Earthquake Protection of Non-Structural Elements in Buildings
Role of Consultants, Contractors & Manufacturers
Responsibilities of Consultants
- Write a project specific technical specification that references seismic codes such as IBC, ASCE-7 and clearly defines project requirements.
- Schedule or specify the ‘Ip’ for each individual piece of equipment and/or system.
- Require the contractors to submit on restraints and necessary calculation or ALL projects that require it.
Responsibilities of Contractors
- Install the Seismic Restraints as per the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
- Ask questions when unsure about any installations.
- Only use products provided by the manufacturer or have products approved by manufacturers’ professional engineer.
Responsibilities of Manufacturers
- Test products to ensure they can withstand the seismic forces.
- Follow the relevant code for all seismic calculations.
- Provide instructions and support for contractors for correct installations.
Summary
Rising costs of Non-Structural Elements in building projects have made it imperative to give due attention to earthquake protection of NSE’s. This blog series is an attempt to spread awareness on the topic and to emphasise the importance of keeping Seismic protection in mind while designing buildings.
The overall earthquake performance of a building largely depends first on the earthquake performance of Structural Elements, and then on that of Non-Structural Elements. Desirable seismic performance of NSEs cannot be ensured if their connections to SE’s is not strong enough and/or the SE’s perform well during earthquake shaking. Therefore, it is imperative that adequate design strategies and suitable preventive measures are taken to reduce, if not eliminate, the likelihood of damage to both Structural as well as Non-Structural Elements in buildings.
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