- Author
-
Todd, D. R.
- Title
- Seismic Safety of Federal Buildings - Initial Program: How Much Will It Cost?
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Sponsor
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NISTIR 5419,
April 1994,
30 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
seismic safety
|
federal buildings
|
costs
|
standards
|
rehabilitation
- Abstract
- This paper provides information on the approximate cost impacts that would arise from implementing an initial program aimed at laying the foundation for achieving the long-term goal of seismic safety in all Federal buildings. The initial program is set forth in a proposed Executive Order titled "Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings." Information from documents published by the General Accounting Office, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology were combined with self-reported seismic evaluation and rehabilitation experiences by agencies that have ongoing programs to develop an estimate of the cost of implementation. The proposed order adopts "Standards of Seismic Safety for Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings" as the minimum level for Federal use, and makes mandatory seismic evaluation and, if necessary, rehabilitation under certain conditions, which are identified in the Standards. It is estimated that this requirement would result in about $5.3 million per year in recurring annual costs, spread across all agencies of the Federal government, to evaluate and seismically rehabilitate buildings that would not otherwise be addressed. The proposed Executive Order also directs all Federal departments and agencies to, within four years of signing, develop an inventory of their owned and leased buildings, and to estimate the cost of mitigating unacceptable seismic risks in their buildings. Costs to develop the required inventory and cost estimate are expected to be about $116 million, spread across all Federal agencies and over six years.