In line with amendments to the Civil Protection and Disaster Management Law, the Ministry of Economics (EM) has drawn up a new regulation – “Shelter Building Code LBN 210-25” – which was adopted by the Cabinet on Tuesday, 22 July.
The amendments to the Civil Protection and Disaster Management Law came into force on 3 July this year and set out requirements for shelters, dividing them into three categories. Given that shelters had not previously been regulated under Latvian legislation, a new regulatory framework also had to be established for their construction.
“This building code is a significant step towards strengthening the country's internal security. We have created clear, practically applicable rules that will make it possible in future to construct buildings with genuine protective capability in crisis situations. This is an investment in the safety of our people and the resilience of society,” emphasises Minister for Economics Viktors Valainis.
Shelters are divided into three categories, and the new building code governs the construction of the following:
- Category I – shelters providing protection against blast waves, chemical warfare agents, ionising radiation and radioactive dust, as well as shrapnel. Such shelters are to be built when constructing new category A and B critical infrastructure facilities in which staff are expected to be present on a permanent day-to-day basis;
- Category II – shelters providing protection against blast waves and shrapnel. These are to be built in new apartment buildings with more than five above-ground storeys, in pre-school education establishments, primary education establishments, secondary education establishments, vocational education establishments, higher education institutions, inpatient medical facilities and other public buildings with a total floor area of at least 2,500 square metres;
- Category III – shelters created by adapting structures or parts of structures, which reduce the effects of blast waves and shrapnel. These may be basement rooms or other spaces adapted in accordance with the guidelines issued in this field by the Ministry of the Interior and the State Fire and Rescue Service. The new building code does not apply to these shelters.
The new building code lays down the minimum technical requirements for the design of shelters. In the code, these requirements are grouped according to the objective to be achieved. It sets out general requirements (minimum floor area, ceiling height, door width, emergency exit, air exchange, water supply point and so on), requirements for protection against blast waves and shrapnel (additional requirements for the load, pressure and impact resistance of external enclosing structures, exit coverings, doors and door opening structures, and so on) and requirements for protection against chemical warfare agents, ionising radiation and radioactive dust (for example, a first aid room and an entrance airlock room must be provided).
The requirement to build shelters will apply only to the construction of new buildings specified in the law, and it will come into force on 01.01.2027. Shelters will not have to be built for construction proposals submitted to the building authority by 31.12.2026. However, the regulations do not prevent anyone from voluntarily building a shelter in line with the requirements of the building code already now.
As the new building code sets minimum technical requirements for shelters and will make it necessary to provide for new solutions in construction proposals, it will give rise to additional costs. For a 5-storey building, for example, the total cost of the structures may increase by 10%. For other participants in the construction process, the change in regulation will not create additional costs.
The building code was developed on the basis of Finland's experience, in close cooperation with the Latvian Association of Structural Engineers, the Latvian Union of Civil Engineers and the Real Estate Developers Alliance.