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FEBRUARY 2002
28
Structural
Engineer
John R. Henry, P.E.
PART ONE OF SI X
CODE SERIES
ith the merger of the three model code
organizations quickly approaching, efforts are being
made to educate structural engineers about the intricacies
of the International Building Code. Structural Engineer is taking
the lead by presenting a unique series of technical articles that
cover important issues and procedures to assist you as you face new
design challenges with a new code. To exemplify the three model
code organizations dedication to working together, each organiza-
tion will be involved in reviewing and writing the articles.
W
Introduction
In the 1920s, scientists first began to recog-
nize that earthquake events tended to occur in
specific, narrow zones. To address these find-
ings, building code provisions for seismic
design in the United States began with the
1927 edition of the International Conference
of Building Officials (ICBO) Uniform Build-
ing Code (UBC), which stated, The follow-
ing provisions are suggested for inclusion in
the Code by cities located within an area sub-
ject to earthquake shocks. However, the obvi-
ous question arose as to what specific areas
were subject to earthquake shocks.
As the question was addressed, seismic
zones were born. The 1935 edition of the UBC
included a map showing zones of approxi-
mately equal seismic probability. The zones
were believed to have similar probabilities of
seismic activity and were assigned a lateral
force constant C based on the specific zone.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), the term seismic zone means a
region in which earthquakes are known to
occur. The National Earthquake Information
Centers glossary of common seismology
terms states that seismic zones are a region on
a map in which a common level of seismic
design is required.
During the 60-year period between the dev-
astating, 1933 Long Beach earthquake (which
had a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale)
and the most recent, 1994 Northridge earth-
quake (with a magnitude of 6.7), a series of
earthquakes occurred in California that pro-
foundly influenced the evolution of the UBCs
seismic design provisions.
As such, both the purpose and role of seis-
mic zones evolved between the publication of
the 1935 UBC edition and the 1997 edition.
In earlier codes, seismic zones grouped geo-
graphical regions, which were thought to have
similar seismicity. In later editions of the
UBC, seismic zones were not only used to
delineate regions of similar seismic potential;
they were used also as a mechanism to impose
a host of design requirements, structural limi-
tations, and a variety of material-specific
detailing requirements. In most cases, addi-
tional zone-specific design and detailing
requirements and structural limitations were
only imposed on buildings located in seismic
zones 3 and 4, which are the zones of highest
seismic risk. Most of these additional require-
ments and restrictions were incorporated into
the code based on lessons learned from actual
earthquake events.
FEBRUARY 2002
29
Structural
Engineer
quate for establishing design ground motion.
The fact is that seismic zones are obsolete and
are being replaced by maps with contours that
represent ground motion. Ironically, the UBC
seismic zones originated from 1976 contour
maps that were converted to zones.
In addition, according to the USGS, the
UBC seismic zone boundaries were influenced
periodically by political processes, causing
changes such as the elimination of zone 2 in
central California, the removal of zone 1 in
eastern Washington and Oregon, the addition
of zone 3 in western Washington and Oregon,
and the addition of zone 2 in southern
Arizona.
The members of the International Code
Council (ICC), which is composed of the
three model code organizations, including
the ICBO, Building Officials and Code
Administrators International (BOCA), and
Southern Building Code Congress Internation-
al (SBCCI), have cooperated to produce the
first International Building Code (IBC),
2000 edition. Unlike the seismic provisions of
the UBC, which were based primarily on the
Recommended Lateral Force
Requirements and Commen-
tary of the Structural Engineers
Association of California
(SEAOC) Blue Book, the IBCs seismic design
provisions are based primarily on the National
Earthquake Hazard Reduction Programs
(NEHRP) Recommended Provisions for
Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and
Other Structures of the Building Seismic
Safety Council (BSSC), together with many
modifications resulting from the ICC code
development process.
