File Code:  07-06-55                                                    Route to:  Facility Manager

Contractor Manager              

June 20, 2007                                                                               

 

TO:                   CHA Members

 

FROM:              Roger Richter, Senior Vice President, Professional Services

 

SUBJECT:        Hospital Building Safety Board Recommends Implementation of HAZUS

 

On June 18, the Hospital Building Safety Board (HBSB) received a report from Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) staff and HAZUS consultants, Rutherford & Chekene, structural engineers, and Charles Kircher, Ph.D., who were retained by OSHPD.  HBSB unanimously voted to recommend to OSHPD Director David Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D., that HAZUS be adopted allowing a collapse level of 0.75 percent based on the experience of Structural Performance Category (SPC)-2 results under HAZUS.  There was no opposition voiced from the public in attendance.  Approximately 50 percent to 60 percent of the 1,022 SPC-1 buildings could be reclassified as SPC-2 under HAZUS, and would be allowed to remain as SPC-2 until 2030.

 

This proposal is expected to be acted on by the California Building Standards Commission as an emergency regulation in September.  If adopted, hospital owners would not have to retain a structural engineer to run the HAZUS data because OSHPD would do so.  However, hospital owners would not have to wait until September to determine whether their buildings are eligible for an extension based on HAZUS.  OSHPD would place HAZUS background materials on the OSHPD website, and structural engineers would be able to assist hospital owners in determining how HAZUS may benefit their buildings.  Owners of hospital buildings that are self-declared SPC-1 would have to conduct a seismic evaluation for self-declared buildings.  Most hospital buildings in the previously used Seismic Zone 3, and many in the previously used Seismic Zone 4, that are not near-fault, should benefit from HAZUS.  Buildings that fail HAZUS would be eligible to have an advanced analysis performed, which could reclassify them as SPC-2.  Hospital owners should consult with a structural engineer to determine if an advanced analysis is worth the cost for a particular building.

 

HAZUS is a building screening methodology, not a retrofit methodology.  Hospital buildings cannot be retrofitted to meet minimum HAZUS standards.  Hospital buildings must meet the California Building Standards Code in conducting retrofits.

 

CHA will keep member hospitals informed of HAZUS developments.  If you have any questions, please contact me at (916) 552-7570 or rrichter@calhospital.org.

 

RR: aw