A New Framework for Assessing Building Failures in Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels

A new technical framework provides more specific parameters for assessing construction failures involving roads, bridges, and tunnels in Indonesia.

The Directorate General of Highways has issued Circular Letter of the Director General of Highways No. 23/SE/Db/2026 on Guidelines for Criteria and Benchmarks for the Assessment of Building Failures in Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels.

The circular letter provides more specific guidance on technical indicators, assessment procedures, as well as criteria and benchmarks for assessing building failures involving roads, bridges, and tunnels.

This development is relevant to project owners, construction service providers, consultants, and other parties involved in the development and management of infrastructure. The assessment of a particular condition should not depend solely on the existence of physical damage, but should also consider the applicable structural and functional parameters and the technical context of the infrastructure being assessed.

From a legal perspective, this distinction is important because technical findings and legal liability are not necessarily the same question. Determining whether a condition meets the criteria for a building failure is part of the technical assessment process. Questions concerning the cause of the failure, contractual responsibility, and legal consequences require further analysis based on the relevant facts and applicable laws and regulations.

1. A More Specific Technical Framework

The framework for assessing building failures is already established under Indonesia’s construction services regime, including Law No. 2 of 2017 on Construction Services, as amended, its implementing regulations, and Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 8 of 2021 on Expert Assessors, Building Failures, and the Assessment of Building Failures.

Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 8 of 2021 provides a general framework for assessing building failures, including the use of criteria and benchmarks based on structural and functional aspects.

However, the characteristics of roads, bridges, and tunnels require technical parameters that reflect the specific characteristics of each type of infrastructure.

SE 23/SE/Db/2026 provides a more sector-specific framework by establishing technical indicators and measurement methods that may be applied in assessing these three types of infrastructure.

Accordingly, the circular letter is better understood as a technical implementation framework for applying the existing building-failure assessment regime, rather than as establishing a new legal liability regime.

2. From Damage to Construction Failure

One of the key issues in infrastructure assessment is distinguishing between building damage and building failure.

The existence of cracks, deformation, deterioration of materials, or disruption to functionality does not, by itself, establish that a building has experienced a building failure.

Under Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 8 of 2021, a building failure is associated with the collapse and/or failure of a building to function following the final handover of the construction services.

Accordingly, an assessment must determine whether the condition identified satisfies the applicable criteria and benchmarks.

In this context, a technical investigation may include, among other matters:

• structural design and calculations;
• technical specifications;
• materials used;
• construction methods;
• testing and quality control results;
• variations to the works;
• the handover process; and
• maintenance and operational conditions.

The existence of damage and the attribution of responsibility are therefore two different questions.

Damage must first be assessed against the relevant technical parameters. Where the assessment indicates a building failure, further analysis is required to determine its cause and the connection between the condition and the obligations or actions of the relevant parties.

3. Structural and Functional Assessment

Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 8 of 2021 identifies structural and functional aspects as part of the assessment of building failures.

Structural aspects include, among others:

• strength;
• stability;
• durability; and
• material specifications.

Functional aspects, meanwhile, concern the ability of the building to perform its intended function and provide the services for which it was designed.

SE 23/SE/Db/2026 subsequently provides more specific parameters in the context of roads, bridges, and tunnels.

This approach is important because infrastructure cannot be assessed solely based on its physical appearance.

The significance of a particular defect or form of damage may vary depending on its location, the characteristics of the structure, the function of the infrastructure, the applicable technical standards, and its impact on the infrastructure’s ability to perform its intended function.

Accordingly, technical measurement becomes critical to the assessment.

4. The Role of Technical Indicators and Measurement

One of the principal contributions of SE 23/SE/Db/2026 is the provision of more specific technical indicators and measurement procedures.

This approach allows assessments to be conducted based on traceable parameters, rather than relying solely on visual observations or general conclusions.

In practice, technical indicators may assist in answering questions such as:

Does the condition identified remain within an acceptable threshold, or has it reached a level that is relevant to its classification as a building failure?

This question must be answered based on the type of infrastructure, its technical characteristics, the applicable standards, and the results of examinations of its actual condition.

