Actually, the Codes are there
But whether they are enforced or not is another matter.
Any building is supposed to go through a whole series of blueprint inspections and code reviews. However, the reviewers and engineers charged with the inspection process are usually so underpaid that certain "fees" might be able to speed up the process by months, therefore saving huge interest/financial costs for the investor.
Generally speaking, the owner should hire an outside, independant inspector to supervise the work in order that the constructor is also not the judge and jury.
A visit to the main office of the Ministry of Public Works (over behjind the baseball stadium, if memory serves, will get you a set of the building codes, which, BTW, are supposed to include anti-seismic resistance of 7.0 on the Richter Scale.
Does this help?
H