4.000. economic status 1-3 persons HH Normal family CNY 16.000 Vulnerable families CNY 20.000 Table 1; Financial compensation

4-5 person HH CNY 19.000 CNY 23.000

6 or more CNY 22.000 CNY 26.000

In accordance with the government’s guidelines, the subsidy should be released in three instalments of 40/40/20%. This seems to be interpreted differently in the various counties. The Chaotian County in Guangyuan Prefecture has e.g. decided on an instalment plan of CNY 5000/5000/5000 and the rest after the construction is accepted by the County Gov. In order to qualify for the financial compensation from the government, the new constructed house should be EQ resistant according the new regulations. Another criterion is the demolition of the existing foundation to ensure an EQ resistant frame structure. The first instalment will be available after the new foundation is constructed. The second instalment should be released after the walls are erected and ring beam is poured and the third instalment should be released after roof is constructed. For damaged houses the GoC has decided on three levels of repair work, graded into “Slight, Moderate or Severe” and will be compensated with 1-2000 CNY, 2-4000 CNY and 45000 CNY. The GoC also indicated that in addition to the above separate constructed buildings for the childless and very elderly population will be provided.

5.2 Criteria While plans for the rural population are developed in details, no plans for the urban population (today most frequently living in GoC pre-fabs) are yet publicized. A normal situation for the urban population is to set up a temporary shelter along the road for business and have the family living in the pre-fab camps. Some visited families reside in the temporary shelters along the road side. The rural houses are listed according to damaged level in categories A, B, C, D and E. The categories A – C indicate damaged houses, level A slightly damaged to level C seriously damaged. Level D indicates damaged beyond repair and E for the destroyed houses. Categories A – C qualify for the limited compensation of CNY 1.000 - 5.000 whilst categories D & E both qualify for the CNY 16 – 22.000. The damage assessment is performed by a team of representatives from the community and technicians from the village council. Damage surveys were not available at the time of the shelter assessment.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

5.3 Credits for reconstruction Every family is encouraged by the GoC to take up loans from either a twinning province or the “rural agricultural credit union”. Most families would qualify for a CNY 20.000 loan but would need a significant larger credit to construct a 3 room house without additional assistance. The credit time frame is one to three years. The interest rate is 0,6 to 0,7 % per month, corresponding to 7 to 9 % annual interest for respectively a 1 and 3 year term.

5.4 Time lines The official GoC target for reconstruction of rural homes is to finalize 60% before the end of 2008, and finalize the rest before the end of 2009. This seems however very ambitious and the assessment team would estimate that a more realistic figure of a maximum of 20% of the constructions could be habitable before the end of 2008. The 20% would represent a small part of the population with sufficient saving and regular income to pay back loans within the stipulated 3 years. Those 20% include the centralized developments that are constructed by preselected contractors on behalf of authorities. At the time of the assessment, the majority of the rural population were occupied with harvesting the rice. Reconstruction is not expected to begin before the beneficiaries are convinced by the feasibility of the funding.

5.5 Monitoring of quality The GoC intends to support the rural families with EQ resistant designs, construction and regulative/legal advice. In the areas of the shelter assessment, already 3 – 4.000 County and Village technicians received additional training in EQ resistant construction techniques, supervision work and special administrative reconstruction issues. Village committees are forming specialised reconstruction committees. All government assistance in relation to the reconstruction is free of charge for the affected families.

5.6 Twinning Plans with Extremely Affected Counties Each of the extremely affected counties in the EQ affected area will be twinned with a Province or City for financial and technical assistance. Of the five counties proposed to IFRC by RCSC to do rural home reconstruction, only Mianzhu County is twinned with Jiangsu Province. The twinning Province will provide assistance, especially for infrastructure and low interest credits. Originally Jiangsu Province planned to provide cash grants to families building rural homes but after consultation with local government decided to use their funds to support local infrastructure projects. At the moment, Jiangsu Province is not planning to provide any direct financial assistance to help villagers rebuild their homes.

5.7 Centralized locations The GoC used the enormous devastation to launch a revitalization program for the rural areas and start with the centralization of the scattered rural farming communities. Since the majority of the dwellings are widely spread across the farming land, it is almost

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China impossible to provide the individual homes with collective facilities as water, sewer or even paved roads. Larger communities would qualify for secondary facilities as day care centres, housing for elderly and disabled etc. Each centralized rural location would ideally consist of 10-40 households depending on the area topography. The advantages of the centralized locations are: • Centralised water system, sewage, and road infrastructure • Release of additional farming land • Better access to health facilities • Safety and convenience Disadvantages are: • Farmers would live separated from the farming land, cattle and poultry • Processing and storage of harvested crops will be more difficult • Rural population is not used living close neighbours GoC encourages people to move to centralized reconstructed areas. Altogether, there are 278 planned centralized locations in the Jinyang County only. In e.g. Bailong Township 800 out of 1.000 reconstructed households are planned to be relocated to 19 centralized locations. Relocation to the centralized developments is on a voluntary basis but is strongly promoted by government officials. The development of centralized housing has the highest priority and would likely receive prioritized support from government authorities.

6 RED CROSS SOCIETY OF CHINA (RCSC) RCSC (excluding RCSC Sichuan Branch, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) received CNY 15 billion in cash and in-kind donations and spent CNY 9,6 billion so far. CNY 160 million has been spent on relief distribution and CNY 500 million has been allocated to support government building of transitional schools and clinics over three to five years. A significant part of the RCSC recovery funds (70%) have been allocated to Sichuan. Gansu and Shaanxi provinces receive respectively 20% and 10%. Within the provincial allocation, 45% is allocated for housing at township and village levels, 30% for the reconstruction of schools and disaster preparedness (DP) and 25% for public health facilities. In Sichuan, the GoC had indicated that RCSC should focus its relief assistance on six prefectures: Mianyang, Deyang, Chengdu, Aba, Guangyuan and Ya’an. For village homes, RCSC plan to support selected affected family in their areas of operation with CNY 15.000/household in cash contributions. The funds will be directed to the Prefecture RC, then transferred to the County RC who then deposits directly into the affected family’s bank account. The Prefecture RC and County RC will be engaged in monitoring both funds and quality of the implementation. The RCSC is aware of the current limited capacity and lack of staff in the branches and are planning capacity building for the existing organisation. For the project management “reconstruction departments” will be establishment with qualified technical and administrative staff. Separately the RCSC Sichuan Branch has received CNY 2 billion (in-kind and cash) to support their relief and recovery activities across 32 counties. They are currently planning school and clinic reconstruction but will not be involved in support for village home reconstruction.

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The Hong Kong branch of the RCSC (HKRC) are currently engaged in an extensive reconstruction program involving village homes, clinics, schools and elderly homes. Their projects are focused in Mianyang Prefecture (Jiangyou, Anxian and Pingwu Counties), Deyang Prefecture (Mianzhu and Shifang Counties). For village homes, HKRC plan to support selected affected family in their areas of operation with CNY 20.000/household in cash contributions. The funds will be directed to the Prefecture RC, then transferred to the County RC who then deposits directly into the affected family’s bank account. The Prefecture RC and County RC will be engaged in monitoring both funds and quality of the implementation.

