Building Shelters Is Not an Experiment, but a Well-Considered Investment in Security

The purpose of building shelters is to protect people in military crisis, not to fulfill another regulatory requirement or create additional obligations for real estate developers. The basis for preparing legislative amendments and developing technical requirements has been the safety of people living in Estonia.

We are often asked who will design the shelters and whether Estonia even has the necessary expertise for this? Such caution is understandable, but there is no reason to doubt the designers' capabilities. The first projects that include shelters have already demonstrated designers' ability to find functional solutions in cooperation with building owners. In creating technical solutions for shelters, designers also use decades of practice from their Finnish colleagues. In addition, designers' work is supported by a design guide recently completed under the guidance of the Internal Security Academy, whose development involved a multi-member working group consisting of designers, architects, builders, real estate companies, representatives of higher education institutions, and several government agencies. Like the shelter requirements, the design guide was not created at one ministry's desk, but through cooperation between experts from different fields. 

In recent debate, it has seemed as though shelters could be building components added to buildings later. Of course, this is one possibility, but the question arises whether it is necessarily reasonable and cost-effective? A shelter is not an additional room that is added next to or adjacent to the planned building, but is part of the building that is designed from the beginning to also fulfill a protective function. Of course, the solution depends on the specific building and its intended use, and that is precisely why it is important to think through shelter solutions during the design process.

Much attention has also been given to the cost of shelters. It is true that their construction inevitably comes with additional costs, and shelter costs depend on the size of the building, its location, and the chosen technical solutions. At the same time, existing estimates do not support the claim that shelter obligations would make construction economically unreasonable. According to calculations commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, building a shelter increases the construction cost of most buildings by approximately one to three percent. For example, in the case of a 1200 square meter residential building, this amounts to between 26,000 and 33,000 euros, which constitutes approximately 1.2 to 1.5 percent of the total construction cost.

The question is also justified whether a parking lot, pantry, or other multi-use space can realistically and quickly be put into use as a shelter in a crisis situation? Certainly it can, and that is precisely why shelter requirements are not limited only to construction requirements. An integral part of sheltering is a shelter plan, which defines the necessary activities, responsible parties, and agreements already in peacetime. The shelter facility must be ready to use no later than 72 hours after the relevant decision is made, and building users must know how sheltering will be organized. In a crisis situation, we often don't have time to think and discuss anymore – sheltering must be previously thought through and practiced. It is equally important to ensure that the shelter remains ready for use even after years pass. Just as fire safety installations and other safety systems are regularly inspected in buildings, care must be taken for the functioning of the shelter's technical systems. The building owner's responsibility and supervision are clearly stated in the relevant legal acts.

There have been views expressed that the first buildings with shelters would need a state pilot program because the entire field is still in a formative stage. In reality, there is both the necessary legal framework, technical requirements, and design guidelines. The development of requirements has been supported by a wide range of experts, and in creating solutions, experience from those countries where the shelter system has been successfully operating for decades has been relied upon. In addition, there are already buildings under construction in Estonia today into which shelters have been designed, and their planning has also used international expertise. Therefore, there is no reason to treat the first shelter projects as experiments. Rather, these are well-prepared solutions that are based on existing knowledge, practice, and guidelines.

It is possible and necessary to discuss building shelters. Questions about costs, technical solutions, and organization are important and help improve the system, but it is equally important to understand that we are not starting from scratch and we are not moving into the unknown. Most of the questions that are heard in public debate today have already been thought through, solutions have been found for them, and the entire system is centered around one goal – to ensure that in the event of an air raid, people have a place that truly protects them.