Section 317 — [BSC, DSA-SS & DSA-SS/CC]—EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION AND DESIGN FOR RETROFIT…

317.1.1 Existing state-owned structures. [BSC] The provisions of Sections 317 through 322 establish minimum standards for earthquake evaluation and design for retrofit of existing state-owned structures, including buildings owned by the University of California and the California State University.

The provisions of Sections 317 through 323 may be adopted by a local jurisdiction for earthquake evaluation and design for retrofit of existing buildings.

317.1.2 Public school buildings. [DSA-SS] The provisions of Sections 317 through 323 establish minimum standards for earthquake evaluation and design for the rehabilitation of existing buildings for use as public school buildings under the jurisdiction of the Division of the State Architect—Structural Safety [DSA-SS], refer to Section 1.9.2.1.

The provisions of Section 317 through 323 also establish minimum standards for earthquake evaluation and design for rehabilitation of existing public buildings currently under the jurisdiction of DSA-SS.

317.1.2.1 Reference to other chapters. For public schools, where reference within this chapter is made to sections in Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 or 22 of the California Building Code, the provisions in Chapters 16A, 17A, 18A, 19A, 21A and 22A of the California Building Code, respectively, shall apply instead.

317.1.3 Community college buildings. [DSA-SS/CC] The provisions of Sections 317 through 323 establish minimum standards for earthquake evaluation and design for the rehabilitation of existing buildings for use as community college buildings under the jurisdiction of the Division of the State Architect—Structural Safety/Community Colleges [DSA-SS/CC], refer to Section 1.9.2.2.

The provisions of Section 317 through 323 also establish minimum standards for earthquake evaluation and design for rehabilitation of existing community college buildings currently under the jurisdiction of DSA-SS/CC.

317.1.3.1 Reference to other chapters. For community colleges, where reference within this chapter is made to sections in Chapters 17 or 18 of the California Building Code, the provisions in Chapters 17A and 18A of the California Building Code, respectively, shall apply instead.

All alterations, structurally connected additions and/or repairs to existing structures or portions thereof shall, at a minimum, be designed and constructed to resist the effects of seismic ground motions as provided in this section. The structural system shall be evaluated by a registered design professional and, if not meeting or exceeding the minimum seismic design performance requirements of this section, shall be retrofitted in compliance with these requirements.

Exception: Those structures for which Section 317.3 determines that assessment is not required, or for which Section 317.4 determines that retrofit is not needed, then only the requirements of Section 317.11 apply.

317.3.1 Existing state-owned buildings. [BSC, DSA-SS] For existing state-owned structures including all buildings owned by the University of California and the California State University, the requirements of Section 317 apply whenever the structure is to be retrofitted, repaired or modified and any of the following apply: 1. Total construction cost, not including cost of furnishings, fixtures and equipment, or normal maintenance, for the building exceeds 25 percent of the construction cost for the replacement of the existing building. The changes are cumulative for past modifications to the building that occurred after adoption of the 1995 California Building Code and did not require seismic retrofit.

3-16 2025 CALIFORNIA EXISTING BUILDING CODE

on Jul 18, 2025 11:14 AM (CDT) THEREUNDER.

PROVISIONS FOR ALL COMPLIANCE METHODS

2. There are changes in risk category. 3. The modification to the structural components increases the seismic forces in or strength requirements of any structural component of the existing structure by more than 10 percent cumulative since the original construction, unless the component has the capacity to resist the increased forces determined in accordance with Section 319. If the building’s seismic base shear capacity has been increased since the original construction, the percent change in base shear may be calculated relative to the increased value.

4. Structural elements need repair where the damage has reduced the lateral-load-resisting capacity of the structural system by more than 10 percent. 5. Changes in live or dead load increase story shear by more than 10 percent.

317.3.2 Public school buildings. [DSA-SS] For public schools, the provisions of Section 317 apply when required in accordance with Sections 4-307 and 4-309(c) of the California Administrative Code.

317.3.3 Community college buildings. [DSA-SS/CC] For community colleges, the provisions of Section 317 apply when required in accordance with Sections 4-307 and 4-309(c) of the California Administrative Code.

If the criteria in Section 317.3 apply to the project under consideration, the design professional of record shall provide an evaluation in accordance with Section 317 to determine the seismic performance of the building in its current configuration and condition. If the structure's seismic performance as required by Section 317.5 is evaluated as satisfactory and the peer reviewer(s), when Method B of Section 321 is used, concur, then no structural retrofit is required.

Following the notations of ASCE 41, the seismic requirements for design and assessment are based upon a prescribed Seismic Hazard Level (BSE-1N, BSE-2N, BSE-1E, BSE-R or BSE-C), a specified structural performance level (S-1 through S-5) and a nonstructural performance level (N-A through N-E). The minimum seismic performance criteria are given in Table 317.5 according to the Building Regulatory Authority and the Risk Category as determined in Chapter 16 of the California Building Code or by the regulatory authority. The building shall be evaluated in accordance with a Tier 3 Systematic Evaluation and Retrofit per ASCE 41 Chapter 6 for both the Level 1 and Level 2 performance levels, and the more restrictive requirements shall apply.

Exception: If the floor area of an addition is greater than the larger of 50 percent of the floor area of the original building or 1,000 square feet (93 m [2] ), then the Table 317.5 entries for BSE-R (or BSE-1E) and BSE-C are replaced by BSE-1N and BSE-2N, respectively.

TABLE 317.5—SEISMIC PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS2, 3 BY BUILDING REGULATORY AUTHORITY AND RISK CATEGORY

Where the evaluation indicates the building does not meet the required performance objectives of this section, the owner shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the building’s structural system is retrofitted in accordance with the provisions of Section 317. Appropriate steps are either: 1) undertake the seismic retrofit as part of the additions, alterations and/or repairs of the structure; or 2) provide a plan, acceptable to the building official, to complete the seismic retrofit in a timely manner. The relocation or moving of an existing building is considered to be an alteration requiring filing of the plans and specifications approved by the building official.

nonstructural requirements for a new building as given in the California Building Code, applied to the entire building.

for the repair, voluntary lateral-force-resisting system modification or retrofit of an existing structure. When seismic isolation or passive energy dissipation is used, the project must have project peer review as prescribed in Section 322.

for the structural design in accordance with Section 319.10.

on Jul 18, 2025 11:14 AM (CDT) THEREUNDER.

PROVISIONS FOR ALL COMPLIANCE METHODS

procedures must be accepted by the building official prior to the commencement of the work.

Where the exception of Section 317.2 applies, modifications of existing structural components and additions of new structural components that are initiated for the purpose of improving the seismic performance of an existing structure and that are not required by other portions of this chapter are permitted under the requirements of Section 319.12.