7 RCSC PROPOSAL TO IFRC ON RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT The original list of proposed home reconstruction projects that RCSC provided IFRC was based on the following requirements: 1. Should be at the village level (excluding urban areas and township centers) 2. Should be in Sichuan Province only, as the findings of the first assessment indicated that the need for assistance is greater in Sichuan. 3. Should focus on counties that are not twinned with the exception of Mianzhu County where the ERU was operational. 4. Should not overlap with home reconstruction projects that are supported by other RC partners. 5. Should be in areas seriously affected by the earthquake with populations that are not able to rebuild without outside support. 6. Should be in areas that are not already covered by other donors. 7. Local township and county governments should show high interest in working with Red Cross and be willing to provide support and cooperation. 8. Should allow for full coverage of affected townships as per the findings of the first assessment that recommended full coverage to avoid conflict within townships. The original proposed housing projects met the majority of the above criteria and were the basis for the shelter assessment. Those were the original projects that were proposed to donor national societies. The final selected projects may change due to the recommendations from the shelter assessment, as well as the actual pledges.

8 ASSESSMENT TEAM AND METHODOLOGY 8.1 Members of the team From the Federation: • Felix de Vries (Netherland RC) Team Leader, IFRC regional shelter delegate • Henrik Hjort (Swedish RC) Architect and shelter expert • Qiang Song (Canadian RC) Structural Engineer, specialized in EQ engineering • Sheila Thornton, Acting Head of Office • Francesc Bellaubi, Watsan Delegate • Jeya Kulasingam, M.D., Health Delegate • Lydia Wei, interpreter • Min Song, interpreter

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China From the RCSC • Mr Li Zhe, Project Coordinator /RCSC national office • Mr Cai Wennan, Relief Department /RCSC National office Consultant • Professor Li Wei, Design and Research Institute of Sichuan University • Ms Qi Yu, Design and Research Institute of Sichuan University • Graduate students from the Sichuan University

8.2 Methodologies • • • •

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Review of available project documents, project reviews, GoC recovery plans and regulations, building standards and drawings. Interviews with affected households. Findings are processed in spreadsheet and attached as annex 6 Meetings with local authorities on Prefecture and County, Township and Village level. Interviews with Village leaders and Party secretaries Interviews with technical specialists from construction and planning departments Meetings with other reconstruction agencies representatives on opportunities, constrains and possible cooperation

The local consultant from the Sichuan University has been engaged in undertaking much of the gathering of documents and some reviewing of literature.

9 KEY FINDINGS 9.1 Interviews with affected families The assessment team performed 103 interviews with affected families in the proposed areas of operation. This corresponds with 0,4 % of all targeted families. The figures, by any means, do not provide actual facts but only an indication. The interviews were all conducted with affected households on their own plots or in unofficial IDP camps. The official Gov IDP camps are mostly filled with urban families who are not a target group of this assessment or the proposed intervention. The questionnaire focused on the people’s ability to survive the winter, ability to manage the reconstruction work, the understanding of GoC regulations and earthquake resistant principles, the ability to pay back loans and possible relocation. The results showed that out of all families interviewed: • Average family size is 4.4 people, while in the Mianzhu area the figure is 3,9. • 87% are currently sheltering in their own village, • 68% has erected transitional shelters, while 21% still live in tents. The majority of the families living in tents cannot or dare not return to the original location yet due to the danger of landslides. Awaiting assessment by government specialists, the families reside concentrated in unofficial IDP camps or scattered along roads and available sites. The remaining affected families organised themselves living with friends, relatives or rented a house elsewhere.

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• • • •

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Some families cannot return to the original location as it is claimed for new projected infrastructure. Across the five counties included in the assessment and in the visited villages 65% of the houses are destroyed or damaged beyond repair, 25% severely damaged and 20% suffered minor or no damage. In Mianzhu County 91% of the houses were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. 48% were planning to reconstruct on their own plot of land while 39% favoured relocation to centralized locations. The rest was uncertain. It is our impression the main reason for relocation is age related. The elderly seem to suffer from the harsh rural conditions whilst the younger generation prefer better access to the education system and other facilities. The main objection against relocation is related to the future distance from farm and cattle. 83% would need a contractor to construct their homes while only 3% would do or organize the works themselves. The rest would partly take use of a contractor. 82% expressed the need for assistance with transport of materials to their construction site. The majority of the remaining group relies on the contractor for transport. 83% still has not started reconstruction work. 71% would follow Gov standard for earthquake resistant constructions but many were uncertain about this. This could indicate that more information is needed. It also indicates that the Gov earthquake resistant standard poses a problem for the poorest people since it makes the reconstruction work more expensive than a traditional construction. 57% would follow a Gov proposed design, while 17% would not and the rest did not know. Many people are of the opinion that they are obliged to follow Gov designs. 43% favor the idea of progressive building (“sole structure” house first - - which includes foundation, walls, roof and windows - - and the “finishing” later) while 24% will construct a bigger house from start and the rest were still uncertain of size. The uncertainty indicates that the reconstruction seems much more expensive for many people than they can afford. They therefore do not know whether to start the reconstruction work or not. Many families are waiting for the Gov to change the restrictions on construction which they mean are impossible to fulfil for many families. 12 % of the families’ water points are polluted or have collapsed.

According to the interviews, 83% of the families have not started construction yet. This confirms the general impression based on visual inspection of the affected areas. People are waiting for more financial contribution / commitments since the government contribution of CNY 19.000 (for 3 person HH) and possible credit for CNY 20.000 is not sufficient to rebuild a house. Most people are not willing to start investing their savings and getting loans until they are certain that they can finish a small core unit of basic “sole structure”. Without a financial feasibility, most families will not take the initiative to begin construction and will wait for a more clear idea of the support they will receive. The interviewed people were reserved and reluctant providing accurate information regarding the economical situation.

9.2 Reactions to the GoC reconstruction plan The interviews showed that there is a general disagreement with the standard designs of houses:

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• • •

• • •

The current designs provided by the government do not fully serve the needs of most families (family enterprise, farmers need, shops etc). Without additional assistance, the current financial support is not enough for the design. Villagers often have an emotional feeling for their old house and would like to reconstruct what they had before. In their believe this would be cheaper since parts of the old building can be used. (while this would be less expensive, this would not meet the earthquake resistant requirements) The old foundations are still intact and the new designs are not meant to be incorporated, resulting in additional costs for demolition which villagers may find difficult to given the current amount of outside assistance they are expecting. Gov will reimburse their first instalment when rubble is removed and the new foundation is constructed. This would however require old foundations to be removed and many people are not ready to do this. Villagers therefore seem to be undecided on what to do and wait for the government to provide additional direction.

9.3 Vulnerabilities The team’s impression is the majority of the population in the affected areas can be considered vulnerable. In Mianzhu County almost all families have not only lost their house but also their find other belongings damaged by the fallen debris. The poorest of the poor and the elderly will be supported with special program by GoC. Those include additional funding of CNY 4.000 compensation for reconstruction and monthly financial assistance. Given the scale of the destruction in most areas proposed by RCSC for village home reconstruction, it would be difficult to extract families that are much worse of than others. This is especially true in Mianzhu County.

