The Annual Meeting of the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) took place December 3-5, 1997, in Denver. I was able to be present for the first two days of this meeting as the SEAOSC Representative.

The meeting was particularly important due to the recent completion of a couple of major milestones for this FEMA-funded body which is comprised of about 75 member organizations, SEAOSC being one of them along with SEAOC and the other three regional SEAOC organizations.

The two milestones were the finalization and publishing of the NEHRP Provisions for New Buildings (FEMA 302/303, available in March, 1998) and the NEHRP Provisions for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings (FEMA 273 a.k.a. ATC 33, available any day now). SEAOSC and its sister organizations made a tremendous effort in reviewing and balloting each of these milestone publications, and I believe we made a major difference for the better in the end product. Much credit goes to the Seismology and Existing Buildings Committees for that effort. The BSSC Annual meeting focused mainly on those two FEMA documents.

The BSSC Board of Directors is chaired by one of our fellow SEAOSC members, Eugene Zeller from the City of Long Beach. The meeting was chaired by Charles Thornton of Thornton-Tomasetti, New York, the SEOR for the world’s tallest buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. The first part of the meeting dealt with the NEHRP Provisions for New Buildings. As we all know by now, these provisions are being used by the ICC as the basis document to develop the seismic design provisions for the upcoming International Building Code (IBC) 2000. The IBC is out in "First Draft" form and will undergo hearings in April of this year. SEAOSC Seismology Committee, in coordination with our SEAOC parent committee, has played and continues to play a significant role in influencing the content and shape of the IBC seismic design regulations.

We were informed that the NEHRP Provisions will continue to be updated and published on the same three-year cycle as before. This is to ensure that state-of-the-art information on seismic design for new buildings continues to be available in a broad-based document that is expected to continue as the resource document for the IBC. The Code Resource Development Committee (CRDC), which was commissioned by FEMA/BSSC to assist in developing the code language for the seismic design sections of the IBC 2000, will also continue to function, but under a different name. SEAOC has significant presence and influence on this committee. Major changes in the new NEHRP Provisions include wood LRFD design, masonry design changes, adoption of AISC Seismic Provisions for steel and a new chapter on non-building structures.

So what’s on the charts for NEHRP 2000? Well among other things, new and improved seismic maps, simplified design methods, prescriptive design for residential/small construction, new and better (and hopefully fewer!!) R values, research results on concrete anchor bolt design values, SAC results for welded SMRFs, performance-based engineering (the big, bad PBE!), energy dissipation design guidelines, case studies and examples, etc. There is ample opportunity here to influence the shape of things to come in the NEHRP 2000 if one has an interest and background in any of the mentioned topics.

As far as the other big milestone discussed at the BSSC meeting, i.e. the FEMA 273/274 guidelines for seismic rehabilitation, the document is finally done after six long years of effort. Presently there are no announced plans for an update effort for these provisions, but it is only natural to expect that improvements and enhancements will be made time to time as the guidelines become a bigger part of the large seismic rehab industry.

Last but not least, please participate in the activities of your SEAOSC technical committees. Looking at what’s on our plate at the SEAOSC Seismology Committee, I can say that if you want to be a part of the exciting future of seismic code development as it progresses like never before in history, call us and join you favorite subcommittee. You will be glad you did.

Los Angeles Dinner Meeting

Location: Luminarias Restaurant, 3500 Ramona Blvd., Monterey Park

Time: Social hour: 5:30 p.m. Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Program: 8 p.m.

Cost: $22 (Full-time undergraduate students: $10)

Location: Costa Mesa Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Dr., Costa Mesa

Time: Social hour: 5:30 p.m. Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Program: 7:30 p.m.

Menu: Buffet

Cost: $22 (Full-time undergraduate students: $10)

The SEAOSC Masonry Subcommittee of the Seismology Committee is hosting a two-hour seminar on masonry as it pertains to seismic design provisions from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4 prior to the regular dinner meeting. Mark Lowe, S.E., of Barry Levin & Associates, Irvine, will be the speaker of this, the third seminar in the Seismic Design Series. Cost pre-registered is $20 for members, $25 for non-members and $10 for students. Add $5 if paying at the door. Save $7 by prepaying via fax or phone. $35 for both the seminar and the dinner meeting/speaker. See insert for registration form and details.

The SEAOC Board of Directors voted at their Jan. 24, 1998 meeting to raise the SEAOC portion of membership dues of full members $10 in fiscal year 1998-99. The increase was needed in order to avoid an impending financial crisis in fiscal year 2000-2001 when Association revenues drastically decline because the special SAC Project will terminate. The increase will be seen on the next invoice statement that will be mailed to members in June of this year. The dues of other membership categories will increase proportionally.

The SEAOSC portion of members’ dues will not increase. Membership dues for the various categories of membership for July 1, 1998 – June 30, 1999 will be:

Member SE, Member, Industry Member and Corresponding Member: $195

Affiliate Member: $156

Associate Member: $97.50

Life Member: $48.75

Students: Unchanged at $27 since they pay only local dues.

