1.1 This guide provides guidance on conducting seismic risk assessments for buildings. As such, this guide assists a User to assess a property's potential for losses from earthquake occurrences.
1.1.1 Hazards addressed in this guide include:
1.1.1.1 Earthquake ground shaking,
1.1.1.2 Earthquake-caused site instability, including fault rupture, landslides, soil liquefaction, lateral spreading, and settlement, and
1.1.1.3 Earthquake-caused off-site response impacting the property, including flooding from dam or dike failure, tsunamis, and seiches.
1.1.2 This guide does not address the following:
1.1.2.1 Earthquake-caused fires and toxic materials releases.
1.1.2.2 Federal, state, or local laws and regulations of building construction or maintenance. Users are cautioned that current federal, state, and local laws and regulations may differ from those in effect at the time of the original construction of the building(s).
1.1.2.3 Preservation of life safety.
1.1.2.4 Prevention of building damage.
1.1.2.5 Contractual and legal obligations between prior and subsequent Users of seismic risk assessment reports or between Providers who prepared the report and those who would like to use such prior reports.
1.1.2.6 Contractual and legal obligations between a Provider and a User, and other parties, if any.
1.1.3 It is the responsibility of the User of this guide to establish appropriate life safety and damage prevention practices and determine the applicability of current regulatory limitations prior to use.
1.2 The objectives of this guide are:
1.2.1 To synthesize and document guidelines for seismic risk assessment of buildings;
1.2.2 To encourage standardized seismic risk assessments;
1.2.3 To establish guidelines for field observations of the site and physical conditions, and the document review and research considered appropriate, practical, sufficient, and reasonable for seismic risk assessment;
1.2.4 To establish guidelines on what reasonably can be expected of and delivered by a Provider in conducting the seismic risk assessment of buildings; and
1.2.5 To establish guidelines by which a Provider can communicate to the User observations, opinions, and conclusions in a manner that is meaningful and not misleading either by content or by omission.
