Among the FEMA documents covering the topic of making existing
buildings more resistant to the effects of earthquakes, this volume
occupies a unique position: it is the only one that fulfills a
historical need. When the decision was made to convert the
performance-based Guidelines for the Seismic Rehabilitation of
Buildings, FEMA 273, into a prestandard containing mandatory
language (FEMA 356), there was considerable concern among design
professionals that some of the major characteristics and salient
features of the original document (or indeed its very fabric) would
be adversely affected in the conversion process. This Global Topics
Report is the third in a series of reports chronicling the
development of the FEMA 273 NEHRP Guidelines for the Seismic
Rehabilitation of Buildings into the FEMA 356 Prestandard and
Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings. The purpose
of this report is to provide a narrative discussion and permanent
record of the technical changes made to Guidelines as the document
evolved into the Prestandard. It is the vehicle by which new
technical information was introduced into the Prestandard, as
issues were identified and, when possible, resolved by the
Prestandard Project Team. For completeness, this report also
includes a brief discussion of new concepts introduced to the
engineering profession in the publication of the original FEMA 273
Guidelines and FEMA 274 Commentary documents. As the Guidelines
were used by the industry, questions arose regarding application of
certain procedures, interpretation of some provisions, and results
stemming from portions of the methodology. These questions have
been formulated into statements, termed global issues, and recorded
in this report for reference during the prestandard project and
future revisions of the document. At the time the Guidelines were
published, it was known that additional research was needed to
refine the accuracy and applicability of certain procedures, and
analytical studies were required to test and substantiate certain
new concepts and philosophical themes. Unresolved issues, reported
by BSSC to be present at the time of publication, are incorporated
into this report and identified with the designation 'previously
unresolved' in the classification of the issue. The purpose of
Global Topics Report 1, Identification of Global Issues, dated
April 12, 1999, was to formulate a statement and classify global
issues that had been identified as of the date of the report. The
issues identified in that report were presented and discussed at
the ASCE Standards Committee Meeting on March 3, 1999, in San
Francisco. The discussions resulted in clarifications to some of
the issues, as well as a consensus on the recommended
classification of each issue. Comments from Standards Committee
members were incorporated into the report, and were used by the
Project Team in moving issues toward resolution. Global Topics
Report 2 was published on March 22, 2000. The purpose of the second
report was to formulate statements for new global issues identified
since Global Topics Report 1, and to document resolution of issues
that were incorporated into the Second Draft of the Prestandard.
This third and final Global Topics Report contains new global
issues identified since the publication of the previous two
reports, and final resolutions of previously identified issues. The
appendices to this report contain the results of special focused
studies, which serve as back-up data to the resolution of selected
issues. These studies are referenced in the body of this report,
where applicable, and included in the appendices for future
reference. Upon completion of the Case Studies Project, the final
report FEMA 343 Case Studies: An Assessment of the NEHRP Guidelines
for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings was made available to
the Prestandard Project Team.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!