No-policy Scenario Research Articles

The Benefits of a Seismic Retrofit Program for Commercial Unreinforced Masonry Structures: Salt Lake County, Utah

This paper assesses the benefits of a seismic retrofit program for commercial unreinforced masonry structures (CURMs) in Salt Lake County, Utah. A comparative risk assessment embedded in a geographic information systems is the method used. A policy evaluation time horizon of twenty years is set. Future rates of demolition and rehabilitation, with and without a retrofit policy, are assumed. Damage functions for ordinary and retrofitted URMs are used to assess losses having a 10 percent chance of being exceeded over a 50-year exposure period. With a retrofit program, expected losses are reduced by 57 percent or more than a quarter billion dollars when compared to the no-policy scenario. Expected injuries and fatalities are reduced by more than 80 percent. These are minimal benefits expected from enforcement of the seismic provisions of the Uniform Code of Building Conservation.