RPS 2011: the seismic building code in Morocco

In brief

• Text: Decree n° 2-02-177 of 22 February 2002 (RPS 2000), amended by Decree n° 2-12-682 of 28 May 2013, which approves the 2011 version.
• Scope: all buildings, throughout the country. Earthen buildings come under a separate code (Decree n° 2-12-666).
• Zoning: two maps, acceleration and velocity, of five zones each (0 to 4), and a catalogue by municipality.
• Classifying a building: three building classes (coefficients 1.3, 1.2 and 1.0), five site types, three ductility levels.
• After Al Haouz: Decree n° 2-24-766 of 22 October 2024 reclassifies 80 municipalities. No new code had been published as of 13 November 2026, to our knowledge.

What is RPS 2011?

RPS 2011 is the everyday name of Morocco's seismic building code, the "Règlement de construction parasismique RPS 2000, version 2011": the text that sets the rules a building's structure must meet to withstand earthquakes. It is not a new code: it is the revised version of RPS 2000, annexed to the original decree.

It defines the seismic action to be taken into account in the calculations, then the design criteria and the detailing rules. It aims at public safety, the protection of property and the continuity of basic services, for a reference earthquake with a 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years (a return period of 475 years).

This guide is no substitute for a design calculation: the seismic design of a structure is a matter for the engineering consultancy (bureau d'études), and its checking for the technical inspection body (bureau de contrôle).

Which decrees underpin Morocco's seismic code?

Five decrees published in the Bulletin officiel, the official gazette, form the core of the applicable framework (a sixth, Decree n° 2-04-267 of 10 May 2004, amended Article 3 of the 2002 decree).

1. Decree n° 2-02-177 of 9 Hija 1422 (22 February 2002): it approves RPS 2000 and sets up the Comité national du génie parasismique (national earthquake engineering committee).
2. Decree n° 2-12-682 of 17 Rejeb 1434 (28 May 2013): it approves "R.P.S 2000, version 2011". Published in Bulletin officiel n° 6206 of 21 November 2013, it provides for entry into force six months later, that is in May 2014.
3. Decree n° 2-12-666 of the same day: it approves the seismic code for earthen buildings.
4. Decree n° 2-24-766 of 18 Rabii II 1446 (22 October 2024): it amends the catalogue of zones by municipality. Bulletin officiel n° 7351 of 11 November 2024, general edition in Arabic.
5. Decree n° 2-24-767 of the same day: it extends this catalogue to earthen buildings.

Which buildings does RPS 2011 apply to?

RPS applies to all buildings, across the whole national territory, with the exception of buildings in earth and in traditional local techniques, which have their own code (Article 3 of Decree n° 2-02-177). It covers new buildings and existing buildings that undergo major alterations, such as a change of use or an extension.

It covers structures whose resistance to seismic forces relies on frames, shear walls or a dual system. The following fall outside it:

• buildings where damage, even slight, would have very serious consequences (nuclear power stations, chemical plants);
• underground structures and civil engineering structures (tunnels, dams);
• buildings in traditional local techniques, whose loadbearing structure mainly uses earth, straw, timber, palm or reeds.

What are Morocco's seismic zones under RPS 2011?

RPS 2011 uses two zoning maps, one for peak ground acceleration and one for peak ground velocity, each divided into five zones numbered from 0 to 4. Every municipality (commune) therefore carries two zone numbers.

The acceleration map is graded from 4% to 18% of g; the velocity coefficient reaches 0.17 in zone 4.

In practice, the reference is the catalogue of velocities and zones annexed to the code, which gives the classification of every municipality. Marrakech appears in it with a velocity of 10 cm/s, in velocity zone 2 and acceleration zone 3. The code provides that the zoning may be revised by decree: that is what happened in 2024.

Building classes, sites, ductility: how is a building classified?

Three parameters are added to the zone: the use of the building, the ground and ductility. They are settled at design stage, but they explain the drawings the site receives.

Three classes according to use

• Class I, buildings of vital importance: hospitals, clinics, civil protection, decision-making centres, police stations, water towers. Importance coefficient: 1.3.
• Class II, buildings open to the public: school and university buildings, libraries, museums, sports halls, large places of worship, halls for more than 300 people. Coefficient: 1.2.
• Class III, ordinary buildings: housing, offices, shops. Coefficient: 1.0.

The client may place a building in a higher class.

Five site types

The ground is classified from S1 (rock) to S4 (thick soft soils), with a site coefficient of 1, 1.2, 1.4 and 1.8. The coefficient for type S5, special conditions, is established by a specialist. Where there is not enough information on the ground, the code requires site S2 to be assumed.

Three ductility levels

Ductility is the capacity of a structure to deform beyond its elastic limit without any significant loss of strength. The code defines three levels, ND1, ND2 and ND3, required according to the class of the building and the velocity of the zone. The higher the level, the stricter the reinforcement detailing.

What does RPS 2011 change on a structural works site?

On site, RPS can be read in the ground, the foundations, the steel and the joints: it imposes detailing rules that the structural works carry out exactly as drawn.

