Post-Disaster Building Assessment Training

BC Housing offers two damage assessment courses to assist in developing a Post-Disaster Building Assessment (PDBA) Program for your community or organization’s emergency preparedness.

Building Assessor Registry: register as a volunteer for post-disaster building assessment.

collapsed wood home surrounded by rubble after a disaster

Courses and Training Overview

These courses are designed to benefit anyone engaged in emergency management program planning or response, those responsible for the management and maintenance of buildings, and those responsible for conducting building assessments after an earthquake, flood or windstorm.

Rapid Damage Assessment (RDA) course

This course teaches skills to identify unsafe conditions in wood frame, masonry and concrete construction caused by floods, earthquakes or windstorms. Individuals learn to assess damage to determine whether buildings can be occupied. BC Housing's rapid assessment skills are based on the Applied Technology Council 20 & 45 guidelines from California, the PDBA Framework and Recommendations document, and feedback from the PDBA Advisory Committee.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. An understanding of building construction, personal emergency preparedness and response activities are an asset

Delivery Style: Online, self-paced

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Duration: Up to 3.5 hours

Course Fee:

  • Individual: $115.00 per participant plus taxes
  • Organizations: a group rate of $100 per participant plus GST is available for organizations wishing to register 6 or more participants
  • Non-profit housing partners: please email [email protected]

Please note: The RDA Field Manual is not included in this cost, but can be purchased through Crown Publications. 

Course Registration:    

Contact: BC Housing Security and Emergency Services Department

Course Details: Rapid Damage Assessment Course (669 KB) (pdf)

Coordination of Damage Assessment (CDA) course

This course will not be offered by BC Housing at this time unless it is required to support a community where building damage has occurred from a recent event. This course will be available online in 2023.

Please check back to this page for updates as more information becomes available. Alternatively, if you wish to be notified when this course is available, please email [email protected] and we will contact you once the course is launched.

Prerequisite: BC Housing Rapid Damage Assessment Course

Contact: BC Housing Security and Emergency Services Department

RDA Field Manual - Available online

The field manual is now available to purchase online from Crown Publications.

RDA Field Manual