Bill Text: CA AB2181 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Building standards: seismic retrofit.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-07 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB2181 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2181-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2181 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Sections 19160, 19161, 19162, and 19163 of the
Health and Safety Code, relating to building standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2181, as amended, Bloom. Building standards: seismic retrofit.
Existing law authorizes a city, city and county, or county to
establish, by ordinance, building seismic retrofit standards
applicable to the seismic retrofit of any buildings identified, as
specified, by the city, city and county, or county as being hazardous
to life if an earthquake occurs. Existing law identifies specified
types of buildings as potentially hazardous under these provisions,
including certain unreinforced masonry buildings and specified
woodframe, multiunit residential buildings constructed before January
1, 1978.
This bill would additionally authorize each city, city and county,
or county to require that owners assess
evaluate the earthquake hazard of soft story residential
buildings and older concrete residential buildings,
and would include concrete residential buildings that were
constructed prior to the adoption of local building codes that ensure
ductility, as specified, as potentially hazardous if an earthquake
occurs. The bill would authorize a city, city and county, or
county to employ seismic evaluation of older concrete
residential buildings to address individual seismically hazardous
buildings without regard to how the buildings came to the attention
of its officials. The bill would require the seismic retrofit of a
concrete residential building identified as potentially hazardous to
comply with the recommendations of a qualified expert, with
nationally recognized research recommendations, or with a
nationally recognized model cake code
relating to the retrofit of existing buildings , as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 19160 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
19160. The Legislature finds and declares that:
(a) The harmful effects of future earthquakes can be reduced
through sound retrofitting programs, also known as reconstruction
programs.
(b) Because the United States Geological Survey predicts a greater
than 99 percent likelihood that California will experience moderate
to severe earthquakes before 2038, increased efforts to reduce
earthquake hazards should be encouraged and supported.
(c) Tens of thousands of buildings subject to severe earthquake
hazards continue to be a serious danger to the life and safety of
hundreds of thousands of Californians who live and work in them in
the event of an earthquake. The buildings themselves are also at
risk.
(d) Improvement of safety to life is the primary goal of building
reconstruction retrofitting to reduce
earthquake hazards.
(e) Because every dollar spent on mitigation saves several dollars
in future postdisaster expenditures, a second major goal is to
reduce public costs for disaster relief.
(f) In order to make the evaluation and reconstruction
retrofitting of buildings that are at high risk
of seismic failure economically feasible, and to improve the safety
of life in these buildings, building standards enacted by local
government for building reconstruction
retrofitting may differ from building standards which govern
new building construction.
(g) Because higher costs and other financial impediments
will discourage necessary reconstruction
retrofitting , the standards that govern new buildings should
not apply to reconstruction retrofitting
unless they are needed to achieve the desired increase in
seismic capacity . Furthermore, subdivision (a) of Section 2 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution
provides that no increase in assessed value may be imposed because of
a retrofit except as the Constitution authorizes. Additionally,
because of these higher costs and other financial impediments, loan
programs and protections for the poor should be provided as is
feasible, including, for example, programs similar to those San
Francisco utilized under the mandatory retrofitting program the city
and county established in 2013 .
(h) "Older concrete residential buildings," also known as
"nonductile concrete residential buildings" and "pre-1980
pre-1976 concrete residential buildings or
concrete residential buildings," are a subset of concrete buildings
that may be unable to resist earthquake motion. They include
lift-slab residential buildings with concrete lateral
force resisting systems.
(i) These buildings were a prevalent construction type in highly
seismic zones prior to the mid-1970s, are an important component of
the state's housing stock, and are in jeopardy of being lost in the
event of a major earthquake.
(j) The California Office of Emergency Services reports that
concrete buildings, particularly older ones with high numbers of
occupants, can collapse and kill hundreds, and are the fastest
growing cause of earthquake losses around the world.
(k) During an earthquake, older concrete residential buildings may
create dangerous conditions, as illustrated by the catastrophic
damage or collapse of older concrete buildings in the earthquakes of
San Fernando, Loma Prieta, and Northridge, California (1971, 1989,
and 1994), 1994); Kobe,
Japan (1995), (1995); Chi Chi, Taiwan
(1999), (1999); Kocaeli, Duzce, and
Bingol, Turkey (1999, 1999, and 2003), (1999
and 2003); Sumatra (2005), (2005);
Pakistan (2005), (2005); Sichuan,
China (2008), (2008); Haiti
(2010) (2010); and Christchurch, New Zealand
(2011).
(l) California instituted building code changes in the mid-1970s
to prevent these problems in future construction, but ,
four decades later, the great majority of California's concrete
buildings that were constructed before these changes have still not
been evaluated or retrofitted.