9.4 RCSC project management Prefecture: The Prefecture RC offices act as the counterpart for the RCSC HQ, HKRC and IFRC in village home reconstruction. The Prefecture RC plans to perform general process management including monitoring progress, financial auditing, distribution of funds to the designated counties and coordination with local authorities and RC branches as well as keeping files on project documents. County: The RC branches in the counties act as mediator between the prefecture and townships. They plan to be closely involved with the reconstruction, performing random checks at construction sites and also monitoring and conducting the cash transfers to the affected families.

9.5 RCSC visibility While the RCSC has a higher profile on the prefecture or provincial level, when you move to the lower levels of township and village, many people have only limited knowledge of the RCSC and the work that they are doing. The aftermath of a disaster has often proved to be a suitable timing to encourage people to take up challenges as volunteers and to

16

Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China promote disaster preparedness. This disaster is no exception. The RCSC prefecture and County branches are relatively small with few employees. Many Counties in the affected area has to date no Red Cross volunteers. The existing volunteers in other counties are often quite inactive. This would be the time to boost the Red Cross normal activities in these areas, and the support to families living in transitional shelters and needing to reconstruct their homes is an opportunity to do this.

9.6 Monitoring 9.6.1 Monitoring by governmental authorities The government will monitor the implementation of reconstruction through the administrative departments in the respective authorities. Each village has set up a reconstruction committee composed of council representatives, technicians and village administrators. The village councils will assist the affected families with: • Application for land use and building permit • Selection and contracting of contractors • Supervision of the structural elements (supervision is a joint responsibility for both council - structure and project owner – general) • Application for subsidies • Payment of contractors instalments.

9.7 TRANSITIONAL SHELTERS The majority of the affected families live in self-built transitional shelters closely located to their destroyed houses. The shelters are composed of salvaged debris (timber, bricks, window and door frames, ceramic roof tiles) and are complemented with new purchased materials as corrugated asbestos panels for roofing and timber for cladding. The living environment is far from the residential conditions prior to the EQ. Addressing long term winter needs during the interviews, the majority of people interviewed replied that they needed “proper residential conditions” referring to their new house. Specifically addressing short term needs, they replied they needed materials to improve thermal insulation, winter cloths and quilts. The message of the interviews were that the priority was for reconstructed houses and there was a limited need for winterization assistance as the resilient occupants from rural areas are used to harsh conditions. In general, the traditional rural houses are not heated during the winter seasons. The designated kitchens are heating by the stove and an occasional family might heat the living room with a traditional clay pot stove in a basket, burning coal and wood. Another applied traditional technique is pre heating the beds with pots filled with boiled water. More recently, the rural population started to use electrical blankets. Heating the GoC prefab transitional are quite well insulated and sealed Visiting an occasional GoC prefab performance much higher compared

shelters with open fire is not recommendable as they from draught with modern metal or plastic windows. transitional shelter, the SAT qualifies the thermal to the self-built transitional shelters.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China There is however a general need for clothes, quilts and tarpaulins before the upcoming winter. For the vulnerable elder people, electrical blankets are a possibility, but this is not a favourable option in relation to consistent quality and liability aspects for the Red Cross.

9.8 PERMANENT HOUSING 9.8.1 Possible impact on environment After the earthquake, the destroyed dwellings, roads and bridges produced large amounts of debris, including: • Waste materials: rammed earth (dirt), broken timber, ceramic tiles, bricks, concrete blocks, concrete, reinforcement, steel, ceramics, plasticized copper wire, plastics, glass, corrugated asbestos sheets • salvaged materials: mainly timber, ceramic roof tiles, limited bricks (fired) and concrete hollow blocks, window and door frames, aggregate of broken bricks, mortar, plaster: (land fill) The GoC has guidelines for the treatment of construction waste in the earthquake-hit areas. People have started to recycle the salvaged material from the debris for the construction of the transitional shelter. Some of the local authorities have plans to use the salvaged materials in the construction of roads, or for landfill. In rural area, it is difficult to follow the government guideline of the waste treatment, especially for the treatment of toxic materials like asbestos, because of the relatively high cost, the lack of equipment, and the shortage of trained personnel.

9.8.2 Impact on construction industry Sichuan Province is one of the major players in the construction industry in China. For example, 70% of the working force in Mianzhu County is working in the construction industry throughout China as migrant labours. At the end of 2006, the total amount building area of rural residential buildings in Sichuan Province was 1.9 trillion square meters. In the year 2006, 47.7 million sq. meters rural residential building were completed in Sichuan Province, 85.12% are composite masonry structures [7] Labour cost for rural residential building is about CNY100 per square meter, at the year 2006 [10]. CNY 125-150/m2 The capacities and prices of major building material production in Sichuan Province are: Type Steel (ton) Cement (ton) Capacity of production 16 million 77 million Unit Price CNY 5900 CNY 480 Table 2. The Supply of Building Materials in 2007

Brick (standard brick) 31 billion CNY 0.28

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China In Sichuan Province, the total number of rural homes that need to be rebuilt is 1.91 million [source: The State Council: General Plan of the Post Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction]. Given an average family size of 4-person per family, 30 square meters per person, the total amount of reconstruction will be 229.7 million square meters, which is about 5 times of the amount in 2006. Supposing that every family would reconstruct 90 m2 of their home, the construction of rural residential houses would approximately require: •

• • • • •

1.9 million homes 170 million m2 to be constructed 76 billion standard bricks 34 million ton of cement (400 million bags) 3.5 million ton of steel reinforcement 340 million m3 of granulate

In addition to rural homes, partners in the reconstruction program will provide urban homes, schools, hospitals, clinics, public buildings and infrastructure such as roads and bridges etc. The impact of the gigantic task of reconstructing cannot be underestimated.

9.8.3 Increase of construction costs Indicative prices for construction work are increasing from CNY 700/m2 before the EQ to CNY 850/m2 end of September. The m2 price for September is related to the new EQ resistant regulations although the applied techniques are frequently compromised, most likely for financial reasons. Due to the EQ, the production capacity in the Sichuan Province was significant reduced. The production of 30 brick factories in the province reduced to 45% of its capacity. In August, the industry recovered to 87%, expecting to fully recover by the end of the year. Prices are increasing due to the reduced production capacity in the Sichuan Province and the high demand for building materials. The expansion of the clay brick production is limited due to the government policy to protect farming land. The price of a brick has increased with 44% from CNY 0,32 (end of August) to the current price of CNY 0,46 (end of September). The increase is related to the high demand and rising costs for production (baking process) and transport. The increase of labour cost has been observed as well. The current cost of labour in the construction of a rural residential building various between CNY120 and CNY150 per square meters, it is 20% to 50% from the price in 2006. (source: Planning and Construction Bureau, Mianzhu Government).

