In relation to building construction, Code of Practice may be defined as a particular set of standards, procedures, and regulations to which a contractor and developer should adhere to manage potential environmental consequences caused by construction works. For large clients, local authorities, and public bodies, it is applied to new developments and sets out requirements related to the impact of construction. It aims to provide guidance within the framework of legal, administrative, and technical systems for the protection of workers, the environment, and the public and control over major hazard installations. According to the code, by arranging separation between large centers of population, including housing, shops, schools, and hospitals, and major hazard installations and developing appropriate emergency planning, major accidents that may occur at these installations will be prevented.
Code of Practice is applied to major hazard installations identified on the basis of a list of hazardous substances associated with threshold quantities. They require priority attention due to the potential for causing highly serious incidents that may negatively impact the environment and people. Thus, major hazard installations include oil refineries, petrochemical and chemical works, storage of flammable liquids, gas, and liquefied petroleum gas, fertilizer works, chemical warehouses, and water treatment works connected with chlorine. Nuclear hazards, hazards of a military nature, and the transportation of potentially hazardous chemicals are excluded from the code due to the differences in their control and management. In general, the code includes a list of activities for competent authorities that should be performed in order to establish major hazard control systems for the prevention of incidents. Competent authorities include government inspectorates and safety authorities, police, local authorities, workers and their representatives, works managements, fire and health authorities, suppliers of major hazard technologies, and other involved organizations.