(m) The assistance of the public is necessary in identifying older
concrete residential buildings, because no accurate
inventory of older concrete residential buildings exists,
and none can be compiled by from
external appearances or by an examination of public
records.
(n) Once identified, older concrete residential
buildings must be evaluated individually by a qualified
architect or engineer to assess their seismic capacity and
whether reconstruction retrofitting is
necessary.
(o) The failure of older concrete residential apartment
buildings is likely to be the source of a disproportionate share of
the public shelter population in areas of the state where they are
occupied by the very poor, the very old, and the very young.
(p) "Soft story" residential buildings are a subset of multistory
woodframe structures that may have inadequately braced lower stories
that may not be able to resist earthquake motion.
(q) Soft story residential buildings are an important component of
the state's housing stock and are in jeopardy of being lost in the
event of a major earthquake.
(r) Soft story residential buildings were responsible for 7,700 of
the 16,000 housing units rendered uninhabitable by the Loma Prieta
earthquake and over 34,000 of the housing units rendered
uninhabitable by the Northridge earthquake.
(s) During an earthquake, soft story residential buildings may
create dangerous conditions as illustrated in the Northridge Meadows
apartment failure that claimed the lives of 16 residents.
(t) The collapse of soft story residential buildings can ignite
fires that threaten trapped occupants and neighboring buildings and
complicates emergency response.
(u) The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) estimates that
soft story residential buildings will be responsible for 66 percent
of the uninhabitable housing following an event on the Hayward fault.
(v) The failure of soft story residential buildings is estimated
by ABAG to be the source of a disproportionate share of the public
shelter population because they tend to be occupied by the very poor,
the very old, and the very young.
(w) The In 1995, the Seismic Safety
Commission has recommended that legislation be
enacted to require state and local building code enforcement agencies
to identify potentially hazardous buildings and to adopt mandatory
mitigation programs that will significantly reduce unacceptable
hazards in buildings by 2020 .
(x) The current nationally recognized model codes
code relating to the retrofit of existing
buildings are , the International
Existing Building Code and the Seismic Evaluation and
Retrofit of Existing Buildings by the American Society of Civil
Engineers , as adapted for California, and
other sources are authorized for use in retrofitting by the
California Building Code . However, it is not the intent of the
Legislature, if other research-based recommendations or
model codes relating to the retrofit of existing buildings
are developed, to limit the California Building Standards Commission
or a local government, pursuant to Section 19162, to adopting a
particular research-based recommendation or model code. Equally, the
Legislature does not intend for local governments to delay needed
evaluation and retrofitting programs in the hope that improved
methods to evaluate and retrofit buildings may be developed. Rather,
the Legislature finds that existing scientific knowledge permits
immediate evaluations and retrofitting of older concrete
residential buildings to significantly increase the safety of
life in and reduce earthquake damage to seismically hazardous older
concrete residential buildings.
(y) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
cities and counties to address the seismic safety of older concrete
residential buildings and soft story residential buildings
by encouraging and imitating , initiate programs
to inform owners, residents, and the public about the dangers of
these potentially hazardous buildings, mandate their evaluation at
owner expense, and require retrofitting at owner's expense
to reduce the seismic risk in those that are unacceptably hazardous.
SEC. 2. Section 19161 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
19161. (a) Each city, city and county, or county, may assess the
earthquake hazard in its jurisdiction or require that owners
assess evaluate the earthquake hazard of soft
story and residential buildings, older
concrete residential buildings, or both, and
thereby identify buildings subject to its jurisdiction as being
potentially hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake.
Potentially hazardous buildings include, but are not limited to, all
of the following:
(1) Unreinforced masonry buildings constructed prior to the
adoption of local building codes requiring earthquake resistant
design of buildings that are constructed of unreinforced masonry wall
construction and exhibit any of the following characteristics:
(A) Exterior parapets or ornamentation that may fall.
(B) Exterior walls that are not anchored to the floors or roof.
(C) Lack of an effective system to resist seismic forces.
(2) Woodframe, multiunit residential buildings constructed before
January 1, 1978, where the ground floor portion of the structure
contains parking or other similar open floor space that causes soft,
weak, or open-front wall lines, as provided in a nationally
recognized model code relating to the retrofit of existing buildings
or substantially equivalent standards.
(3) Concrete residential buildings, including lift-slab
residential buildings with concrete lateral force resisting
systems, that were constructed prior to the adoption of local
building codes that ensure ductility , as provided in a
nationally recognized model code relating to the retrofit
of existing buildings, or substantially equivalent standards .
