Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Student Manual

CA Emergency Mgmt. Agency Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Manual April 2011It was stated earlier that 114,000 households needed some form of housing assistance. Thesewere households, not structures. For instance, there are multiple households within an apartmentbuilding, but only one residential structure. (The fact that the number of safety assessments andthe number of households needing housing assistance are the same is only a coincidence.)There are structures that are tagged RESTRICTED USE that reasonably might be occupied,while respecting the restrictions. Some residences suffer cripple wall collapse, and normallythey would not be habitable due to the loss of water and sewer connections; but a communitycould allow occupancy under RESTRICTED USE if potable water and portable toilet stationswere provided by the community for those so affected. Other communities will not permit anyoccupancy of homes damaged in this manner, regardless of the resource made available. This isa local government decision, and whatever decision is made by the local Building Official orothers, it must be respected.3.2 Mobile Homes and Manufactured HomesThe installation and alteration of mobile homes or manufactured homes is regulated in Californiaby the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Mobile homes can behazardous after a disaster because of damaged utilities, foundational support systems, oraccessories such as awnings, carports, porches, and room additions.After the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, HCD and the California Building Officials (CALBO)began discussions on how to supplement HCD inspectors in order to ensure that mobile homeswere evaluated properly. An agreement came out of these discussions that grants the localbuilding officials with the authority to evaluate the safety of mobile homes following anearthquake or other disaster. The agreement stipulated that Cal EMA include a section onmobile homes in this training program.A mobile or manufactured home may be looked at more quickly than other types of structures;this is the main difference in evaluating them, as opposed to other residences. The evaluationcriteria is otherwise very similar to that for other single family residences.Damage to mobile homes or manufactured homes falls generally into these basic types:The mobile home is partially or completely fallen off its foundation elements, whetherthese be piers, blocks, or jack standsPiers are penetrating the interior floor deckingMobile home is partially or completely burnedUtilities are damaged and/or turned offWater heater movement has affected the water heater vent and/or gas supplyThe mobile home accessories (decks, awnings, carports, garages, etc.) are destroyed orhazardousAfter the Landers-Big Bear Earthquakes of 1992, requirements for mobile home foundationconstruction were improved such that new construction must create a positive foundationconnection to the ground. This should work to reduce, if not eliminate, much of the damagefrom earthquakes for new construction. However, many units remain grandfathered in their priorconditions and remain at risk.80