Handbook

The handbook was developed to assist policy makers and project managers engaged principally in large-scale post-disaster reconstruction programs make decisions about how to reconstruct housing and communities, a complex series of decisions that, taken together, will affect the communities involved for many years. However, the handbook should be useful to communities and professionals involved in any type of post-disaster housing and community reconstruction project.

Effective reconstruction is set in motion only after options have been evaluated, stakeholders are consulted, and policy makers establish the framework and the rules for reconstruction. The project manager or task manager is then responsible for implementing policy decisions on the ground. Notes to the policy maker and project manager set the stage for these decisions and point out where the most relevant information for each is found in the handbook.