9.8.4 Applied construction techniques The assessment has come across various construction techniques from rammed earth to modern techniques of composite masonry structures. In the affected areas the slightly damaged buildings are more likely to have been recently built as composite masonry technique with reinforced concrete structure. It seems the layout, rectangular and square spaces, are in accordance with preferred shapes for EQ prone areas.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

The common applied construction practise in the Sichuan Province at the moment is composite masonry technique with reinforced concrete structure. This technique is suitable for EQ prone areas as the concrete structure encloses the walls when the buildings shake during the tremors. Due to the high demand for materials and the reduced production capacity, new factories are established. Given the government protection policy for baked bricks, new materials like the concrete hollow blocks (CHB) could be introduced. This material, widely produced and applied throughout the world, is very suitable for EQ prone areas. The CHB do not require a costly baking process but uses cement to bound the aggregates with cement and need some time for curing. Although the CHB are not well known yet, it is very suitable for single and two story buildings in rural areas. CHB structures also require an enclosing concrete structure but it is simple compared to the composite masonry technique. In addition to the concrete columns, the walls are strengthened with a reinforced concrete core next to the door and window openings as the hollow blocks are filled with concrete and steel reinforcement. Those cores strengthen the walls significantly as the openings are vulnerable elements in EQ resistant construction. The SAT came across the 6” (15 cm) CHB in the field but strongly recommends to use the 8” (20 cm) blocks for the outside walls and the 6” (15 cm) for internal use. The production CHB might also use the significant part of the debris as aggregate. Whilst the use of debris for concrete demands high standards for aggregates related to the classification (load bearing capacity), CHB applies lower standards. The CHB technique offers an unique opportunity for the EQ response. It does not require specialised skills and education. The cement industry has prepared and applied the whole packages worldwide; EQ resistant designs, small scale production units and training programs. The package is ready for humanitarian organisations to apply it in the disaster response. The CHB package often comes with the production of roof tiles. Whether those tiles fit the traditional rural architecture would require more investigation.

9.8.5 Land tenure In China, the land belongs to the state and is leased for periods of 30 years and is normally automatically renewed. Each family normally leases a piece of land corresponding to approx 2-3 mu (1 mu corresponds to 667m2).

9.8.6 Building permits and other regulations To obtain a building permission for residential building in rural area, the following procedure has to be followed: 1) Application of land usage sent to the village council 2) Site selection and building plan being examined by the village council 3) Obtain the land usage permission from the land resources bureau of the township government 4) Application for building permission being sent to the Township construction bureau (usually by the contractor)

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China 5) Construction bureau checks the qualification of the contractor 6) The contractor submits building plan to the construction bureau. Architecture plan is required for residential buildings of 2-storage or lower; otherwise blueprints of the structure are required 7) Provide proof of supervision (after the earthquake, all kinds of construction have to be supervised by qualified personnel) 8) Obtain the building permission from the construction bureau of the township government For the construction of one-story or two-story rural residential buildings, tender is not required by government regulations. Property owners can hire their own contractors from the market. However, the local authorities will check the qualifications of the contractor before issuing the building permission. During the construction, inspections have to be performed when the excavation of foundation is completed, when the installation of reinforcement and forming is done, and at the completion of the main structure. The inspection reports have to be signed by the supervision contractor, the inspector from the local authority, the contractor, and the owner or owner’s representative, before the construction moving to the next step. At the completion of the construction, a final inspection has to be carried out, and the closing documents should be approved by the civil affair bureau, the construction bureau, and the agricultural bureau. [9]

9.8.7 Main Challenges Identified The reconstruction of the rural residential building is facing three major challenges: The shortage of bricks, the lack of experienced personnel in administration and supervision, and the increase of the technical standard due to the EQ resistant regulation. The potential increase of the wall material could have a significant impact on the cost of reconstruction. A 120 square meter house will need approximately 50,000 standard bricks. CNY0.10 increase in the price will result in a CNY 5,000 increase in the reconstruction cost. The response to the market need has been made by both the government and the industry. Sichuan provincial government has provided CNY100 million to support the building material industry. 90 new factories of new wall materials are to be built recently, by local investors, and the investors from other provinces such as Jiangsu. New wall materials include the hollow concrete block, and the bricks made from the construction waste such as those from the destroyed buildings. New wall materials, such as the hollow concrete blocks mentioned above, can be used in the construction of rural residential building, to replace the traditional baked clay bricks. The local authorities have no experience in managing large projects, and they are facing a lack of human resource to handle the large amount of administration and supervision workload. As part of the answer to the challenge, some of the local construction authorities have provided training programs on administration, and technical supervision.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China Local authorities, contractors, and residents don’t have experience in the construction of earthquake resistant structure. The other change is the increase of the construction cost. To meet the new standard, the cost of construction will increase by 15%, approximately.

9.8.8 Quake resistance After the Sichuan earthquake, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development published a technical guideline for the construction of rural residential homes [5]. The guideline covers the following areas: 1) Selection of suitable site for earthquake resistant homes 2) Selection of building layout 3) Determination of the required earthquake resistance capacity 4) Earthquake resistant design and construction of the building foundation 5) Earthquake resistant design and construction of the structure, and 6) The requirement for building materials used in earthquake resistant structures After the earthquake, many of the major architecture and engineering design institutes have contributed their designs of earthquake resistant rural residential buildings, to help the reconstruction. The local authorities (the planning or construction department of the prefecture, the county, and the township) have recommended several models. For example, the Banqiao Township of Mianzhu County have recommended 45 models, which were selected from the designs provided by Jiangsu Province. All the centralized residential buildings are required to adopt the designs recommended by the local government. Prefecture, county, and township governments are running various kinds of education programs on earthquake resistance of the residential buildings, including training construction supervisors at village level, distributing bulletins on how to build earthquake resistant homes, and providing detailed technical requirement and drawing of structural components (beam, tie-column, joint, etc.).

9.8.9 Other possible models and construction materials Rammed earth structure could be used where sufficient supply of soil is available. The use of earth structures will reduce the cost of the construction, while still meeting the requirement of earthquake resistant capacity. In The Technical Guideline on Post Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction of Rural Residential Buildings” [5], the earthquake resistant requirements of the earth structures have been mentioned. In short, earth structure could be adopted in 1-2 storey building when the designed earthquake resistant ability is between 6 and 8 degree, and, detailed technical requirement and guideline can be found in section 9 of the guideline. Earth construction has been noticed during the field trip. The earth structures found on the field were not built to meet the earthquake resistant standard, and suffered severe damage during the earthquake.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China It is suggested that earth structure could be used as an alternative. The use of earth structures will reduce the cost of the construction, while still meets the requirement of earthquake resistant capacity. Because the local contractors may have little or no knowledge and experience in building earthquake resistant earth structures, technical training and supervision from experienced personnel should be provided.

9.8.10 Beneficiary participation After the Sichuan earthquake, people are aware of the importance of building their homes earthquake resistant. Therefore, they are willing to be involved in the construction procedure in various ways.

9.8.11 Cooperative approaches Each village has set up a reconstruction committee composing of village leaders, technicians and village administrators. In some cases the village will engage a contractor to lead the reconstruction work. The committee will monitor the construction process and give recommendations to the County Government for disbursement of instalments. Some villages will act cooperatively towards construction of centralized locations. They will also engage a common contractor and a common inspector.

