Iranian Building Codes, Regulations, and Professional Practice
This section tests your command of the Iranian regulatory framework that governs a mechanical building design: who signs, who supervises, and which Mabhas sets each technical limit. The National Building Code (مقررات ملی ساختمان) is issued under the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and organised as numbered Mabhas.
Core documents
- Mabhas 1 - definitions; Mabhas 2 - administrative regulations and duties of designer, supervisor and executor.
- Mabhas 3 - fire protection of buildings; Mabhas 14 - mechanical (heating, cooling, ventilation) installations.
- Mabhas 15 - lifts and escalators; Mabhas 16 - sanitary plumbing; Mabhas 17 - natural gas pipework.
- Mabhas 19 - energy efficiency of buildings, setting envelope U-values and system efficiencies.
- Professional practice is regulated by the Building Engineering Discipline Law (قانون نظام مهندسی و کنترل ساختمان) and the provincial engineering organisation, which issues the design and supervision permits.
Worked example - envelope check
A wall: 20 mm plaster (λ = 0.5), 200 mm lightweight block (λ = 0.5), 50 mm EPS (λ = 0.04), 20 mm gypsum (λ = 0.4), with surface films 0.13 + 0.04. R = 0.13 + 0.04 + 0.40 + 1.25 + 0.05 + 0.04 = 1.91 m²K/W, so U = 1/1.91 = 0.52 W/m²K - compliant for a temperate zone but short of cold-climate limits, so thickness must rise.
Traps
- Mixing up Mabhas 14 (mechanical) and Mabhas 16 (sanitary) in a question about pipe sizing.
- Assuming the supervisor may unilaterally change the approved design.
- Ignoring that energy compliance is verified by calculation submission, not by intent.