In the case of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in the center of Mandalay, Myanmar, the Office of the Auditor General building collapsed completely, resulting in more than 100 deaths. The Engineering Association revealed 4 possible causes.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amorn Pimanmas, President of the Structural Engineers Association of Thailand, revealed that the possible causes consist of 4 factors: 1. The strength of the earthquake 2. Building design calculations 3. Building construction and 4. Material quality, such as concrete, reinforcing steel, steel connectors, etc. Each factor must be proven clearly by taking into account modern knowledge and science of forensic engineering. The following observations are noted:

1. Design verification by creating a model must take into account the standards at the time of design. If a design error is found, a more detailed model must be examined to prove whether it was the cause of the collapse or not. 2. Collecting concrete samples for testing must collect samples covering the strong structural parts. And areas that are expected to be weak points, such as concrete joints (Cold joint), and the test results should be presented to the public as soon as possible.

3. The evidence must be preserved to await verification by modern science or with foreign experts to join in the verification. 4. Earthquake force requires seismic wave measurement data from various locations.

In the case of building collapses, there are many issues of engineers involved, such as forging engineer signatures, an 85-year-old engineer certifying design calculations, foreign engineers, and others. Therefore, the following requests are made to the Engineering Council: The Engineering Council should take serious action against the engineers involved without waiting for a complaint to be filed, because once it is publicly known, the Engineering Council can use the accusation method to start the ethical process against the engineers involved.

We call on the Engineering Council to hold a special general meeting to urgently set guidelines for solving the problem.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amorn Phimanmas further explained that there are several laws that need to be revised to prevent future building collapses from earthquakes, such as: 1. The Engineering Act, which determines the competence of engineers in designing tall or extra-large buildings under earthquake force, increases penalties for forgery of licenses, and increases the authority to temporarily suspend licenses. 2. The Building Control Act Requires government buildings to request permission like private buildings. Requires blind independent checks. There are laws to assess and reinforce buildings at risk and install earthquake detection equipment, such as hospitals and high-rise buildings.

3. The Industrial Product Standards Act adds TIS to enforce construction materials, such as ready-mixed concrete and mechanical steel connectors, etc.

4. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act adds an independent committee to investigate building collapses.

5. The Government Procurement and Material Management Act specifies the registration of subcontractors and subcontracting criteria. Increases transparency in construction processes, such as design revisions and material testing, which must be uploaded to the system for inspection.

6. The Town Planning Act adds earthquake risk color maps based on the Microzonation principle.

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