Building standards matter long after a project receives approval.
House Bill No. 6615, or the proposed New Philippine Building Act, seeks to replace the National Building Code of the Philippines, Presidential Decree No. 1096, with an updated framework covering a building’s full life.
The House approved the bill on December 16, 2025, and subsequently transmitted it to the Senate for consideration. The discussion below concerns that House-approved proposal. Applicable laws and regulations still govern project compliance.
For developers and project teams, the broader question is not simply whether a building meets requirements at the point of approval. It is whether decisions made during design and construction result in a facility that remains safe, resilient, efficient, and fit for purpose throughout its operating life.
Building performance begins in design, but it is shaped by decisions made throughout construction and operation.
A lifecycle approach considers how decisions during construction affect the building’s future use and maintenance. A material replacement, for example, should meet the approved design requirements and be checked for its effects on other building components.
Once accepted, the change should be recorded in the documents given to the owner at handover. Maintenance teams can then see what was installed and use those records to plan its care.
Resilient buildings begin with a clear understanding of the risks surrounding them.
HB 6615 proposes an all-hazards approach to building resilience, reinforcing the need to consider the natural and human-induced hazards relevant to a project’s location and intended use. For project teams, this means translating site-specific risks into clear design and performance requirements.
Structural systems, fire protection, utilities, and other building components should not be independently considered. They need to function together under both normal and emergency conditions.
Resilience should also extend beyond the immediate event.
Buildings should be designed and documented in ways that support inspection, damage assessment, repair, and eventual recovery. The ability to access critical systems, understand what has been installed, and identify what requires correction can significantly affect how quickly safe operations can be restored.
Building standards also influence how efficiently a facility uses energy, water, and materials.
HB 6615 proposes energy and water efficiency provisions alongside environmental sustainability requirements. These proposed requirements should remain clearly distinguished from the standards and regulations already applicable to individual projects.
Those goals should also distinguish code compliance from voluntary green-building certification. Compliance means meeting applicable legal requirements, while certification assesses the building against a particular rating system.
Checking these requirements takes practical skills and consistent follow-through.
A local example is DILG-NCR’s 2026 Capacity Building Training on Infrastructure Audit and Facility Safety Assessment. Participants learned to use the Harmonized Infrastructure Audit Tool (HIAT) and applied it in a workshop designed to simulate the assessment of building conditions and vulnerabilities.
Within individual projects, findings should lead to clear action. Each finding should identify the correction required and who will see through its completion. Proper tracking keeps unresolved issues visible before the building is turned over.
At handover, owners need to provide clear operating information.
Project teams should establish early which building systems need to be tested, what acceptance criteria will apply, and what information the owner needs before operation begins.
Commissioning provides a structured process for verifying installed systems, ensuring that they perform in accordance with approved requirements and intended operational outcomes.
Testing results and deficiencies should form part of the turnover documentation. Performance should then continue to be monitored after occupancy.
If energy use, equipment performance, and other operational results differ significantly from design expectations, those variances can signal the need for further investigation and, where appropriate, operational or system adjustments.
Maintenance histories and operating records support investigation by showing historical changes in equipment condition. Together, these records help owners decide where adjustments need to be focused on.
Modernizing building standards can establish stronger expectations for safety, sustainability, and long-term performance.
But standards alone are not enough. Better outcomes depend on how consistently requirements are carried from design to construction, from testing to turnover, and from handover into operation.
For owners, this means setting clear performance expectations early, maintaining reliable project records, and ensuring that completed systems are properly tested.
The objective goes beyond achieving approval.
JCVA helps owners translate project and building requirements into measurable outcomes from design through delivery.
Our Commercial Engineering Services include design review and construction-stage compliance review. The team also supports commissioning and performance verification to help confirm that installed systems operate as intended.
Through JCVA Terra, we also support sustainability and resource-efficiency objectives through energy modelling, which estimates a building’s energy use. Our performance verification services also provide support in checking results against agreed targets.
For project support and technical inquiries, contact technical@jcvassociates.ph or visit https://www.jcvassociates.ph/.
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