In fiscal year 1999-2000, another membership dues increase is possible unless more revenue can be found from new special projects.

Mark your calendar now to attend the 1998 SEAOC Convention, which will be held Oct. 8 - 11 at the Nugget Hotel in Sparks, NV. This convention will be hosted by SEAOCC (Central California), which should be contacted at 916-965-1536 for further information.

Browning, Noel H., Industry Member, Noel H. Browning Design, 1153 Ruberta Ave., Glendale, CA 91201; 818-246-4186.

Commerford, Daniel M., Affiliate Member, Commerford Inspections, 18031 Debi Lane, Yorba Linda, CA 92886; 714-986-0802.

Eckert, Chris, Industry Member, ITW Ramset/RedHead, 2500 Ashmore Cir., Ste. 12, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362; 805-241-4177.

Ganapathi, Kris, Member, Radco, 3220 E. 59^th St., Long Beach, CA 90805; 562-272-7231.

Johnson, Charles A. Jr., Member SE, Self, P.O. Boxd 6284, Garden Grove, CA 92846; 714-898-6180.

Joneja, Ralinder S., Member SE, Akal Engineers, 15855 E. Edna Pl., Ste. 11-B, Irwindale, CA 91706; no phone number given.

Kardjian, Vahe, Member, KCE Matrix, 1648 W. Glenoaks blvd., Glendale, CA 91201; 818-500-0355.

Krishnan, Swaminathan, Associate Member, Ove Arup & Partners, 2440 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Ste. 180, Los Angeles, CA 90064; 310-312-5040.

Moyer, Abraham, Associate Member, Khatri & Associates, 750 E. Green St., Ste. 307L, Pasadena, CA 91101; 626-792-7906.

Murdock, Brian, Member, Nabih Youssef & Associates, 800 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 510, Los Angeles, CA 90017; 213-362-0707.

Shrestha, Ganesh P., Member, Athalye Consulting Engineers, 23461 S. Pointe Dr., Ste. 110, Laguna Hills, CA 92653; 714-837-6749.

Stroud, Joseph, Member, T. J. Cross Engineers Inc., 200 New Stine Rd., Ste. 270, Bakersfield, CA 93309; 805-831-8782.

Tan, Choon Hong, Corresponding Member, The Stellar Group, 2900 Hartley Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32257; 904-260-2900.

Tapia, Max Sr., Industry Member, Dorea Construction Inc., 16760 Gridley Rd., Cerritos, CA 90703; 562-467-0720.

The SEAOSC House Committee provides volunteers to sell dinner and raffle tickets at monthly dinner meetings in Monterrey Park as well as help at mini and macro seminars. The House Committee would like to have access to more than its present two regular volunteers to call upon when needed. Contact the SEAOSC office if you can help. Volunteers receive free admission to the event at which they are volunteering.

The SEAOSC Inspection Practices Committee will meet at noon, March 10 for a "Lunch and Crunch" meeting at the SEAOSC office in Whittier. The committee is currently conducting a study and evaluation of the Special/Deputy Inspection programs and personnel qualifications for each of the municipalities within our region. Join us for lunch and participate.

Attention all SEAOSC members concerned about quality in the constructed product!

Please plan to attend the Quality Assurance Subcommittee being organized as a subcommittee to the SEAOSC Existing Buildings Committee. Member participation and input into the initial quality issues (subcommittees) of Structural Observation (Dave Taubman), Construction Documents (Steve Cooke and Vahe Petrossian) Material Specifications (Doc Nghiem), Inspection Practices (Sandy Pringle), and Contractor Advisory (to be named).

Meetings will be held the second Tuesday of each month: Feb. 10, March 10, April 14, May 12, etc. from 3 to 4 p.m. at the SEAOSC office.

Mar. 3 3 p.m. Earthquake Dmg. Asmt. SEAOSC Office

Mar. 4 2 p.m. SEAOSC Board Mtg. Luminarias Restaurant, Monterey Park

3:30 p.m. Seismic Design Seminar Luminarias Restaurant, Monterey Park

5:30 p.m. L.A. Dinner Meeting Luminarias Restaurant, Monterey Park

Mar. 10 Noon Inspection Practices SEAOSC Office

3 p.m. Quality Assurance Com. SEAOSC Office

4 p.m. Existing Buildings Com. SEAOSC Office

Mar. 11 5:30 p.m. Orange County Dinner Mtg. Costa Mesa Country Club

Mar. 18 Noon Construction Quality Assurance SEAOSC Office

Mar. 19 3 p.m. Testing Standards Com. SEAOSC Office

The meeting dates for the Orange County dinner meetings have been changed from the first Thursday to the second Wednesday of the month. The following dates are scheduled for the remainder of the 1997-98 season:

Mar. 11, 1998

May 13, 1998

The Orange County meeting is held at the Costa Mesa Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Dr., Costa Mesa. For more information, please refer to the orange flyer in this NEWSletter.