9.8.12 Financial Capacity Financial preparedness is also very low. Annual average income per person in China is often described to be in the range of 2-5.000 CNY, and the local gross income/person in the affected assessed areas has been calculated to between 2.500 to 4.000 CNY. It seems however that casual labour does not always count in this calculation and that there is a significant grey zone in this statistic. Average monthly expenditure for a family normally rises to 1.000-1.500 CNY and casual labour work is paid in the range of CNY 25-50/day corresponding to well over 1.000 CNY/month.

9.8.13 Financial Feasibility Given the extend of the destruction, we are facing a huge challenge which will address creativity and flexibility. The victims of the EQ did not only lose their property, they also lost their financial and emotional security. The emotional security is one of humans basic needs in accordance with Maslow’s pyramid. The loss of the property also limits the financial capacity of the families as their destroyed dwelling no longer can be pledged for credit The GoC guidelines for permanent shelter in rural area’s indicate a preferred floor space of 30 m2 per person. This guidance is more or less in accordance with the common practice of rural housing. Over time the families have expanded their houses to today’s standard. This practice has evolved over time as housing can be seen as a living organism. In addition to the covered floor space, the traditional rural dwellings include farming related spaces such as storage space and paved yards.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

As a result of the EQ, the building regulations are strengthened to withstand a 7,5 magnitude for EQ prone areas. Those new standards result in higher costs as EQ resistant construction requires a enclosing frame of ring beams and columns. The average costs for construction prior to the EQ varied from CNY 500 (self construction) to CNY 750/m2. Interviews with professionals during the assessment indicate average costs of CNY 850 – 1.000/m2 for EQ resistant construction with reinforced concrete. Given the findings in the field where officials “interpreted” the EQ resistance codes we would like to stress that the technical specifications can’t be comprised and believe realistic actual costs are CNY 900-1.000 /m2 (4th Q-2008). The price range varies a depending on the location of the factories and the actual building site. This price indication is subject to future inflation but will ease when the production capacity is restored to 100% at the end of 2008 and new production facilities in full operation. The guidelines for permanent shelter of 30 m2/pp and EQ resistant construction costs of CNY 1.000 /m2, equals a budget of CNY 120.000 for an average household of 4 persons in the Mianzhu County. The supervision on construction works is normally a joined performance of the “construction bureau” from the local government and a supervisor engaged by the project owner/ investor. The normal rate would be approximately 5% of the constructions costs. Given the unique situation for the reconstruction of the EQ damage such as free services from the local government and large volume of ongoing construction, the rate for supervision is estimated for 1% of the constructions costs. CNY Development costs; 4th quarter 2008 121.000 CNY Salvaged materials 10% (rounded) -12.000 CNY Contribution GoC and IFRC -39.000 Financial contribution by beneficiary 70.000 Table 3; Development costs for 120 m2 dwelling for 4 person household

With donations from the GoC, the IFRC and salvaged materials only CNY 51.000 (42%) of the construction costs are covered. This is not feasible for the majority of the affected families. Scaling down to a 90 m2 dwelling the development costs are estimated to CNY 91.000 according table 4 below. The development costs are based on an assumed construction costs of CNY 1.000/m2 which is rather high compared to the CNY 850/ m2 for ongoing construction compromising EQ regulations. Construction costs for a 90 m2dwelling Collective supervision 1% Development costs; 4th quarter 2008 Table 4; development costs for 90 m2 dwelling

CNY CNY CNY

90.000 1.000 91.000

Having set the development costs to CNY 91.000, the financial coverage can be divided into 4 components. • Salvaged materials • Financial contribution by the Government of China • Financial contribution by the IFRC • Remaining budget for beneficiary Salvaged materials: Construction materials from the debris which can be re-used for construction. Amongst timber, a significant part of the ceramic roof tiles and small percentages of the ceramic

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China bricks are still suitable to be reused. The broken ceramic products are use full for landfill and / or drainage purposes. The value of the debris is estimated in cooperation with the RCSC and professionals in the field to 10% of the construction costs Financial contribution by the Government of China: The contribution from the GoC for reconstruction is CNY 19.000 Financial contribution by the IFRC: The contribution from the IFRC is set to CNY 20.000 per household. Remaining budget for beneficiary: Having estimated the development costs for a 90 m2 dwelling, the financial contribution from the GoC and the IFRC, the remaining budget can be determined. Development costs; 4th quarter 2008 salvaged materials financial contribution GoC financial contribution IFRC secured financial coverage remaining financial gap Table 5; Financial coverage

CNY CNY CNY CNY CNY CNY

91.000

100 %

48.000 43.000

52,8 % 47,2 %

9.000 19.000 20.000

According table 5; financial coverage, the remaining budget on the account of the beneficiary, is an estimated CNY 43.000 or 47,2% to realise a 100% funding coverage. In order to raise the remaining budget the beneficiaries have the following resources: • Private savings • Financial relief from government • Livelihood • Credit lines Private savings: The majority of the affected families keep savings. Although the beneficiaries were very reserved providing information during the interviews, an occasional beneficiary spoke freely regarding savings. Discussing the financial feasibility when meeting officials from local authorities, village leaders and party members on location, they also acknowledged the majority of the beneficiaries would have savings. We have tried to collect official information from the “National Bureau of Statistics of China” but did not manage to meet them nor could the website provide us with general information. Drawing the financial feasibility for 2009 (annex X), we used three assumed savings representing the average family, “rich, moderate and poor”, respectively saving: CNY 10.000, 3.000 and no savings. Financial relief from government: During the assessment, the learned that some townships actually deposited the financial relief to the families, whilst other townships are managing the budget on behalf of the family. In both situations, we strongly believe that a significant part of this financial relief is saved for reconstruction of the permanent house. Judging the conditions of the transitional shelters, they have been assembled from salvaged materials mainly. Little money was spend on new materials, mainly on corrugated asbestos cement panels for the

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China roof. Although the financial relief equals CNY 5.100, we lowered this savings since beneficiaries actually did buy materials and goods. Livelihood: The rural community farm an average of 1-3 mµ land which would deliver sufficient food for the household for one year and breeding some livestock such as poultry and pigs. However, the main source of income is generated working as day labours in factories, construction, etc. The majority of the beneficiaries do not have the technical skills to build the houses themselves and will engage contractors. With an exceptional high number of construction projects ongoing, there will be a high demand for day labour in the sector (factories, suppliers, contractors). Drawing the financial feasibility for 2009 (annex 2), we only included the value of day labour for the construction of their own house. A safe calculation is based on an expected contract time for day labour of 60 working days of the 90 calendar day construction time per house at a rate of CNY 50. Given the huge reconstruction challenge, it is likely the beneficiaries will earn multiple the amount as used in our financial feasibility. Credit lines: The beneficiaries need to raise almost half of the development costs for the permanent house. With limited saving and income from day labour, it will necessary for the families to get a loan. The fast majority of the farming community already use the credit facilities of the “rural agricultural credit union” for short term loans and have a credit record. Even the less fortunate beneficiaries with limited resources, should qualify for a short term loan of CNY 10.000 (1 year term and 0,6% interest/month). The majority of the beneficiaries will qualify for a CNY 20.000 loan for 3 years with a 0,7% interest per month. The credit check by the “rural agricultural credit union” is based on the track record from the village and not on individual household which could affect the whole community. The interviews learned that beneficiaries will also borrow money from relatives but did not provide further details. Development costs; 4th quarter 2008 secured financial coverage remaining financial gap Savings Saving financial relief GoC Livelihood Credit lines Total budget Table 6; Financial coverage households

