Bakersfield is one of California's URM-program cities, with mandatory seismic retrofit requirements for unreinforced masonry bearing-wall buildings codified at BMC Chapter 15.40 (Earthquake Hazard Reduction in Existing URM Bearing Wall Buildings) and administered under BMC Chapter 15.41. The city completed a full URM inventory and reports roughly 85% of identified URM buildings have been brought up to 1993 retrofit standards.
BMC Chapter 15.40 establishes the technical structural requirements for retrofitting URM bearing-wall buildings: wall anchoring to floors and roof, parapet bracing, mortar testing, material requirements (BMC 15.40.040), and detailed systems design (BMC 15.40.070). Administrative procedures, owner notice, and the compliance schedule sit in BMC Chapter 15.41 (Seismic Safety Administration of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings). The program was adopted to comply with California's URM Law (Government Code 8875 et seq.), which required local jurisdictions in Seismic Zone 4 to inventory URMs and adopt a hazard-reduction program. Bakersfield's program has been treated as a model implementation — the Metropolitan Bakersfield General Plan EIR notes the city ran an aggressive retrofit program after 1990 and achieved roughly 85% compliance with 1993 retrofit standards. Owners of buildings still listed on the URM inventory must obtain a building permit, hire a licensed engineer to prepare retrofit drawings under the BMC 15.40 system requirements, and complete construction.
Non-compliance with the retrofit order is enforced through the Building Department and Board of Building Appeals (BMC 15.04.120). Continued non-compliance can lead to substandard-building proceedings, posting of the structure, and eventually orders to vacate or demolish. Permit fees follow the city's master fee schedule for building permits based on valuation of the retrofit work.
Bakersfield, CA
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Bakersfield, CA
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Bakersfield, CA
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Bakersfield, CA
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Bakersfield, CA
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Bakersfield, CA
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See how Bakersfield's unreinforced masonry rules stack up against other locations.
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