As a member of the European Union, Greece follows European home-building standards and in some areas has its own building codes. Furthermore, the design and construction of buildings and houses comply with the European regulations and standards with existing stringent regulations for earthquake protection.
It is no secret that Greece is a country that experiences earthquake occurrences. However, these are few & far between. This has resulted in a different building matter and methods compared to other European countries. In order to safeguard citizens & buildings, the Greek government has laid down very specific & stringent building regulations that developers must adhere to. These include the use of particular materials, such as reinforced concrete.
In Greece, every home – and building, in general – must have a large resistance against earthquakes. For this reason, Greek laws demand building by a skeleton. In other words, not the walls but the columns and the beams carry the house, and can resist a very strong earthquake – more than 8 degrees on the Richter scale.
The building standards in Greece are also high, due to the size and the maturity of the Greek home construction industry: the market for building materials is around 7 billion euros, 75% of which is local production. Around 1,400 companies deal with supply, importation and distribution materials. There are round about 46,000 registered architects, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers.
One reason for the industry’s growth is the gradual deurbanization of the Greek cities. Many people in Greece are moving to new homes on the outskirts of big cities or in nearby villages. A second reason is the development of the holiday and retirement homes market. Crete has always been one of the most mature home-building markets in Greece, due to demand from both Greece and abroad.
Finally, we advise that the construction company you choose in Greece for building your dream home are an experienced team of building experts, as there will be no need to worry if everything is done correctly. The builder should make sure the architect is on site during the stage of the operations carried out and ensuring that the reinforced steel is placed correctly and the right concrete mix is used. Apart from the right mix, it’s always a good thing that the concrete dries slowly – this way it increases its strength.