CNY CNY CNY

91.000 48.000 43.000 3.000 3.000 3.000 20.000 29.000 77.000

=100 % =52,8% =47,2%

=84,9%

Breaking up the budget for construction, the figure above indicates roughly 78% of the development costs are covered. This seems not sufficient to finance the construction unless creative and flexible solutions are applied. Progressive development The applied practice for rehabilitation by humanitarian organizations is providing the victims a core house. This starting unit should provide proper residential conditions (security, health, sanitation) and can be expanded in time in accordance with the financial resources.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China The EQ resistant structure in reinforced concrete is not flexible to expand in time. It would require special attention to perform such actions. Horizontal extension would require a new independent free standing concrete frame and foundation. Optional future extension with a second floor would require reinforcement from the 1st floor column sticking out the ring beam with sufficient length to make the joint. As the traditional rural dwellings have pitched roofs, the reinforcement will be bend aligning the slope. This is not recommendable since bending reinforcement severely affect the characteristics of the reinforcement. An alternative to the core unit is dividing the building into the sole structure and finishing works. This alternative approach called “progressive housing”, was introduced by the IFRC in Salvador, Honduras in 2001. The sole structure includes the basic essential structure (foundation, reinforced concrete structure, floor and roof, external and internal load bearing walls, windows and doors) whilst the finishing (plastering, ceramic tiling, installations, optional partition walls) can be installed in accordance with the remaining budget. Ratio building time Ratio materials - labour sole structure - finishing Europe 33 % 67 % 40 % 60 % China 67 % 33 % 60 % 40 % Table 7; Ratio’s construction time and construction costs As table 7 (ratio’s) indicates, more or less 2/3rd of the construction costs can be allocated to the sole structure of the building whilst 1/3rd is spend on finishing. Applying this ratio to the development costs for a 90 m2 house CNY 91.000 results in a budget for the sole structure of roughly CNY 60.000. With the secured funding of CNY 48.000 the beneficiaries need to make a minimum financial contribution of CNY 16.000 to complete the budget for the sole structure of the building. According table 6; financial coverage households, the beneficiaries can actually raise CNY 29.000 leaving budget for minimum finishing. A minimum contribution from the beneficiary of approximately CNY 16.000 secures the financial feasibility for the construction of the essential basic structural of the permanent shelter. This basic structure would not include the finishing but it can be interpreted as the core unit that can be finished in time in accordance with the financial resources of the beneficiaries.

9.9 Water and sanitation The SAT included a watsan delegate to assess the situation and needs for water and sanitation in the rural areas, as watsan and shelter are complementary programs. The assessment of water and sanitation showed that the rural population in both mountainous areas and plains is highly vulnerable to water shortages due to the current status of the water systems damaged by the earthquake. In some cases, such as in mountainous areas, gravity fed water supply systems were already in bad condition, due to poor maintenance and lack of investment from local governments. In plain rural areas, most of the shallow wells were damaged and showed bacteriological contamination. The population does not have a coping capacity to deal with this situation and rehabilitation of the water facilities needs rapid intervention.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

Criteria of intervention and recommendations, following the Water Bureau strategy, considers the construction of new boreholes and the rehabilitation of damaged gravity-fed systems in order to cover water needs. Sanitation is also addressed in those rural areas with no centralized housing policy. In addition, the rehabilitation process should be taken as an opportunity to enhance community empowerment in managing water facilities, ensuring the durability of the intervention. The approach, findings and recommendations are recorded in a separate watsan assessment report.

9.10 Health The exercise of the health delegate in the assessment team aimed at bridging the upcoming reconstruction program of health facilities with the program of reconstructing homes. The activities were: • Visiting and inspecting township & village clinics that were damaged or in the process of reconstruction as well as assessing damaged equipment in the area. Assessing the capacity and performance of the local public health facilities. • Gathering information about the “software” component from the government policy, staffing issues and residential conditions for the staff. • Shelter house designs for the severely injured or amputees were addressed but haven’t been considered in the reconstruction plans. • The housing plans for the elderly community affected by earthquake were considered to ensure that the childless elderly does not fall thru the housing gaps. • Nutritional & livelihood status of the survivors 3 months after the earthquake since it is directly linked to the recovery capacity of the survivors. Nutrition seems to have the lowest priority. • Winter needs: Cloths and heating systems in the transitional shelters • Water and sanitation (watsan) conditions were addressed to ensure the survivors, either living in transitional shelters like tents or make shift shacks, have access to suitable water sources and proper dignified sanitation facilities. • Looked at ways and possibilities of education and encouragement to patients to continue their medical treatment as they are being discharged from hospitals away from their townships or counties. • Considering the effects of medical costs for families in relation to the financial capacity for reconstruction. Interviews indicate that families with children budget nearly CNY 4-500 per child per month for medical and education expenses. Public health support would be an important role reducing financial expenses and improve general health condition. • Epidemiology of the areas affected, e.g. Avian Influenza through the rearing of ducks and pigs. • Mental health status of the survivors was assessed by conducting interviews. Survivors overall mood and motivation was considered to be at a recovery level. Children are active and adults were focussing on harvesting crops and starting reconstruction. The assessment and report does not focus on the specific aspects for the reconstruction public health facilities.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

9.11 Livelihood The ToR for the shelter assessment addresses livelihood as opportunities for complementary programming. Although the SAT was lacking experienced livelihood delegates, this report will raise some suggestions and recommendations. It should be stated that the programming for livelihood programs would require additional assessments. Complementary programming opportunities: Short Term Cash for Work: • removal of foundations (especially supporting the vulnerable as elderly and single headed households) • clearance and sorting of debris Long Term Income Generation: • Production of CHB • Removal and processing of hazardous waste and debris such as asbestos contaminated materials

10 RECOMMENDATIONS Even though the GoC and the international response to the disastrous earthquake was very swift and efficient, it is clear that it will have severe consequences for the survivors for years to come. Not only have they lost their property, they also lost their financial and emotional security. The emotional security is one of human’s basic needs in accordance with Maslow’s pyramid. The affected families also lost significant part of their belongings which were damaged or destroyed by the fallen debris. The most urgent needs according the interviewed families is the reconstruction of housing. The GoC subsidies for reconstruction leaves a large gap in the necessary funding which should be covered by the families themselves. For most families, this is an overwhelming task and commitment. These families, who constitute a majority in the rural area, need support both with counselling, technical advice and credit to get started and accomplish the tasks ahead. The support to reconstruction and thereby safety and dignity for the survivors constitutes an extremely important and huge challenge for the Red Cross Movement.

