SECTION 329 – EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL STRUCTURES

329  Add the following section:

SECTION 329 – EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL STRUCTURES

329.1  General.  Every building classified as an Educa- tional Group E occupancy under San Francisco Building Code Section 305 of this code that is not under the jurisdiction of the Division of State Architect’s Structural Safety section, and all non-building structures accessory to such buildings, shall be evaluated in accordance with the provisions of this Section 329. All evaluations required by Section 329 shall be conducted under the supervision of a licensed structural engineer.

   EXCEPTIONS:

      1.   Evaluation is not required for buildings occupied by 25 or more persons for less than 12 hours per week or four hours in any given day.

      2.   Evaluation is not required for schools with an enrollment of 25 or fewer students.

      3.   Evaluation is not required for buildings not classified as Group E occupancy such as churches, places of religious worship, accessory residential buildings or similar non-educational uses.

329.1.1  Retroactivity.  The requirements of Section 329 are retroactive and shall apply to all buildings and non-building structures within the scope of Section 329 that are in existence as of October 31, 2014 regardless of the date of construction.

329.2  Scope and Criteria.  Each building and non-building structure shall be evaluated using ASCE 41-13 with the evaluation objective of Structural Life Safety with the BSE-1E hazard and Nonstructural Life Safety with the BSE-1E hazard as modified by an Administrative Bulletin to be adopted by the Department. An Evaluation required by Section 329 shall not in itself trigger any additional non-earthquake related work.

329.3  Evaluation Scope Submittal.  No later than October 31, 2015, the building owner or the owner’s authorized agent shall submit to the Department an Evaluation Scope document listing each structure to be evaluated, the evaluation objective to be applied, and other information requested by the Department.

329.4  Evaluation Report Submittal.  No later than October 31, 2017, the building owner or the owner’s authorized agent shall submit an Evaluation Report to the Department. The Evaluation Report shall conform to content and format requirements provided in the Administrative Bulletin adopted by the Department pursuant to Section 329 .6.

329.5  Voluntary Minimum Life-Safety Retrofit.  Any building or non-building structure subject to this Section, for which voluntary seismic retrofit is performed that meets or exceeds the criteria of ASCE 41-13, S-3 and N-C with the BSE-1E hazard, shall be exempt from any local mandatory seismic retrofit requirements until November 1, 2034. Such a building or non-building structure shall not be exempt from requirements associated with any addition, alteration, repair, change of occupancy, relocation, or other work regulated by this Code.

329.6  Administrative Bulletin.  The Department shall prepare an Administrative Bulletin detailing the procedural implementation requirements for this Section 329 .

329.7  Enforcement.  Buildings and non-building structures in violation of this Section 329 may be considered to be unsafe. The Department may apply the provisions of San Francisco Building Code Section 102A, including 102A.13, Repair and Demolition Fund, in remedying such unsafe conditions. Enforcement action may be initiated by the Department for failure to comply with any of the requirements of Section 329 , including failure to submit an Evaluation Scope document or Evaluation Report within the time designated by Sections 329 .3 and 329 .4.

329.8  Fees.  Fees based on standard hourly rates in accordance with the SFBC Table 1A-D – Standard Hourly Rates shall be charged to compensate the Department for review and for related evaluation processing.