Bulgaria Building Code?

[Strengi]

Our firm is going after a number of building design projects in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, our design expertise in Europe is limited, and there aren't many resources available on the internet (at least in English) that reference which Building Codes have been adopted throughout Bulgaria. Does anyone have any structural engineering design experience in this Country, or know if they have defaulted to using the International Building Code? Thanks in advance.

 

[apsix]

Bulgaria is part of the EU so presumably Eurocodes will be able to be used there for structural design.

I don't know what actual building code they use.
I understand that the 'international' in IBC is somewhat presumptuous, it's unlikely to be that one.

 

[concretemasonry]

Bulgary is a great place if you can adjust somewhat.

Talk to a local designer or engineer. In that part of the world it would probably be referred to as a "Construction Engineer".

Since Bulgaria is a little behind others in technical construction, the area and the code may mean nothing if there is no mechanism for inspection and testing. Romania is similar. Hungary may have some well qualified engineers that have had experiences there and in other previously occupied countries. Remember there are many years of influence by the Russia occupation. - The Russian engineers are very technically competent people, but are specialized and are familiar with the bigger and heavier philosophy, the better it is even if it is not applicable. An example was a engineer that specialized in masonry mortar, but the could not understand a Portland cement and lime mortar since he was a specialist in mortars with only masonry cements and not slag or mortar cement. If it is big and heavy, it is easier to design and you do not need inspectors.

In my trips to Russia, I gained many new engineering friends and had the pleasure of showing them many types of U.S. construction and they were interested in learning things they were never exposed to until recently.

Venturing into a new country with different laws and enforcement can be both rewarding and a real learning experience.

Dick



Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.

 

[bobobo30]

I am a structural engineer from Bulgaria and I disagree with the opinion above. The recent years we had designed and completed here many many fine buildings - with no sign of "bigger and heavier philosophy". After all no investor wants to pay more than necessary for any kind of structure. To the question - we still use our old bulgarian design codes - which are similar to the russian codes of course. Eurocodes are not in official use in Bulgaria but we are preparing for them and in 2-3 years they will be applyable and official too.

 

[Bagman2524]

I believe the International Code Council (ICC) has the goal of making the International Building Code (IBC) a truly international code, but they haven't had much success yet. Its' a combination of the old UBC, BOCA and SBC codes and is pretty much just used in the USA.

 

[mikesg]

Hi,

Concretemasonry, being a structural engineer practicing in Bulgaria and I disagree with the part about "is a little behind others in technical construction".
If you refer to the building systems that may be partly true due to the cost involved with introducing some of the new technology. But with regartd to codes and design practices it is not quite true. As an example we have had limit state design in our codes long before some other advanced countries introduced it in their codes. And it is not only about the codes, but the engineering itself that is far from being "behind others" (which others - the rest of the world, or only some chosen "others").
"Bigger and heavier" was already discussed. As for the Eurocodes - indeed they had to be introcuced this year as a parallel valid code to make transition smoother. Anyway most of the practicing engineers are familiar with the EC requirements, so you will find common language.

To answer the question ibc is not a valid code. as mentioned we use local codes (bult mainly on the Russian SNiP) but most of our codes state that it is acceptable to have a member designed to a code that provides safer or conservative. As for online resources - codes are not officially available online (even in Bulgarian language) although there may be some scanned copies uploaded somewhere.

Anyway, you will have to have your set of project documents stamped and legalized by local certified architects and engineers.

Strengi, if you would like to discuss specific BG code issues or any other information (for example names of design companies, etc) please contact me at [mikesg at abv dot bg].

Regards,
Mike