Hayward Municipal Code Art. 7 Mandatory Seismic Screening of Certain Residential Buildings

Footnotes:

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Note— (Added by Ordinance 19-14, adopted July 2, 2019)

This article shall be known as "Mandatory Seismic Screening of Certain Residential Buildings," may be cited as such, and will be referred to herein as "this article."

This article is intended to promote public safety and welfare through a program of mandatory seismic screening of certain residential buildings. The program is intended to identify certain buildings vulnerable to earthquake damage and collapse.

This article shall apply to buildings constructed or permitted for construction before January 1, 1978 or designed based on an adopted version of the 1976 or earlier edition of the Uniform Building Code and that contain three or more dwelling units.

Within 90 days of the effective date of this article, the building official shall send a written notice to the owner or owners of each known subject building informing the owner of the requirement to comply with this article.

Failure of the building official to send or provide a written notice to unidentified owners of subject buildings or to owners of buildings not known to be subject buildings shall not relieve the owner of a subject building from the requirement to comply with this article. Failure of an owner to receive a written notice shall not relieve the owner of a subject building from the requirement to comply with this article.

Unless specifically noted, all work intended to comply with this article and related to the structural attributes of a subject building shall be performed by appropriately licensed individuals, and all documents submitted for compliance and related to the structural attributes of a subject building shall be sealed by a California-licensed architect or civil engineer.

The building official is authorized to develop, distribute, and require the use of certain forms, templates, and other tools as needed to facilitate compliance, review, approval, and records maintenance contemplated by this article.

The building official is responsible for the administration of this article and is authorized to develop and require compliance with one or more technical bulletins and/or administrative regulations containing interpretations, clarifications, and commentary to facilitate implementation of the engineering criteria and other requirements set forth in this article.

The building official shall retain an official copy of any approved materials submitted to comply with this article.

The building official shall maintain a listing of buildings subject to this article and shall make that listing readily accessible to the public.

The owner of each parcel containing a subject building shall submit a screening document following procedures to be prescribed by the building official. At a minimum, the document shall confirm that the building either does or does not have a wood frame target story. The building official is authorized to require the submittal of additional information regarding the subject building or other buildings on the same parcel to confirm or supplement the City's inventory and to support future mitigation planning.

Each parcel containing a subject building shall be assigned to a compliance tier as follows.

Tier 1. Parcels containing at least one subject building with five or more dwelling units.

Tier 2. Parcels not assigned to Tier 1.

The owner of a parcel assigned to Tier 1 shall submit the screening document within 12 months of the notification deadline. The owner of a parcel assigned to Tier 2 shall submit the screening document with 18 months of the notification deadline. In no case shall transfer of title cause any deadline to be extended.

In addition to or in place of definitions given elsewhere in the Hayward Building Code, the following definitions shall apply for purposes of this article.

Dwelling unit. A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation; or any individual residential unit in a building with R-1 or R-2 occupancy; or any guestroom, with or without a kitchen, in either a tourist or residential hotel or motel. Any unit occupied as a dwelling unit, whether approved or not approved for such use, shall be counted as a dwelling unit.

Target story. Either (1) a basement story or underfloor area that extends above grade at any point or (2) any story above grade, where the wall configuration of such basement, underfloor area, or story is substantially more vulnerable to earthquake damage than the wall configuration of the story above; except that a story is not a target story if it is the topmost story or if the difference in vulnerability is primarily due to the story above being a penthouse, or an attic with a pitched roof.

Wood frame target story. A wood frame target story means a target story in which a significant portion of lateral or torsional story strength or story stiffness is provided by wood frame walls.

An evaluation satisfying the criteria set forth in this section shall be allowed as a means of demonstrating that a subject building does not have a wood frame target story. If the evaluation is completed after the screening deadline, the owner may submit a revised screening document.

Any of the following criteria, as applicable and as interpreted by the building official, may be used to satisfy the intent of Section 9-7.400.10. The evaluation criteria need only be applied to the existing elements along a load path between the foundation and the diaphragm at the top of the uppermost wood frame target story, inclusive.

A. ASCE 41. The latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings [ASCE/SEI 41], with a performance objective of Structural Life Safety in the BSE-1E hazard.

B. FEMA P-807. The latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Multi-Unit Wood-Frame Buildings With Weak First Stories [FEMA P-807] with a performance objective and detailed provisions as provided by the building official.

C. CEBC Appendix Chapter A4. For evaluation of retrofits designed after January 1, 2000, the latest edition of Appendix Chapter A4 of the California Existing Building Code.

A retrofit satisfying the criteria set forth in this section shall be allowed as a means of eliminating an existing wood frame target story and as a means of demonstrating eligibility for such incentives as the City of Hayward may offer. If the retrofit is completed after the screening deadline, the owner may submit a revised screening document.

No subject building for which retrofit work is completed in compliance with this section shall be required by the City of Hayward to undergo additional seismic retrofit of its seismic force-resisting system within a period of 15 years after the effective date of this chapter, except that any provisions in the Hayward Building Code related to addition, alteration, repair, or change of occupancy shall still apply. Any additional seismic retrofit requirements waived by this provision during the conformance period shall apply at the end of the conformance period, with schedule adjustments to be determined by the building official.

Any of the following criteria, as applicable and as interpreted by the building official, may be used to satisfy the intent of Section 9-7.500.10. The retrofit criteria need only be applied to the existing elements along a load path between the foundation and the diaphragm at the top of the uppermost wood frame target story, inclusive.

A. ASCE 41. The latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings [ASCE/SEI 41], with a performance objective of Structural Life Safety in the BSE-1E hazard.

B. FEMA P-807. The latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Multi-Unit Wood-Frame Buildings With Weak First Stories [FEMA P-807] with a performance objective and detailed provisions as provided by the building official.

C. CEBC Appendix Chapter A4. The latest edition of Appendix Chapter A4 of the California Existing Building Code.

D. CHBC. For a subject building qualified as an historical resource in accordance with Chapter 10 Article 11 of this code, the latest edition of the California Historical Building Code, with CEBC Appendix Chapter A4 taken as the regular code.