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Chapter 16A — STRUCTURAL DESIGN

Section 1612A

California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2) · 2019 edition · updated 2026-09-12 · California

Italicized text is a California amendment to the model code, as printed in the official publication.

FLOOD LOADS

1612 A .1 General. Within flood hazard areas as established in Section 1612 A .3, all new construction of buildings, structures and portions of buildings and structures, including substantial improvement and restoration of substantial damage to buildings and structures, shall be designed and constructed to resist the effects of flood hazards and flood loads. For buildings that are located in more than one flood hazard area, the provisions associated with the most restrictive flood hazard area shall apply.

1612 A .2 Design and construction. The design and construction of buildings and structures located in flood hazard areas, including coastal high hazard areas and coastal A zones, shall be in accordance with Chapter 5 of ASCE 7 and ASCE 24.

1612 A .3 Establishment of flood hazard areas. To establish flood hazard areas, the applicable governing authority shall adopt a flood hazard map and supporting data. The flood hazard map shall include, at a minimum, areas of special flood hazard as identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Insurance Study (FIS) adopted by the local authority hav- ing jurisdiction where the project is located, as amended or revised with the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) and Flood Boundary and Floodway Map (FBFM) and related supporting data along with any revisions thereto. The adopted flood hazard map and supporting data are hereby adopted by reference and declared to be part of this section.

1612 A .3.1 Design flood elevations. Where design flood elevations are not included in the flood hazard areas established in Section 1612 A .3, or where floodways are not designated, the building official is authorized to require the applicant to do one of the following:

  1. Obtain and reasonably utilize any design flood elevation and floodway data available from a federal, state or other source.

  2. Determine the design flood elevation or floodway in accordance with accepted hydrologic and hydraulic engineering practices used to define special flood hazard areas. Determinations shall be undertaken by a registered design professional who shall document that the technical methods used reflect currently accepted engineering practice.

1612 A .3.2 Determination of impacts. In riverine flood hazard areas where design flood elevations are specified but floodways have not been designated, the applicant shall provide a floodway analysis that demonstrates that the proposed work will not increase the design flood elevation more than 1 foot (305 mm) at any point within the jurisdiction of the applicable governing authority.

1612 A .4 Flood hazard documentation. The following documentation shall be prepared and sealed by a registered design professional and submitted to the building official:

  1. For construction in flood hazard areas other than coastal high hazard areas or coastal A zones:

1.1. The elevation of the lowest floor, including the basement, as required by the lowest floor eleva

tion inspection in Section 110 A .3.3 and for the final inspection in Section 110 A .3.11.1.

1.2. For fully enclosed areas below the design flood elevation where provisions to allow for the automatic entry and exit of floodwaters do not meet the minimum requirements in Section 2.7.2.1 of ASCE 24, construction documents shall include a statement that the design will provide for equalization of hydrostatic flood forces in accordance with Section 2.7.2.2 of ASCE 24.

1.3. For dry floodproofed nonresidential buildings, construction documents shall include a statement that the dry floodproofing is designed in accordance with ASCE 24.

  1. For construction in coastal high hazard areas and coastal A zones:

2.1. The elevation of the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member as required by the lowest floor elevation inspection in Section 110 A .3.3 and for the final inspection in Section 110 A .3.11.1.

2.2. Construction documents shall include a statement that the building is designed in accordance with ASCE 24, including that the pile or column foundation and building or structure to be attached thereto is designed to be anchored to resist flotation, collapse and lateral movement due to the effects of wind and flood loads acting simultaneously on all building components, and other load requirements of Chapter 16.

2.3. For breakaway walls designed to have a resistance of more than 20 psf (0.96 kN/m 2 ) determined using allowable stress design, construction documents shall include a statement that the breakaway wall is designed in accordance with ASCE 24.

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▸Contents — California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2)
California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2)
  1. Chapter 2 — DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
  2. Appendix G — FLOOD-RESISTANT
  3. Appendix L — EARTHQUAKE RECORDING
  4. Appendix M — TSUNAMI-GENERATED
  5. Chapter 1 — SCOPE AND ADMINISTRATION
  6. Chapter 3 — OCCUPANCY CLASSIFICATION AND USE
  7. Chapter 4 — SPECIAL DETAILED REQUIREMENTS BASED
  8. Chapter 5 — GENERAL BUILDING HEIGHTS AND AREAS
  9. Chapter 6 — TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION
  10. Chapter 7 — FIRE AND SMOKE PROTECTION FEATURES
  11. Chapter 7A — MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
  12. Chapter 8 — INTERIOR FINISHES
  13. Chapter 9 — FIRE PROTECTION AND LIFE SAFETY SYSTEMS
  14. Chapter 10 — MEANS OF EGRESS
  15. Chapter 11A — HOUSING ACCESSIBILITY
  16. Chapter 11B — ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PUBLIC ACCOMM…
  17. Chapter 12 — INTERIOR ENVIRONMENT
  18. Chapter 14 — EXTERIOR WALLS
  19. Chapter 15 — ROOF ASSEMBLIES AND ROOFTOP STRUCTURES
  20. Chapter 16 — STRUCTURAL DESIGN
  21. ▸Chapter 16A — STRUCTURAL DESIGN
    Overview
    1. Section 1603A
    2. Section 1601A
    3. Section 1602A
    4. Section 1604A
    5. Section 1605A
    6. Section 1606A
    7. Section 1607A
    8. Section 1608A
    9. Section 1609A
    10. Section 1610A
    11. Section 1611A
    12. Section 1612A
    13. Section 1613A
    14. Section 1616A
    15. Section 1614A
    16. Section 1615A
  22. Chapter 17 — SPECIAL INSPECTIONS AND TESTS
  23. Chapter 18 — SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS
  24. Chapter 19 — CONCRETE
  25. Chapter 20 — ALUMINUM
  26. Chapter 21 — MASONRY
  27. Chapter 22 — STEEL
  28. Chapter 23 — WOOD
  29. Chapter 24 — GLASS AND GLAZING
  30. Chapter 25 — GYPSUM BOARD, GYPSUM PANEL PRODUCTS AND PLASTER
  31. Chapter 26 — PLASTIC
  32. Chapter 27 — ELECTRICAL
  33. Chapter 28 — MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
  34. Chapter 30 — ELEVATORS AND CONVEYING SYSTEMS
  35. Chapter 31 — SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION
  36. Chapter 31B — PUBLIC POOLS
  37. Chapter 31C — RADIATION
  38. Chapter 31D — FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS
  39. Chapter 31F — MARINE OIL TERMINALS
  40. Chapter 32 — ENCROACHMENTS INTO THE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
  41. Chapter 33 — SAFEGUARDS DURING CONSTRUCTION
  42. Chapter 35 — REFERENCED STANDARDS
  43. Appendix A — EMPLOYEE QUALIFICATIONS
  44. Appendix B — BOARD OF APPEALS
  45. Appendix C — GROUP U – AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS
  46. Appendix D — FIRE DISTRICTS
  47. Appendix F — RODENTPROOFING
  48. Appendix H — SIGNS
  49. Appendix I — PATIO COVERS
  50. Appendix J — GRADING
  51. Appendix K — GROUP R-3 AND GROUP R-3.1 OCCUPANCIES
  52. Appendix N — REPLICABLE BUILDINGS
  53. Appendix O — EMERGENCY HOUSING

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