Qatar's Ministry of Environment is giving finishing touches to its revised standard specifications for construction works aimed at making roads and buildings safer by improving their quality standards, said a report.

The new Qatar Construction Specifications (QCS) 2014 are an urgent requirement for the people and the nation because they can achieve the highest level of quality and safety in buildings and roads and improve their performance and efficiency, reported The Peninsula.

These specifications will be mandatory for all government and private sector projects three months after issuance of the ministerial decision, said the report, citing Dr Mohammed bin Saif Al Kuwari, the assistant undersecretary for Laboratories and Specifications at the Ministry of Environment.

A special chapter has been included to improve the safety of railways, said Al Kuwari.

The first edition of the unified GCC guidelines for construction will be launched this December and the Qatari specifications will be one of the main references for the code, he added.

An important element of the new specifications is the technical requirements for concrete components that have taken into account the environment and seek to resist earthquakes and winds and save energy, stated the report.

The ministry will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for putting the Qatari construction code at its database. This will help the code gain international recognition, it stated.

The issuance of the ministerial decision will be followed by an awareness campaign to familiarise companies with the new specifications, the report added.