{"id":353,"date":"2010-04-17T03:42:47","date_gmt":"2010-04-17T09:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.onecle.com\/?p=353"},"modified":"2015-08-07T00:08:39","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T06:08:39","slug":"warning-unreinforced-masonry-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/17\/warning-unreinforced-masonry-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning: Unreinforced Masonry Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking down Murphy Street in Downtown Sunnyvale, I spotted this warning affixed to the wall of a building:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The warning reads as follows:<\/p>\n

This is an unreinforced masonry building. Unreinforced masonry buildings may be unsafe in the event of a mojor [sic] earthquake.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve walked past many buildings both old and new, but I’ve never seen such a warning sign before. Further down the block, I spotted the same warning again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Interesting. The warning notice cites Assembly Bill 2533. Possibly not a law, but a bill. And, the other important item that was omitted was the all important session during which the bill was introduced because the California Assembly has this practice of reusing Assembly BIll numbers. So, from the most recent AB 2533.<\/p>\n

AB 2533. Introduced February 19, 2010 regarding “health care coverage: quality rating.” Nope.<\/p>\n

AB 2533. Introduced February 21, 2008 regarding “disability access: remedies.” Nope.<\/p>\n

AB 2533. Introduced February 23, 2006 regarding “sales and use taxes: exemption.” Nope.<\/p>\n

AB 2533. Introduced February 20, 2004 regarding “seismic safety.” Bingo!<\/p>\n

\n

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:<\/p>\n

SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
\nfollowing:<\/p>\n

(a) Jennifer Lynn Myrick, known to her friends as Jenna, was
\nkilled by falling debris while fleeing a building in Paso Robles,
\nCalifornia, during the San Simeon earthquake of December 22, 2003.<\/p>\n

(b) The building, known as the Acorn Building or Mastagni
\nBuilding, in which Jenna worked was an 1890s era unreinforced masonry
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n

(c) Section 8875.2 of the Government Code requires local building
\ndepartments to identify all potentially hazardous buildings within
\ntheir respective jurisdictions. The Acorn Building was identified as
\na potentially hazardous building, but had not been retrofitted to
\nmeet widely recognized building codes for earthquake safety.<\/p>\n

(d) The California Seismic Safety Commission reports that, as of
\n2003, 1,413,398 people live in jurisdictions that had not completed
\ntheir inventory of potentially hazardous buildings, and 705,782
\npeople live in jurisdictions with no program to retrofit unreinforced
\nmasonry buildings.<\/p>\n

(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to improve the public’s
\nawareness of potentially hazardous buildings so that occupants and
\npassers-by are better equipped to protect themselves in the event of
\nan earthquake.<\/p>\n

SEC. 2. Section 8875.8 of the Government Code is amended to read:<\/p>\n

8875.8. (a) An owner who has received actual or constructive
\nnotice that a building located in seismic zone 4 is constructed of
\nunreinforced masonry shall post in a conspicuous place at the
\nentrance of the building, on a sign not less than 5 X 7 the following
\nstatement, printed in not less than 30-point bold type:<\/p>\n

“This is an unreinforced masonry building. Unreinforced masonry
\nbuildings may be unsafe in the event of a major earthquake.”<\/p>\n

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), unless the owner of a
\nbuilding subject to subdivision (a) is in compliance with that
\nsubdivision on and after December 31, 2004, an owner who has received
\nactual or constructive notice that a building located in seismic
\nzone 4 is constructed of unreinforced masonry and has not been
\nretrofitted in accordance with an adopted hazardous building
\nordinance or mitigation program shall post in a conspicuous place at
\nthe entrance of the building, on a sign not less than 8 X 10 the
\nfollowing statement, with the first two words printed in 50-point
\nbold type and the remaining words in at least 30-point type:<\/p>\n

“Earthquake Warning. This is an unreinforced masonry building.
\nYou may not be safe inside or near unreinforced masonry buildings
\nduring an earthquake.”<\/p>\n

(c) Notice of the obligation to post a sign, as required by
\nsubdivisions (a) and (b), shall be included in the Commercial
\nProperty Owner’s Guide to Earthquake Safety.<\/p>\n

(d) Every rental or lease agreement entered into after January 1,
\n2005, involving a building subject to the requirements of subdivision
\n(b) shall contain the following statement: This building, which you
\nare renting or leasing, is an unreinforced masonry building.
\nUnreinforced masonry buildings have proven to be unsafe in the event
\nof an earthquake. Owners of unreinforced masonry buildings are
\nrequired to post in a conspicuous place at the entrance of the
\nbuilding, the following statement:<\/p>\n

“Earthquake Warning. This is an unreinforced masonry building.
\nYou may not be safe inside or near an unreinforced masonry building
\nduring an earthquake.”<\/p>\n

(e) An owner who is subject to subdivision (b) and who does not
\ncomply with subdivision (a) may be subject to an administrative fine
\nof two hundred fifty dollars ($250) to be levied by the local
\nbuilding department no sooner than 15 days after the local building
\ndepartment notifies the owner that the owner is subject to the
\nadministrative fine. If the owner does not comply with the
\nrequirements of that subdivision within 30 days of the first
\nadministrative fine, the owner may be subject to an additional
\nadministrative fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000).<\/p>\n

(f) If an owner who is subject to subdivision (b) does not comply
\nwith subdivision (b), any person may bring a civil action for
\ninjunctive relief if all of the following have been met:<\/p>\n

(1) He or she has made a request to an appropriate authority for
\nadministrative enforcement of this section at least 90 days prior to
\nthe action.<\/p>\n

(2) An administrative fine has not been levied since the request
\nwas made pursuant to paragraph (1).<\/p>\n

(3) At least 15 days prior to the filing of the action, the person
\nhas served on each proposed defendant a notice containing the
\nfollowing statement:<\/p>\n

“You are receiving this notice because you are alleged to be in
\nviolation of Section 8875.8 of the Government Code, which requires
\nthat the owner of an unreinforced masonry building post a sign, not
\nless than 8 X 10, in a conspicuous place at the entrance of the
\nbuilding with the following statement, with the first two words
\nprinted in 50-point boldface type and the remaining words in at least
\n30-point type:<\/p>\n

“Earthquake Warning. This is an unreinforced masonry building.
\nYou may not be safe inside or near unreinforced masonry buildings
\nduring an earthquake.<\/p>\n

Failure to post the sign in compliance with subdivision (b) of
\nSection 8875.8 within 15 days of receipt of this notice entitles the
\nsender of the notice to file an action against you in a court of law
\nfor injunctive relief.’ “<\/p>\n

(4) The owner has failed to post the sign in accordance with the
\nrequirements of subdivision (b) within 15 days of receipt of the
\nnotice served pursuant to this subdivision.<\/p>\n

(g) The prohibitions and sanctions imposed pursuant to this
\nsection are in addition to any other prohibitions and sanctions
\nimposed by law. A civil action for injunctive relief pursuant to
\nthis section shall be independent of any other rights and remedies.<\/p>\n

SEC. 3. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Jennifer
\nLynn Myrick Memorial Law.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking down Murphy Street in Downtown Sunnyvale, I spotted this warning affixed to the wall of a building: The warning reads as follows: This is an unreinforced masonry building. Unreinforced masonry buildings may be unsafe in the event of a mojor [sic] earthquake. I’ve walked past many buildings both old and new, but I’ve never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[43,218,219],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.onecle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}