BC Housing is the Agency responsible to “Establish and lead the Building Damage Assessment Branch at the Provincial Emergency Coordination Centre” during a catastrophic event.
BC Housing and Rapid Damage Assessment
Post-Disaster Building Assessment (PDBA) enables communities in an emergency to more rapidly assess the safety of structures and allow people to remain in or return to their homes and businesses as soon as possible. This reduces the social impact of such events, allowing communities to recover more quickly and reducing the impact on emergency and social service resources.
BC Housing supports the PDBA process by hosting and Chairing the PDBA Advisory Group; by teaching Rapid Damage Assessment and the Coordination of Damage Assessment skills; and by providing tools such as the mobile app, field manual and various forms for building assessments.
Damage Assessment Training Courses
The Rapid Damage Assessment (RDA) course teaches advanced skills to identify unsafe conditions in wood frame, masonry and concrete construction caused by floods, earthquakes or windstorms. Individuals learn to assess damage to determine whether buildings can be occupied. BC Housing's rapid inspection skills are taught using the Applied Technology Council 20 & 45 guidelines from California.
The Coordination of Damage Assessment (CDA) course is designed for persons who will be developing, coordinating and/or managing a Damage Assessment Program for an organization. The course is typically presented immediately following BC Housing’s Rapid Damage Assessment Course.
Rapid Damage Assessment - Mobile App
Working together with GeoBC, the University of British Columbia Department of Engineering, and the North Shore Emergency Management on damage assessment technology, we have developed a mobile application with GIS capabilities. This app lets field teams record the location and severity of damage to buildings and sites using a smartphone or tablet.
See the Rapid Damage Assessment Template to get the app
Operations Guide from GeoBC
(5.61 MB) (pdf)
Rapid Damage Assessment – Field Manual
The Rapid Damage Assessment Field Manual is provided to each student as part of the RDA/CDA course. To order additional copies of the RDA Field Manual, or to purchase them without taking the training, go Crown Publications RDA Field Manual