FEMA

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): FEMA has jurisdiction over the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, and develops and periodically updates the NEHRP provisions (NEHRP, 2003), a set of recommendations for earthquake-resistant design. That document includes provisions for masonry design. The document is published by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC), which operates under a contract with the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). BSSC is not a consensus organization. Its recommended design provisions are intended for consideration and possible adoption by consensus organizations. The Recommended Provisions (NEHRP, 2003) are the latest of a series of such documents, now issued at 6-year intervals, and pioneered by ATC 3-06, which was issued by the Applied Technology Council in 1978 under contract to the National Bureau of Standards. The 2003 NEHRP Recommended Provisions addresses the broad issue of seismic regulations for buildings. They contain chapters dealing with the determination of seismic loadings on structures, and with the design of masonry structures for those loadings. The role of the NEHRP Provisions is evolving, with the next edition anticipated to reference existing standards (ASCE 7 for Loads, MSJC for Masonry Design, etc.) much more, and to emphasize the development of innovative design and construction suggestions for consensus design and construction standards.