The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Thimphu Thromde has refrained from imposing penalties on individuals who have not adhered to the roof color regulations outlined in notifications issued in July 2020, October 2021, and 2022.
Around July 2020, Thimphu Thromde released a notification, signed by the Executive Secretary, instructing building owners to follow specific permissible color codes, namely Green, Brown, and Red.
Any roofs left unpainted or not painted according to these approved colors were required to undergo immediate action by the respective building owners.
Subsequently, on October 8, 2021, Thimphu Thromde issued another notification, specifying that Red roofs were mandatory for institutional and government buildings, while Residential and Commercial buildings should have Green roofs.
In 2022, Thromde issued a further notification, acknowledging delays in inspections due to subsequent lockdowns following the initial announcement. As per this notification, roof coloring had to be completed before December 31, 2022. Failure to comply would result in a penalty of Nu 50,000.
Despite the plan being in place for nearly four years, Thimphu Thromde has yet to impose penalties on any individuals who have not changed their roof color.
Thimphu Thromde explained that no penalties were issued mainly because a significant number of buildings falling under the regulation were institutional and reliant on government budgets. Since there was no allocated budget from the government for the required roof color changes, institutions requested that the implementation of the plans be put on hold.
Currently, most private buildings have already made the necessary adjustments to their roofs, while Thromde is awaiting this year’s budget allocation from the government to facilitate institutional and government buildings in executing the mandated roof color changes.
It is expected that once all institutions complete the roof color adjustments within this financial year, Thromde will begin enforcing penalties on those who have failed to comply.
