The closing event of the development cooperation project realized by the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing – Conference „Current status and further development of Eurocodes in the Western Balkan region“

On 29 May 2018 the conference „Current status and further development of Eurocodes in the Western Balkan region“ was held in the hotel Hollywood in Sarajevo. The event took place under the financial support of the Czech Republic as part of the implementation of the development cooperation project “Support of Capacities of the Institute for Standardisation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Area of Implementation of EUROCODES“, whose main objective is to support the Institute for Standardization of Bosna and Herzegovina (BAS) in the area of implementation of European standards system for the design of building structures - Eurocodes.

The conference was not only the official end of the project implemented in 2015-2018, focusing on the presentation of project results and outputs and their significance for the design of building structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina according to common European rules, but also meeting of relevant authorities and organizations representatives of Western Balkan countries presenting experience and consulting on the implementation of Eurocodes.

Over 60 experts from state administration bodies, hydrometeorological and geological institutions, universities and other institutions and companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of the national standardization and competent authorities of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Moldova participated in the conference, including external experts from the Klokner Institute, Czech Standardization Agency and independent seismicity experts and finally also took part the Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Passing of some project outputs was undoubtedly the most ceremonial occasion of the conference. Specifically, it was a printed and electronic version of the "Handbook on Eurocodes" that brings to the expert public the principles and procedures of the unified system of European technical standards for the design of land and civil engineering constructions, including all basic building materials and unifying design methodology in common areas of different types of constructions will contribute to their understanding and correct application. In addition, an installation DVDs for an interactive map of snow and wind loads were provided, which will be used in the practical implementation of the Eurocodes.

Interactive maps and the electronic version of the guide are available free of charge to the public on the BAS website dedicated to the Eurocodes issues, which is also one of the outputs of the project http://eurokodovi.ba/.