(b) Structural evaluations made pursuant to this section shall be
made by an architect as defined in Section 5500 of the Business and
Professions Code, or a civil or structural engineer registered
pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of
the Business and Professions Code, or staff of the enforcing agency,
as described in Section 17960, supervised by an architect or civil
or structural engineer authorized by this subdivision to make the
structural evaluations.
SEC. 3. Section 19162 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
19162. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 19100 or
19150 or any other provision of law, the governing body of any city,
city and county, or county may, by ordinance, establish building
seismic retrofit standards applicable to the seismic retrofit of any
buildings identified pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
Section 19161 by the city, city and county, or county as being
potentially hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 19100, 19150, or
any other provision of law, the governing body of any city, city and
county, or county may, by ordinance, establish building seismic
retrofit standards applicable to the seismic retrofit of any
buildings identified pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 19161 by the city, city and county, or county as being
potentially hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake. Any
standards established pursuant to this section shall apply until the
effective date of building standards adopted by the California
Building Standards Commission relating to the retrofit of existing
buildings, if any, at which time the standards adopted by the
commission as amended by the city, county, or city and county
pursuant to Section 17958.5 shall apply.
(2) A local ordinance establishing building seismic retrofit
standards applicable to soft story residential structures adopted
before January 1, 2006, shall remain in full force and effect until
the effective date of building standards adopted by the California
Building Standards Commission relating to the retrofit of existing
buildings unless the city, county, or city and county after January
1, 2006, adopts an ordinance pursuant to paragraph (1).
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 19100 or 19150 or
any other provision of law, the governing body of any city, city and
county, or county may do both either or both
of the following:
(1) Employ seismic evaluations of older concrete residential
buildings, including lift-slab residential buildings with
concrete lateral force resisting systems, to address individual
seismically hazardous buildings, without regard to how these
buildings came to the attention of its officials.
(2) Establish, by ordinance, building seismic retrofit standards
applicable to the seismic retrofit of any of these buildings that are
potentially hazardous to life in the event of an earthquake. Any
standards established pursuant to this paragraph shall apply until
the effective date of applicable building standards adopted by the
California Building Standards Commission relating to the retrofit of
existing buildings, if any, at which time the standards adopted by
the commission as amended by the city, city and county ,
or county pursuant to Section 17958.5 shall apply.
(d) Building seismic retrofit standards adopted pursuant to this
section may be applied uniformly throughout the city, city and
county, or county, or may be applied in specific areas designated by
the city, city and county, or county, or to specific buildings within
the city, city and county, or county if those buildings are
those that are described in paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) of Section 19161.
(e) For purposes of this chapter, "seismic retrofit" means either
structural strengthening or providing the means necessary to modify
the seismic response that would otherwise be expected by an existing
building during an earthquake, to significantly reduce hazards to
life and safety while also providing for the substantial safe ingress
and egress of the building occupants immediately after an
earthquake.
SEC. 4. Section 19163 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
19163. Any local ordinance adopted pursuant to Section 19162
shall require the following:
(a) Any seismic retrofit of any building identified pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 19161 as being hazardous
to life in the event of an earthquake shall provide for the
reasonable adequacy of all of the following:
(1) Unreinforced masonry walls to resist normal and inplane
seismic forces.
(2) The anchorage and stability of exterior parapets and
ornamentation.
(3) The anchorage of unreinforced masonry walls to the floors and
roof.
(4) Floor and roof diaphragms.
(5) The development of a complete bracing system to resist
earthquake forces.
(b) Any A seismic retrofit of any
building identified pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of
Section 19161 as potentially hazardous shall comply with a nationally
recognized model code relating to the retrofit of existing buildings
or substantially equivalent standards. If the city, county, or city
and county adopts local amendments to those provisions, it shall
determine that the amendments are consistent with Section 17958.5.
(c) Any A seismic retrofit of any
building identified pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of
Section 19161 as potentially hazardous shall comply with the
recommendations of a qualified expert under paragraph (b)
of Section 19161 or with nationally
recognized research recommendations, a nationally
recognized model code relating to the retrofit of existing buildings,
or substantially equivalent standards. If the city, city and county,
or county adopts local amendments to those provisions, it shall
determine that the amendments are consistent with Section 17958.5.
(d) Seismic retrofit of any building or portions of any building
shall be designed to resist and withstand the seismic forces from any
direction as set forth in the building seismic retrofit standards
using the allowable working stresses adopted pursuant to this
article.
(e) The governing board of any city, city and county, or county
may establish, by ordinance, standards and procedures to fulfill the
intent of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) without regard to the
remainder of the requirements specified above.
