SECTIONS 16000-16001 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 16000-16001

16000. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Essential Services Buildings Seismic Safety Act of 1986.

16001. It is the intent of the Legislature that essential services
buildings, which shall be capable of providing essential services to
the public after a disaster, shall be designed and constructed to
minimize fire hazards and to resist, insofar as practical, the forces
generated by earthquakes, gravity, and winds. It is also the intent
of the Legislature that the structural systems and details set forth
in working drawings and specifications be carefully reviewed by the
responsible enforcement agencies using qualified personnel, and that
the construction process be carefully and completely inspected. In
order to accomplish these purposes, the Legislature intends to
provide for the establishment of building standards for earthquake,
gravity, fire, and wind resistance based upon current knowledge, and
intends that procedures for the design and construction of essential
services buildings be subjected to qualified design review and
construction inspection.
It is further the intent of the Legislature that the nonstructural
components vital to the operation of essential services buildings
shall also be able to resist, insofar as practical, the forces
generated by earthquakes, gravity, fire, and winds. The Legislature
recognizes that certain nonstructural components housed in essential
services buildings, including, but not limited to, communications
systems, main transformers and switching equipment, and emergency
backup systems, are essential to facility operations and that these
nonstructural components should be given adequate consideration
during the design and construction process to assure, insofar as
practical, continued operation of the building after a disaster.