10.1 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION It is advisable for IFRC to concentrate their home reconstruction projects in a centralized area. This will maximize resources, capacity building for the involved branch and make monitoring more feasible. From the village home projects offered, the best opportunity to concentrate would be in the four townships in Mianzhu County of Deyang Prefecture. The proposed focus townships in order of priority are as follows: 1. Jiulong Township (4,234 homes needed) 2. Zundao Township (8,168 homes needed) 3. Banqiao Township (5,080 homes needed) 4. Xinglong Township (~5,000 homes needed – only covered if enough funding)

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

These areas are recommended for village home reconstruction for the following reasons: • Possible to cover full townships, not just select village projects (other counties had small projects in a few villages dispersed over a large area and were focused on centralized housing) • Central location (one county/one prefecture) so able to concentrate resources, build capacity, maximize time, etc. • Existing good relations and understanding of Red Cross due to ERU operation • Mianzhu is the only county listed as extremely affected and it is not receiving support from its twin for village home reconstruction • The need is very high and the families need additional support to build their homes • Local government supportive of IFRC/RCSC projects and interest in our support is very high

10.2 PROGRESSIVE HOUSING AS ALTERNATIVE “CORE” HOUSE The applied practice for rehabilitation by humanitarian organizations is providing the victims a core house. This starting unit should provide proper residential conditions (security, health, sanitation) and can be expanded in time in accordance with the financial resources. The EQ resistant structure in reinforced concrete is not flexible to expand in time. It would require special attention to perform such actions. Horizontal extension would require a new independent free standing concrete frame and foundation. Optional future extension with a second floor would require reinforcement from the 1st floor column sticking out the ring beam with sufficient length to make the joint. As the traditional rural dwellings have pitched roofs, the reinforcement will be bend aligning the slope. This is not recommendable since bending reinforcement severely affect the characteristics of the reinforcement. An alternative to the core unit is splitting up the building into the sole structure and finishing works. This alternative approach called “progressive housing”, was introduced by the IFRC in Salvador, Honduras in 2001. The sole structure includes the basic essential structure (foundation, reinforced concrete structure, floor and roof, external and internal load bearing walls, windows and doors) whilst the finishing (plastering, ceramic tiling, installations, optional partition walls) can be installed in accordance with the remaining budget. It is recommended that IFRC rural home reconstruction projects follow this progressive housing approach rather than a “core” house.

10.3 OWNER DRIVEN RECONSTRUCTION MODEL The model of reconstruction that the GoC is following (with the exception of large centralized locations) is owner-driven reconstruction. Under this model, the primary decision making responsibility and overall driving force for home construction is from homeowner. This is the model that is being adopted by RCSC and HKRC, as well as other NGOs involved in home construction in the area. It is recommended that IFRC also follow this model. Detailed breakdown of inputs from the homeowner, the government and IFRC is as follows:

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

Owner-Driven Reconstruction Model Home Owner Government • Provides Reconstruction Policy • Provides Regulations and Guidelines • Assess damage of homes/safety of location

Type Input Policy Development Regulations & Guidelines Technical Support

Financial

•

• •

•

•

•

Selects new site if necessary

•

•

Develops and provides free EQ resistant home designs in various sizes Provides training to staff on technical guidance and monitoring

•

•

Monitoring & Quality Control

Red Cross

•

•

Monitors that homes being built meet technical guidelines

•

•

Monitors level of construction and verifies time to transfer installment of cash grant

•

Selects size and design of home based on family needs, resources and capacity Provides labor or contracts laborers Purchases materials

•

Provides cash grant based on family size and vulnerability (16,000 - 24,000 RMB)

•

•

Price capping on materials

•

Provides additional cash inputs

•

Special suppliers receive cash grants from government and sell quality materials cheaper to HHs Provides low interest loans

•

Provides free building permits

Public Awareness/Education

• •

• • • •

Provide advice on EQ resistant construction techniques and material usage at the household level Review current architectural designs for village homes in selected townships Provide additional architectural designs for smaller homes Review and upgrade existing "Standard Construction Contract for Rural Residential Buildings" to provide common protective measures for home owners Supplementary monitoring that homes being built meet technical guidelines Supplementary monitoring of level of construction and verification of time to transfer installment of IFRC cash grant Provides cash grant (20,000 RMB/house)

Information on Policy, Guidelines, Regulations User friendly information on designs, standards, considerations to make home EQ resistant Information on reconstruction contracts, template contracts, etc. Posters, brochures, models of architectural drawings Information Points at village level where above info is available Possibly information on loans, gov/RC cash contributions, etc.

10.4 IMPLEMENTATION MODEL It is recommended that IFRC provide cash inputs instead of other types of assistance (materials, labor, etc.). The recommended amount is CNY 20.000 per homeowner. This amount is the same as HKRC and similar to RCSC (CNY 15.000). The instalments would match the government instalments in terms of timing and percentage. Funds would be

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China transferred to Prefecture RC, forwarded to County RC who deposit directly into homeowners’ bank accounts. The local government would be primarily responsible for verifying the time to transfer with additional monitoring provided by County or Prefecture RC. Each family engaged in home reconstruction will have a bank account opened for them by GoC to receive the GoC funds. This bank account can also be used by other organisations such as IFRC to channel funds to the beneficiaries. The account is a dedicated account, only to be used for construction purposes. As per the feasibility study, an additional cash input of CNY 20.000 should allow for feasibility of home reconstruction.

10.5 PUBLIC INFORMATION/AWARENESS COMPONENT The assessment team found a need for public education on the guidelines, regulations and requirements for earthquake resistant buildings. Families are interested in providing a safe, earthquake resistant home but the cost is quite high. The team noted some modifications of designs in the field or use of low quality materials. Additional training and information should be provided to beneficiaries to further explain the risks of compromising standards. There is also a general need for information on government assistance, Red Cross assistance, how to access lines of credit, etc. There are many opportunities to empower homeowners with access to information to make good decisions and to closely monitor the progress of reconstruction of their home in this homeownerdriven approach.

10.6 INTEGRATED PROGRAMMING It is recommended that additional IFRC programming be integrated into the areas of proposed rural home reconstruction. Please see separate Livelihoods, Wat/San and Health assessment reports for additional details.

10.7 COORDINATION WITH RCSC AND HKRC It is recommended that IFRC coordinate their reconstruction programs plans, implementation models and amount of assistance with other movement partners working in reconstruction in particular RCSC HQ and HKRC. Monitoring, technical assistance and branch capacity approaches and plans should be coordinated and information and experiences shared on a regular basis. Another area where close coordination between movement partners should be sought out is with any education materials and public education plans. These materials can be jointly developed and shared across counties to inform and empower beneficiaries. It would be an advantage if the movements could harmonize their programs and thereby not cause confusion or conflicts. Both the RCSC and HKRC are interested in some kind of cooperation with IFRC on delivery, counselling and monitoring.

