3. Working with Aid or Emergency Relief Agencies

Relief aid agencies are an essential part to organising immediate local responses. They work with local governments to determine what is needed where and by whom. It is imperative that buildings are designed within the aid agency's relief strategy to ensure that resources are delivered in the appropriate amount to the right location. Steel suppliers can assist in this endeavour by supplying components like roofs, walls, water tanks for fresh water,grain silos for food, or complete buildings like houses, hospitals and schools.

When working with the aid agency, it must be determined whether the agency needs immediate relief of an urgent problem or whether it is part of a wider strategy to bring sustainable improvements to living and working conditions over time. As an example, in regular flood areas, steel houses can be made more flood resistant to improve living conditions:

• Use steel columns that are anchored in the earth as permanent uprights.
• Use cladding materials that can be either quickly removed or washed away without damaging the structure.
• Use an elevated mezzanine floor to provide safe keeping for valuable food stuffs, tools and equipment.
• Use local cladding materials.
• Create designs that can be erected with minimal tools.

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