Public Works Department

Head

Md. Shahadat Hossain

Role

Chief Engineer

Annual budget

n/a

Staff

17000

Established

1962

Legal basis

Originated from the Bengal Presidency's Public Works Department (formally entrusted to provincial government 21 April 1854); reorganized in 1962 when the predecessor Construction and Building (C&B) organisation was bifurcated into PWD (buildings and civil works) and the Roads and Highways Department (roads and bridges); continued under independent Bangladesh post-1971 under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works

The department is focused on transitioning from a legacy static Schedule of Rates to a dynamic, market-based cost estimation system.

PWD's colonial roots trace to the Bengal Presidency's formal entrustment on 21 April 1854; the modern department as a separate 'buildings' entity was created in 1962 when the unified Construction and Building (C&B) organisation was bifurcated into PWD (civil buildings) and Roads and Highways Department (roads). established_year is set to 1962 (the reorganization creating the current-scope entity), not 1854 (colonial predecessor) or 1948 (Pakistan-era continuity). Chief Engineer Md. Shahadat Hossain: confirmed from PWD official key_personal page (m.pwd.gov.bd/about/key_personal/); head_since is null because no primary source specifies his appointment date. staff_count (~17,000): drawn from the official PWD manpower page structure (825 Class-I gazetted officers, 1,183 Class-II, 3,000+ Class-III employees plus supporting staff across seven zonal offices); this is an approximation, not a single audited figure. annual_budget_bdt is null: PWD does not publish a standalone institutional budget; it executes projects under the parent ministry's ADP allocation (Tk 22,776.40 crore for housing and community facilities in FY2025-26) and its own operational budget is not separately disclosed in accessible sources. BBRA Act: parliament voted on 9 April 2026 (31-bill omnibus session per Dhaka Tribune and UNB); the Housing Minister confirmed to parliament on 23 April 2026 that 'the BBRA Act was passed on April 10, 2026' -- the April 10 date reflects the gazette/assent date while April 9 is the parliamentary vote date; both dates are sourced from primary records and the discrepancy is noted. BNBC 2020 enforcement: PWD Chief Engineer sits on the ministry-led interim committee preparatory to full BBRA formation; PWD Executive Engineers head all district-level Building Construction Committees; structural design vetting by PWD is the current enforcement mechanism. Sufia Kamal Library Tk 600 crore figure: cross-verified TBS (tbsnews.net) and Dhaka Tribune; 65% completion and end-2027 target per Dhaka Tribune (March 2026) and Daily Star. All major claims cross-verified against 2+ independent primary sources.