Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Student Manual

CA Emergency Mgmt. Agency Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Manual April 2011judgment comes from experience in either designing or reviewing designs of such structuralsystems.An “Inspector Comments” section has been added so that important information can be relayedto the building occupant regarding the condition of the building. This placard does not mean thatthe building survived unscathed; it may have some minor damage, such as stucco cracks or othersuch things. The placard means simply that any damage that occurred does not represent ahazard to the occupants. In the “Inspector Comments” section, notes can be made about indicatedrepairs that the building owner should attend to. Anything written in the “Inspector Comments”section on the placard must also be put in the “Comments” section of the evaluation form, so thebuilding department can follow up.A statement warning about the effects of aftershocks was added to the placards. This is meant toalert the building occupant that the building may have to be re-inspected after a major aftershock.Obviously, if the placard is used for a non-earthquake event, such as a flood, the placard‟sreference to aftershocks can be ignored.The placard also has a statement at the bottom warning not to remove the placard unless dulyauthorized by the jurisdiction. This statement can be improved upon with local code citations aspart of the placard‟s adoption by the local government. The official seal of the jurisdiction, andthe building department‟s phone number, can also be added to the placard as part of the officialadoption of the placard. (This holds true for the other two types of placards as well.)Keep in mind that an INSPECTED placard has no use restrictions for the structure other thanwhat is already established by law (a house remains a residence, a business remains a business,etc.). A building with an INSPECTED placard can be occupied, no rooms or doorways should beoff-limits, no safety issues are present. If a structure has problems that move the SAP evaluatorto seek restrictions on its use, the other placards need to be considered.There will occasionally be a local jurisdiction that has been directed by high officials not to tagbuildings that are deemed safe to enter. Please alert Cal EMA if a California jurisdiction hassome sort of directive to that effect. Efforts will be made to correct this from higher up the chainof command. Not only would the public be ill-served, not being sure which homes have beenlooked at, but also SAP evaluators would be unable to tell what buildings have been examined,and could end up re-examining the same buildings, thus wasting precious time and effort. IfSAP evaluators are helping another state through EMAC and are so directed, that is up to thatstate‟s directives; in the Hurricane Katrina response, Louisiana officials only wanted the rapidassessment forms completed.2.5.1.1 Example of the use of the INSPECTED (Green) PlacardFigure 2-21 shows the Imperial County Emergency Operations Center, which was in the affectedarea of the M7.2 Baja Earthquake, which occurred on April 4, 2010. (This earthquake hastechnically been called the El Major – Cucupah Earthquake, but for the sake of brevity will betermed the „Baja Earthquake‟ in this manual.) The Emergency Operations Center is a relativelynew building with a structural design that anticipated strong ground motion. It was also properlydesigned as an „essential facility.‟ The building had no serious damage, and remained in use asthe Emergency Operations Center. It was appropriately tagged INSPECTED.47