• Ground: investigation is mandatory. Near a fault, class I and II buildings are sited outside a strip of at least 120 m on either side.
• Foundations: uniform and rigid for each block, with pad footings tied by ground beams in both directions.
• Materials: concrete with a compressive strength above 22 MPa, high-bond reinforcement with a yield strength capped at 500 MPa.
• Critical zones: continuity of the bars, and confinement reinforcement (hoops, stirrups, cross-ties) closed by 135° hooks with a straight extension of at least 10 cm.
• Shear walls: a vertical tie at each end and at each wall intersection, a continuous horizontal tie around the floor slab.
• Loadbearing masonry (one or two storeys): vertical tie columns at the corners and at openings at least 1.50 m high, spaced no more than 5 m apart, horizontal ring beams at the foundations and at each floor.
• Joints: complex shapes (H, L, T, U or Z) are divided into simple blocks by seismic joints of at least 50 mm.

For a site manager, three reflexes: keep to the spacing of the hoops, which is tighter in critical zones; never move a joint or an opening in a shear wall without the agreement of the engineering consultancy; have the reinforcement inspected and accepted before the pour, in line with the checks set by the contract. Our guides to structural works and fit-out and to who does what on a construction site set out the stages and the roles.

Earthen buildings: what does RPCT 2011 provide?

Earthen buildings have their own text: the seismic code for earthen buildings, approved by Decree n° 2-12-666 of 28 May 2013 and often shortened to RPCT 2011. It covers adobe, rammed earth (pisé), wattle and daub (torchis) and cob (bauge) in particular.

It brings together two codes: RPACTerre 2011 for self-built housing, with no architect or engineer required, and RPCTerre 2011 for buildings subject to that requirement.

• Height: one storey in acceleration zones 3 and 4, two storeys at most in zones 0, 1 and 2.
• Loadbearing walls: no more than 4 m high for one storey, 6.5 m for two storeys.
• Self-building is prohibited on soils that are soft, expansive, liable to flooding or exposed to landslip, and within 2 km of a known active fault.

What has changed since the Al Haouz earthquake of 8 September 2023?

A single regulatory change has been published: the zoning. RPS 2000 version 2011 remains the applicable code, and our searches of 13 November 2026 found no new seismic code published in the Bulletin officiel.

Decree n° 2-24-766 of 22 October 2024 amends the catalogue of velocities and zones for 80 municipalities, by our count of the published annex: 29 in Chichaoua Province, 21 in Al Haouz Province, 21 in Taroudant Province, 8 in the Marrakech Prefecture and 1 in Ouarzazate Province. Decree n° 2-24-767 makes this catalogue applicable to earthen buildings.

Around Marrakech, five municipalities (Saada, Souihla, Agafay, Aït Imour and Loudaya) move from velocity zone 2 to zone 4, with a velocity raised from 10 to 17 cm/s. The classification of the municipality of Marrakech is unchanged.

For a project in these provinces, the classification must therefore be checked in the amended catalogue, not in a 2013 copy. The code itself announces its periodic revision, and the press presented these decrees as a measure taken pending an overall revision. Until a new text is published in the Bulletin officiel, it does not apply.

On our sites

From Marrakech, where the company was founded in 1998, AHMA BTP builds hospitals, university faculties, mosques and housing. By its use, a hospital falls in class I of the code, a university building or a large place of worship in class II. The structural works are carried in-house: every footing, every column and every slab is poured, checked and delivered by our own teams, in compliance with seismic standards.

This guide is a reading of the code, not an opinion on a project: the text published in the Bulletin officiel and the contract specification prevail. For a construction project, you can contact AHMA BTP.

Frequently asked questions

Is RPS 2011 still in force in Morocco?

Yes. RPS 2000 version 2011, approved by Decree n° 2-12-682 of 28 May 2013, remains the seismic building code applicable to buildings. Only its zoning has been amended, by Decree n° 2-24-766 of 22 October 2024. As of 13 November 2026, we have found no new code published in the Bulletin officiel.

What is the difference between RPS 2000 and RPS 2011?

RPS 2011 is the revised version of RPS 2000: the 2002 decree stayed in place, and its annex was replaced in 2013 by "RPS 2000, version 2011". This version uses two zoning maps, acceleration and velocity, of five zones each, and a catalogue that classifies every municipality.

Which seismic zone is Marrakech in?

In the catalogue annexed to RPS 2011, the municipality of Marrakech is classified in velocity zone 2 and acceleration zone 3, with a velocity of 10 cm/s. The decree of 22 October 2024 did not change it. Five neighbouring municipalities, Saada, Souihla, Agafay, Aït Imour and Loudaya, moved to velocity zone 4.

Is a hospital subject to the same requirements as a block of flats?

No. RPS 2011 places hospitals in class I, buildings of vital importance, with an importance coefficient of 1.3, against 1.0 for a class III residential building. School and university buildings and large places of worship are in class II, with a coefficient of 1.2.

Does RPS 2011 apply to rammed-earth or adobe houses?

No. Buildings in earth and in traditional local techniques come under the seismic code for earthen buildings, approved by Decree n° 2-12-666 of 28 May 2013. It limits these buildings to one storey in acceleration zones 3 and 4, and to two storeys in zones 0, 1 and 2.

Who does the seismic design of a building?

The calculations and the structural drawings are a matter for the engineering consultancy, and their checking for the technical inspection body. The contractor builds to the drawings: compliant steel, ties, joints and concrete. The exact split of duties is set by the contracts and by the contract specification.