10.8 MONITORING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL The GoC has the main responsibility to monitor, provide technical assistance and control quality in the reconstruction of village homes. However, IFRC in conjunction with RCSC will provide additional supplemental monitoring and technical assistance. There needs to be a very clear model developed that is coordinated with the other movement partners

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China that are working in village home reconstruction. This is another area where IFRC should consider working closely with RCSC and HKRC to coordinate approaches and planning.

10.9 TIMELINE FOR HOME CONSTRUCTION We should diverse the centralized development versus the individual families whom don’t prefer to relocate. Even amongst the last group we can imagine small scale centralisation or semi detached housing. For practical reasons we divide the construction options into centralized and non centralized. Interviewing 4‰ of the initial targeted population of the Deyang and Guangyuan Prefectures, roughly 39% indicated to favour relocation whilst 48% preferred to stay and 13% was not sure. Dividing the remaining 13% over both groups, it would equal a 45%-55% ratio. Proposed HH 17.482

45% centralized 7.867

55% org location 9.615

Table 8; Ratio centralized vs original location

10.9.1 Construction programming: In order to visualize the construction programming, the proposed number of houses are projected in the table below. The table include both the centralized development and the individual houses on the original location. The table projects the housing delivery scheme for a 2, 3 or 5 year implementation of the program. The annual housing delivery is projected to a weekly delivery in the column “HH/wk”. The weekly delivery scheme is based on 50 weeks a year. The figures does not include the health facilities and schools.

Centraliz ed 7.867 Org. location 9.615

2 yr program HH/year

HH/wk

3 yr program HH/year

HH/wk

5 yr program HH/year

HH/wk

3.934

79

2.622

52

1.573

31

4.808

96

3.205

64

1.923

38

Table 9; Housing delivery scheme

The centralized development is strongly promoted by the GoC and can count on full support from regional and local authorities. Although funding is the Achilles heel, the progressive construction is possible within this concept. The township authorities are facing a challenge selecting suitable sites and prepare the spatial planning. The centralized development offers advantages for project management and administration. A cluster of beneficiaries are associated within one project resulting in a simple administration smaller with smaller chances for mistakes. Starting with the construction of the centralized developments is preferable to test the monitoring procedures for possible constrains.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China Implementing the reconstruction of the assumed 9.615 individual dwellings will be the main challenge for the shelter program. The administration body will monitor 9.615 “projects” in 21 villages in 3 townships in the Mianzhu County. The technical supervision will be performed by the construction committees and townships. Running numerous complementary programs, the IFRC will have a long presence in the townships building the capacity of the community. The interaction with the communities offers possibilities to mobilize a large supervising team as the beneficiaries will secure their private interest. We need to inform the community about the necessity for strict non compromising implementation of the EQ resistant building regulations. We would like to raise the suggestion to tune this awareness trainings with the the local authorities and, village councils The second factor that should not be over looked is the capacity of the construction industry. As a result of the EQ, 1.,9 million rural houses have to be rebuild which does not include the destruction of infrastructure and public buildings like schools and health facilities. Just the 1.9 million houses is roughly 5 times the annual production capacity before the earthquake, which is still recovering. New production facilities have been established after the EQ as a result for the huge demand. This huge demand for materials will affect the implementation by means of delayed deliveries and interim price raise. The third factor is the conservative attitude of the rural population. The financial feasibility depends on a large contribution from the beneficiaries. Given the conservative attitude, beneficiaries will be reserved applying for a loan and might prefer earning money as day labour first. We expect the reconstruction of the individual houses to follow the centralized development with a delayed start and a slow progressive pace.

10.9.2 Management model As the IFRC is supporting RCSC with the reconstruction work after the earthquake, the IFRC should take this opportunity to strengthen the RCSC, especially on Prefecture and County level. The management of house reconstructions cannot be separated from the construction of schools and health facilities. The IFRC might therefore need a construction team at the IFRC Chengdu office. This team should also be responsible for all contracted work (schools and health facilities). For the reconstruction of houses, IFRC must be in control over disbursements to beneficiaries and quality control. There would therefore be need for a Shelter Delegate and if possible a finance and admin delegate in the Deyang Prefecture RC office. Quality control should be coordinated with the County /Township /Village reconstruction committees who are monitoring the work done through the GoC subsidies. A MoU should be signed with the RCSC on different levels on cooperation on delivery model as well as counselling and monitoring. There will be huge need for training and capacity building of the Deyang RC staff and volunteers. More personnel will have to be hired to support DRC. Another MoU should be signed with the local government reconstruction office for using the same beneficiary bank accounts and on monitoring, supervision and reporting on construction activities. IFRC will through the Deyang RC probably employ a big number of construction supervisors. They should link up with the Gov reconstruction committees.

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China Construction and design options (text to be deleted)

10.10 Transitional shelters Although the families in the transitional shelters ask for little support to survive the coming winter season, we should not underestimate the required time needed to build the huge challenge of 1,9 million houses. Even the village homes receiving Red Cross support may take more than one winter to complete. Understanding the challenge, families in selfbuilt transitional shelters will face poor residential conditions for some time to come.

10.11 Possible support transitional shelters Since heating has not been requested by beneficiaries in general and is not advisable anyway, it is recommended that the IFRC/RCSC consider assisting the affected families with quilts, winter clothes and tarpaulins in the short term. As the detailed shelter program will be drafted in the coming months and effectively starts next year, future assistance should be addressed in relation to the implementation of permanent shelter.

11 LIST OF ANNEXES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Term of Reference: China Earthquake – Reconstruction Technical Assessment Financial feasibility: 90 and 120 m2 dwelling ToR for Pre-Assessment Information Gathering Government Guidelines and Regulations Related to Post Earthquake Reconstruction, by Sichuan University The Proposal on the Implementation of Restoration and Reconstruction by Red Cross Society of China in Wenchuan after the “5.12” Earthquake IFRC Household Interviews Shelter Assessment Schedule Abbreviations

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Shelter assessment, Sichuan Province China

References 1. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China: General Plan of the Post Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction. http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2008-09/23/content_1103686.htm 2. Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国 土地管理法) 3. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China: The Guideline on the Policy and the Measure of Supporting Post Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction. (国务院关于支持汶川地震灾后恢复重建政策措施的意见) 4. National Code of Seismic Resistant Design (建筑抗震设计规范 GB 500011－ 2001), by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China 5. The Technical Guideline on Post Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction of Rural Residential Buildings (汶川地震灾后农房恢复重建技术导则), by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People’s Republic of China 6. China Construction (Newspaper), 27-08-2008. http://www.chinajsb.cn/gb/content/2008-08/27/content_255327.htm 7. Sichuan Provincial Government official website http://www.sc.gov.cn/scgk1/jj/cxjs/czjs/200801/t20080128_248050.shtml 8. Soho News, 20-08-2008 http://news.sohu.com/20080820/n259033562.shtml 9. Interview with Ms. Luo Yan, Engineer, Construction Bureau of Chaotian District, Guangyuan Prefecture 10.Telephone interview with Mr. Wang, Section head, Planning and Construction Bureau of Mianzhu County, Deyang Prefecture 11.The Guideline of Construction Waste Treatment of the Earthquake-hit Areas, by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of he People’s Republic of China (MOHURD)

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