BRIEF

Policy Summary

Berkeley Lab requires design and construction of new buildings and other facilities on Laboratory or University of California premises to comply with current seismic provisions of the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 24, California Building Standards Code; or local seismic requirements, whichever requirements are more stringent.

New Laboratory buildings must not be constructed on the trace of an active geological fault. Preliminary plans for new major capital improvement projects (except pre-engineered buildings, wood-framed buildings of less than 3,000 square feet, and buildings not intended for human occupancy other than hospitals) proposed for construction must be examined by the consulting structural engineer, who will prepare recommendations regarding any special criteria that should be recognized in providing adequate resistance to seismic forces to minimize the risk of injury to persons and damage to property. Upon completion of the final plans, the consulting structural engineer will review the plans and structural calculations for completeness, general accuracy, structural details, and compliance with any special criteria previously established. Should seismic design standards be revised during the period between completion of final plans and the date of advertisement for bids, the consulting structural engineer will again review the plans and structural calculations before advertising for bids. The design structural engineer will incorporate all comments into the plans prior to bidding.

Who Should Read This Policy

Architects and structural engineers who work for the Capital Projects Department of the Facilities Division

To Read the Full Policy, Go To:

The POLICY tab on this wiki page

Contact Information

Structural Engineer
Facilities Division

POLICY

A. Purpose

To provide an acceptable level of seismic safety for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) employees and affiliates who occupy buildings and other facilities on Laboratory or University of California premises to the maximum extent feasible by current structural engineering practice

B. Persons Affected

This policy applies to Laboratory project managers and subcontracted architects and structural engineers who work for the Facilities Division.

C. Exceptions

This policy is optional and at the discretion of the Laboratory Building Official for one- and two-story wood-framed buildings of less than 3,000 square feet, buildings not intended for human occupancy, hospitals under the jurisdiction of the State of California Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development, and small projects that the Laboratory Building Official determines do not involve structural work requiring design by a consulting engineer.

D. Policy Statement

1. Code Compliance: Berkeley Lab requires design and construction of capital projects for new buildings and other facilities and major modifications of existing buildings on Laboratory or University of California premises to comply with current seismic provisions of the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 24, California Building Standards Code; or local seismic requirements, whichever requirements are more stringent.
2. Consulting Structural Engineer Review
   1. Preliminary plans for new major capital improvement projects proposed for construction must be examined by the consulting structural engineer, who will prepare recommendations regarding any special criteria that should be recognized in providing adequate resistance to seismic forces to minimize the risk of injury to persons and damage to property.
   2. Final plans and structural calculations must be reviewed by the consulting structural engineer for completeness, general accuracy, structural details, and compliance with any special criteria previously established. Should seismic design standards be revised during the period between completion of final plans and the date of advertisement for bids, the consulting structural engineer will again review the plans and structural calculations before advertising for bids.
3. New Building Location: New buildings must not be constructed on the trace of an active geologic fault.
4. Approval of Variations from Policy: Unless this policy explicitly and specifically authorizes an action, the action is considered to be a variation from the policy and must be approved in advance by the Laboratory Director.

E. Roles and Responsibilities

F. Definitions/Acronyms

G. Recordkeeping Requirements

Project documents related to compliance with this policy shall be retained in the project files and archived.

H. Implementing Documents

I. Contact Information

Structural Engineer
Facilities Division

Revision History

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

Source Requirements Documents

• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 413.3A, Program and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets.
• DOE Order 420.1B, Chg. 1, Facility Safety, CRD, Chapter IV, Section 3, Natural Phenomena Hazard Mitigation
• DOE Guide 420.1-2, Guide for the Mitigation of Natural Phenomena Hazards for DOE Nuclear and Nonnuclear Facilities
• Executive Order 12941, Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings

Implementing Documents