(a) On or before January 1, 1993, the Seismic Safety Commission shall develop, adopt, and publish a Commercial Property Owner’s Guide to Earthquake Safety for distribution to licensees for purposes of Section 2079.9 of the Civil Code and, upon request, to any member of the general public.
(b) In developing the guide, the Seismic Safety Commission shall consult with the Office of Emergency Services, the Division of Mines and Geology of the Department of Conservation, the Bureau of Real Estate, and other interested agencies and persons.
(c) The commission shall, to the extent possible, rely on currently available data to develop the guide. To the extent necessary, the commission may contract for the development and production of the guide. The commission shall update the contents of the guide whenever it determines that information within the guide is sufficiently inaccurate or incomplete so as to reduce the effectiveness of the guide. The commission shall charge a fee to cover the costs of production, distribution, development, and updating the guide.
(d) The guide shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Maps and information on geologic and seismic hazard conditions in the state.
(2) Explanations of typical structural and nonstructural earthquake hazards.
(3) Recommendations for mitigating the hazards of an earthquake, including references and explanations of what constitutes “adequate wall anchorage” as defined in Section 8893.1 of the Government Code.
(4) A statement that there are no guarantees of safety or damage prevention that can be made with respect to a major earthquake and that only precautions, such as retrofitting, can be taken to reduce the risk of various types of earthquake damage. For purposes of preparing the statement, the commission shall confer with insurers and design professional associations.
(5) Notice of the obligation to post a sign as required by Section 8875.8 of the Government Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 352, Sec. 19. (AB 1317) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 543 of Ch. 352.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018