Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 1 of 21

Building Inspections

Seismic Upgrading: Guide for Engineers

Overview: This guide provides an outline of Building Inspections’ expectations for an Engineer’s report addressing seismic upgrading of a building. The requirement for evaluation and upgrading, if necessary, of existing buildings is triggered by a change of occupancy under the current BC Building Code.

November 2001, City of Nanaimo Council adopted the National Research Council’s “Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings” as its minimum standard for evaluation and upgrading of existing buildings. The National Building Code 2005 and 2010 User’s Guide Structural Commentaries (Part 4 of Division B), Commentary L, Earthquakes, recommends the use of this guideline for upgrading of existing buildings.

The “Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings” is a technical manual that guides engineers in evaluating existing buildings to determine potential hazards and to identify building components that present an unacceptable risk to human life. The objective of the Guideline, and the City’s policy, is the protection of human life.

The evaluation consists of two phases. The first phase is an initial quick evaluation of the building and building plans and completion of the Evaluation Statements in the Guideline. The Evaluation Statements are a set of statements, to be answered “true”or “false” by the engineer, designed to uncover flaws or weaknesses in the building. The result is a list of possible deficiencies. The second phase is a site investigation and detailed analysis to determine whether the “false” statements are real deficiencies. The engineer must then assemble and review the results and present the final evaluation to the owner and Building Inspections.

The final evaluation report must include:

1. A description of the building using similar data to the document titled “Data Summary Sheet” (Guideline’s Appendix D), with considerations to the current BC Building Code, Part 4 Structural Design.

2. A copy of the Evaluation Statements (Guideline’s Appendix C) marked “true” or “false”, with considerations to the current BC Building Code, Part 4 Structural Design and a synopsis of the investigation.

3. A list of deficiencies that must be remedied in order to change the “false” statements to “true”.

The Guidelines for Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings can be printed from the National Research Council Canada Archives web site.

Phone: 1-877-672-2672

Fax: 1-613-952-9907

Web page: http://archive.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/irc/publications/index.html

If you have any questions or require clarification, please contact a commercial plans reviewer at our office at 250-755-4429. Additional guides and forms can be found on the City of Nanaimo web site www.nanaimo.ca under Building Inspections, Publications and Forms, or at our office at 411 Dunsmuir Street. This guideline should not be used as a substitute for existing building codes and other regulations. The building owner is responsible for compliance with all codes, bylaws, and other regulations whether or not described in this guideline.

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 2 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 3 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 4 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 5 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 6 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 7 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 8 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 9 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 10 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 11 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 12 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 13 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 14 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 15 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 16 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 17 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 18 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 19 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 20 of 21

Revised: 2013-Jun-11 City of Nanaimo Guidelines G:\DSDSystem\Handouts\Building\Geotechnical_Seismic\SeismicUpgradingGuideForEngineers.docx Page 21 of 21