By Robert Sonntag, Chair

The Light Frame Subcommittee, originally called the Structural Methods Subcommittee, originated in 1992 to investigate methods of earthquake mitigation of particular kinds of structures, and other studies as needed. Their first task was to investigate the retrofit of existing residential foundations. To this end we made primary contributions to the development of the strengthening provisions for foundations for these buildings (ref: UCBC Appendix Chapter 6, "…Strengthening of…Light Wood Frame, Residential Buildings"). We also made studies and recommendations on plaster repair, concrete epoxy repair, hillside buildings, shear walls, and other much needed areas. Many dedicated engineers within the SEAOSC organization made contributions.

Most recently we have formed a study group to study and make recommendations on the new City of Los Angeles Ordinance (Division 93) "Voluntary Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing Wood Frame Residential Buildings with Woft, Weak or Open Front Walls", the so-called soft-story ordinance. Continued work will be on-going and we hope to participate in a seminar in the near future.

Keith Martin has agreed to serve as vice-chair of this group; any engineers interested in participation may call Keith (310-316-7616) or Robert Sonntag (626-793-5848) for more information.

The SEAOSC Nominating Committee, chaired by Senior Past President Rick Ranous, has announced the following nominations:

Graeme Dick, Saif Hussain, Les Tso, and one as yet unnamed person for two member SE positions on the Board of Directors; one as yet unnamed person for Board Treasurer; Shirin Ader, Hassan Sassi and Shafat Qazi for one Member position on the Board; William Nelson and Steen Thomsen for one Member SE from Orange County position on the Board and Fred Schott for one Member SE from the Tri-Counties area (Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties) position on the Board.

Additional nominees may be submitted by the membership per the procedures outlined in the SEAOSC Bylaws Article VI, Section 2. For more information, contact Don Gilbert at the SEAOSC office.

There has been significant amount of retrofit work performedrecently using fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) materials to strengthen existing concrete and masonry elements. A new subcommittee of the SEAOSC Existing Buildings Committee is being formed to focus on developing recommendations and guidelines for the retrofit design of concrete and masonry structural members using FRC materials.

SEAOSC members interested in joining the new subcommittee should contact Rami Elhassan, chair of the new subcommittee, at 310-998-9154.

Robert Englekirk Engineers, Inc.’s Orange County and Los Angeles offices seek engineers with M.S. degrees in structures. Three years design of concrete, steel, and seismic systems preferred. Send resume to 17811 Fitch St., Irvine, CA 92614, attention: Mel Martin or to 2116 Arlington Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90018, attention: Alan Shiosaki.

KNA Consulting Engineers Inc. seeks motivated individual with minimum three years architectural/engineering experience in design of buildings. Excellent communication, computer and technical skills and P.E. required. Types of projects include schools, hospitals, and institutional buildings. Fax cover letter with resume to 714-462-3201. No calls please.

Engineered wood products company has an opening for an entry level inside sales representative in Chino. CADD knowledge and/or B.S.C.E. preferred. No sales experience required. Send resume to Trus Joist MacMillan-NA, P.O. Box 786, Chino, CA 91710.

Engineered wood products company has an opening for an engineering manager who would also act as an inside sales manager in Chino. B.S.C.E. and P.E. required. Send resume to Trus Joist MacMillan-NA, P.O. Box 786, Chino, CA 91710.

Structural engineering firm seeks licensed engineers with five to seven years new building/ seismic retrofit experience with proven communication and computer skills. M.S./S.E. preferred. Fax resume and salary history to Nabih Youssef & Associates, 213-688-3099.

Culp & Tanner, Inc. seeks structural engineer for its Orange County office. Five years experience in project management of major commercial building structures. Send resume to 23686 Birtcher Dr., Lake Forest, CA 922630; or fax to 714-951-0902, attention: Tom Culp.

148 square foot private office space available. $350 plus share of utilities. Part of 1030 square foot suite with bathroom, lobby and conference area. Ideal for architect, engineer or other sole practitioner. Located in gated Reseda Business Park. Contact Rod Wray, AIA, at 818-708-9395.

KCE Matrix, Inc., seeks a structural design engineer with minimum of five years experience in new building design, seismic strengthening and renovation of commercial and residential projects. M.S. and California P.E. required. Excellent communication skills required. Send resume to 1648 W. Glenoaks, Ste. 102, Glendale, CA 91201 or fax 818-500-8580.

Grossman & Speer Associates of Glendale, Calif., is expanding. We are interested in engineers at all levels with a minimum of C.E. license and good communication skills. Please, no calls. Fax resume to 818-507-1556.

Degenkolb Engineers seeks structural design engineers. Requirements: M.S.S.E., four-10 years experience in structural/seismic analysis, design of buildings, and C.E. license. Must have excellent verbal and writing skills and an interest in working in a technically challenging environment. Resume with references, letter to 12100 Wilshire, Ste. 480, Los Angeles, CA 90025.

Pacific Response Inc., a fast-growing company, has immediate openings for qualified engineers (P.E. or M.S. preferred) and CADD personnel in building design and seismic retrofit. Benefits package offered. Fax resume with salary history to 626-744-9784, attention: Sandra.