Standards That Are Never Met

Neglecting technical and engineering standards in construction, including the use of low-quality, nonresistant, and nonstandard materials, lack of supervision during the construction of buildings, and not following legal procedures in issuing building permits are among the things that lead to the creation of nonstandard structures. Abadan Metropole building is one example, where the legal procedure for issuing an operating permit has not been followed. According to the head of the Khuzestan Province Building Engineering System Organization, the municipality was informed about “flaws such as non-compliance with the rebar cover, the deformation of some beams, and the buckling of some columns of the Metropole building project 1 mo before the incident, and the order to stop the project was given, but the order was not implemented”. ^{Reference Behnam2}

Failure to Monitor the Implementation of Instructions and Failure to Respond

Despite the numerous regulations and directives regarding building construction; the construction of unsafe and nonstandard buildings, the use of cheap and low-quality materials, nonresistant and disproportionate to the weight of the structure, along with the negligence of the relevant authorities to control all technical circumstances before issuing construction and operating permits, has resulted in serious challenges in building safety, jeopardizing the safety of citizens. ^{Reference Khan, Domada and Huang3} Numerous incidents, especially in the past 5 y, such as the Plasco building incident in 2017, the Sina Clinic fire in 2019, and the collapse of the Abadan Metropol building in 2022; apart from the lack of compliance with technical and engineering standards, highlights the lacking supervision and accountability of the relevant authorities and managers. ^{Reference Aghakouchak, Garivani and Shahmari4} Re-occurrence of these incidents; mandates compliance with laws and regulations, construction standards, and disaster management more than ever, and raises the question of responsibility among persons or institutions.

The disaster of the collapse of the Metropol building has once again increased the criticism of the construction process in the country and the possibility of subsequent similar incidents. This painful disaster shows the ineffectiveness of the monitoring system in safe construction. It is necessary to consider a mechanism based on the disaster management cycle, such as an Incident Command System (ICS), in building construction in the country, to prevent subsequent incidents, and to avoid management confusion. Furthermore, paying attention to the objectives of the “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030”, especially risk governance in the construction industry, should be emphasized. It is still too early to make a final judgement, but citizens have the right to ask: Why has no action been taken to stop the construction despite the warnings (A few months before the incident)? What is the role of the engineering system organization? Who are the responsible actors ? Why did the rescue forces arrived late and not have enough equipment and dozens of other questions that prevent the “Metropole Tower” incident in Abadan erasing from the memory of Iranians anytime soon.