The symposium was offered through the Grenada Hurricane Resilient Home Reconstruction Programme G-(HR²), which is executed by the Organisation of American States (OAS)*/ /*in collaboration with the ARD, and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Mr. Tony Gibbs of Consulting Engineers Partnership (CEP) in Barbados facilitated the Symposium, which was attended by 12 engineers and eight architects from the private sector, the Ministry of Communications, Works and Transport, the Physical Planning Unit (PPU) of the Ministry of Finance and the ARD.

The symposium was designed to increase the capacity of local professionals to integrate natural hazard resistant building practices and procedures into residential design and construction, through the application of the CQA Mechanism.

Participants engaged in the development of a manual for checking designs and quality control systems during residential construction. The exercise took the form of presentations by participants on the elements of design checks and construction inspection, with each presentation critically reviewed by the group.

One of the principal outputs from this CQA activity will be a Draft Checking Manual to be used by PPU Inspectors and quality assurance engineers.

Earlier training sessions for engineers and architects took place in December 2006, which focused on conceptual designs and details for houses that can withstand hurricanes and earthquakes. CQA reference materials include the Grenada Building Code and Guidelines.

CQA training continues in February for contractors and draftspersons.