The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, in collaboration with the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation (OASP) and the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) has launched a mandatory pre-earthquake inspection programme.

According to the ministry, "the antiseismic construction of buildings is undoubtedly the main and decisive factor in dealing with seismic risk. In our country, which presents the highest seismic risk in Europe and sixth highest worldwide, the design and construction of buildings capable of safely resisting seismic stresses was and is a key priority of the State.

In this direction, many important steps have been taken over the last years, mainly with the establishment of strict antiseismic codes. However, given that the first antiseismic code was implemented in Greece in 1959 and its first significant improvement was made in 1985, there is a need for buildings that house critical infrastructure to examine their seismic bearing capacity."

As Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said, the purpose of the programme is:

1. To initially identify the buildings that present structural problems, such as cracks in load-bearing and non-load-bearing elements, exposed or corroded reinforcement due to insufficient maintenance, poor workmanship, subsidence, etc. and for which immediate measures should be taken.

2. To register the country's buildings that house critical public and private-sector infrastructure in general.

3. To evaluate these buildings in terms of their seismic risk according to the OASP methodology and depending on their classification to follow a secondary seismic control, if deemed necessary.

It is noted that it is the first time that a clear framework of immediate pre-seismic inspection is established with mandatory implementation, while funding from the Recovery and Resilience Fund has been secured in the amount of 32.5 million euros for the implementation of the project.