Bill Would Require Some California Cities to List Seismically Hazardous Buildings
AB 2681 would require the building department of a city or county in seismically vulnerable areas to create an inventory of potentially vulnerable buildings and submit that inventory to the Office of Emergency Services, which would then maintain a statewide inventory.
The California Legislature has passed and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown a bill that would require some cities and counties, those located in California's most seismically vulnerable areas, to create lists of buildings that could be at greater risk of major damage or collapse in earthquakes, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 12.
The newspaper's report said some cities in the state have developed such lists, and some cities have ordered owners to retrofit the buildings to make them safer.
The bill is AB 2681. It would, upon the identification of funding by the Office of Emergency Services, require the building department of a city or county that meets specified requirements to create an inventory of potentially vulnerable buildings and submit that inventory to the office, which would then maintain a statewide inventory, identify funding mechanisms to offset costs to building departments and building owners, and report to the Legislature on the number of potentially vulnerable buildings and the compliance of building departments.
The bill would require the owner of a building identified by a building department as a potentially vulnerable building to retain a licensed professional engineer to identify whether the building meets the definition of a potentially vulnerable building.