LNEC's activity in supporting regulation

LNEC's activity in the area of national regulations is part of the exercise of technical support functions to the entities that constitute the authority in the various sectors of the Public Administration and has been developed practically since the creation of LNEC.

In 1979, the Center for Standardization and Regulation was created to coordinate LNEC's normative and regulatory activity, a responsibility that, in the current structure, is assigned to the Construction Quality Unit of the Materials Department.

In the 1980s, in addition to having actively participated in the work of the Commission for the Establishment and Revision of Technical Regulations of the Superior Council of Public Works and Transport, LNEC was also entrusted with carrying out the basic studies and drafting the working documents that supported the elaboration of the current regulations for structures, namely, the Regulation of Safety and Actions for Building and Bridge Structures (1983), the Regulation of Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete Structures (1983). This regulatory body introduced profound and innovative changes in the previous regulations, addressing the problem of structural safety on more scientific bases. Two decades later, by adopting identical scientific foundations, the Eurocodes highlight the enormous scientific advancement that, at the time, this regulatory body introduced in Portugal in the verification of structural safety.

More recently, LNEC's regulatory activity has consisted mainly of active participation in the work of national commissions for the revision of regulations related to its domain of activity, such as the Dam Safety Regulation, the General Regulation of Urban Buildings, the Regulation of Thermal Behavior Characteristics of Buildings, the Regulation of Energy Systems for Air Conditioning in Buildings, the Regulation of Acoustic Requirements of Buildings, the Legal Regime of Urbanization and Building, the Legal Regime of Fire Safety in Buildings and its Technical Regulation, the Energy Certification System of Buildings, the Energy Performance Regulation of Residential Buildings and the Energy Performance Regulation of Commercial and Service Buildings.

Parallel to this activity, LNEC actively participates in the elaboration of proposals for diplomas of various kinds related to the activity of the construction industry and with construction products and materials.

It is worth noting that, following the extinction of the Superior Council of Public Works and Transport in 2006, LNEC began to ensure the operation of the Structural Eurocodes Commission, the Dam Regulations Subcommittee, the Cement and Concrete Regulations Subcommittee, and the Geotechnical Engineering Regulations Subcommittee of that Superior Council.