Accordingly, the guidelines provide a more consistent technical basis for assessment.

5. The Role of the Expert Assessor

The assessment of building failures under the construction services regime involves an Expert Assessor (Penilai Ahli) as regulated under Minister of Public Works and Housing Regulation No. 8 of 2021.

In the context of roads, bridges, and tunnels, SE 23/SE/Db/2026 provides more specific technical references to support the assessment process.

This is particularly relevant where a report concerning an alleged building failure requires further examination.

The assessment does not stop at identifying physical damage. The investigation should consider the characteristics of the infrastructure, its actual condition, technical documentation, test results, and other factors relevant to determining the cause of the condition.

Accordingly, technical records can become an important part of the assessment process.

Design documents, shop drawings, variations to the works, material certificates, test results, quality control records, commissioning documents, handover documentation, and maintenance records may help reconstruct how a particular condition developed from the design and construction stages through to operation.

6. Implications for Contractors and Project Owners

For contractors, consultants, and project owners, this development reinforces the importance of technical compliance and project documentation.

In an alleged building failure, several questions may become material:

• Does the design comply with the applicable technical requirements?
• Do the materials used conform to the relevant specifications?
• Were the construction methods consistent with the contract and applicable technical requirements?
• Did the completed works satisfy the relevant requirements at the time of handover?
• Were there any design or work variations that affected the performance of the infrastructure?
• Did the damage arise from the construction works, post-handover conditions, maintenance, or external factors?
• Does the infrastructure continue to perform its intended function?

These questions demonstrate that construction failure assessment is not limited to identifying physical damage.

The analysis should also consider the relationship between the technical condition, the construction process, contractual obligations, and conditions arising after handover.

7. Interaction with Other Technical Standards

SE 23/SE/Db/2026 does not operate in isolation within the technical framework governing roads and bridges.

Depending on the circumstances, data arising from post-construction testing, structural monitoring, functional testing, design documentation, and maintenance records may constitute relevant technical information in an investigation.

The relevance of each document, however, will depend on the characteristics of the particular case being examined.

Accordingly, non-compliance with a particular technical requirement does not, by itself, establish that such non-compliance caused a building failure. A causal connection still needs to be technically established.

This approach is important in distinguishing between:

technical non-compliance → technical defect → construction failure → causation → legal responsibility.

Each represents a separate question and should not be treated as a single conclusion.

8. From Technical Assessment to Legal Risk

From a legal perspective, the significance of SE 23/SE/Db/2026 lies in the increasingly defined relationship between technical assessment and legal risk analysis.

Where a condition is assessed as meeting the criteria for a building failure, this does not automatically determine which party is legally responsible.

Further analysis is required concerning:

• the cause of the failure;
• the contractual obligations of each party;
• compliance with applicable technical requirements and regulations;
• the allocation of responsibility under the relevant contracts;
• relevant acts or omissions;
• causation; and
• the losses or consequences arising from the condition.

Accordingly, the technical assessment may constitute an important component of a broader analysis concerning contractual responsibility, regulatory compliance, and potential liability, depending on the circumstances of the relevant matter.

Key Takeaways

SE 23/SE/Db/2026 introduces more specific technical guidelines for assessing building failures involving roads, bridges, and tunnels.

The development strengthens the technical basis for assessing infrastructure conditions through relevant indicators, criteria, benchmarks, and measurement methods.

For businesses involved in infrastructure projects, the implications extend beyond technical considerations.

When infrastructure experiences damage or functional disruption, the relevant questions are not limited to whether damage exists, but also:

whether the condition constitutes a construction failure, what caused it, and how that finding may affect the contractual and regulatory position of the parties involved.

Construction risk management therefore increasingly requires an integrated approach to technical compliance, project documentation, contractual risk allocation, and legal analysis.

This alert is part of a series examining recent legal, regulatory, and technical developments affecting Indonesia’s construction and infrastructure sector. As the assessment of building failures involves both technical and legal considerations, further developments should be monitored for their potential implications for project owners, contractors, consultants, and other parties involved in infrastructure projects. Please feel free to contact us should you wish to discuss these developments further.

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