A significant difference between the UBC
and IBC seismic design provisions is that the
IBC does not use seismic zones to establish
design earthquake ground motion or to
impose additional design requirements and
structural limitations. For site ground motion,
the IBC uses contours representing mapped
maximum considered earthquake spectral
response acceleration at short periods (0.2
seconds), known as S
S
contours, and at one
second periods, known as S
1
contours. These
values are obtained from maps provided in
An important aspect of these additional
requirements is that they are not occupancy
related. An additional margin of strength is
provided theoretically in the UBC by designing
for higher force levels resulting from the appli-
cation of the Importance Factor, which appears
in the base shear equations.
Of importance as well is that the additional
requirements were not site soil related before
the 1997 UBC. Although soil at the building
site played a role in the lateral force calcula-
tions, the site soil was not zone related and
only affected lateral forces by virtue of the base
shear equation. With the 1997 UBC, the site
soil effects are zone related, as shown in UBC
Tables 16-Q and 16-R (not provided here), but
the additional design provisions, detailing
requirements, and structural limitations only
relate to seismic zones.
2000 IBC Seismic
Design Category
Although the 1997 UBC includes new
enhancements, such as site soil and near source
effects, the existing seismic zones are inade-
Table 1: UBC Seismic Zone versus IBC Seismic Design Category
Site class (soil profile)
UBC
seismic
zone
Location
Seismic use group
E D C B A
III II I III II I III II I III II I III II I
* * *
D D D
F E E F E E F E E F E E 4
* * *
D D D D D D D D D D D D 4
D D D D D D D C C C B B 3
West Los Angeles
San Francisco
Sacramento, Calif.
* * *
D D D D D D D D D D D D 3 Seattle
D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D 3 Portland, Ore.
D D D D C C C B B C B B C B B 2A Boston
A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 St. Paul, Minn.
A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A 0 Houston
A A A A A B B C B B C C C D A 0 Chicago
D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D 3 Memphis, Tenn.
D D D D C C D C C C B B C B B 2A New York
* Site specific geotechnical analysis required.
PART ONE OF SI X
CODE SERIES
Category of both the NBC and SBC is based on
the 1991 NEHRP and, therefore, is not site
modified as is the Seismic Design Category of
the 1997 NEHRP and the 2000 IBC. This
difference can have a dramatic influence on
design requirements, especially for buildings
located on poor soil in areas of relatively
low seismicity.
The Seismic Design Category of a particular
building is a function of three parameters:
probable site ground motion (mapped maxi-
mum considered earthquake spectral response
accelerations), the type of soil at the building
site (Site Class), and the building occupancy
category (Seismic Use Group). Because these
parameters interact, the UBC seismic zone
and IBC Seismic Design Category cannot be
correlated easily. The table on Page 29 shows
a comparison between UBC seismic zones
and IBC Seismic Design Categories for
various U.S. cities for each Site Class and
Seismic Use Group.
Seismic Design
Category: step by step
The step-by-step procedure for determining
the Seismic Design Category of a building
designed with the 2000 IBC is relatively simple
and follows a logical sequence. It should be
noted that even in areas of extremely low
seismicity, knowing how to classify a particular
building into the proper Seismic Design Cate-
gory is essential because it is the trigger mecha-
nism for a host of requirements. The
step-by-step procedure for determining Seismic
Design Category is outlined below.
Step 1: Determine the building occupancy
Category from Table 1604.5 (not shown here)
to establish the Seismic Use Group. Essentially,
there are three building occupancy categories.
Category II occupancies are buildings or other
structures that represent a substantial hazard to
Site
class
Soil profile name
Soil shear wave
velocity, v
s
, (ft/s)
Standard penetration
resistance, N
Average properties in top 100 feet, as per section 1615.1.5
A
B
C
D
E
E
F

Hard rock
v
s
> 5,000
2,500 < v
s
5,000
1,200 < v
s
2,500
600 v
s
1,200
v
s
< 600
Rock
Very dense soil and soft rock
Stiff soil profile
Soft soil profile
Not applicable
Not applicable
N > 50
15 N 50
N < 15
Not applicable
Not applicable
S
u
2,000
1,000 S
u
2,000
S
u
< 1,000
Soil undrained
shear strength, S
u
(psf)
Any profile with more than 10 feet of soil having the following characteristics:
1. Plasticity index PI > 20;
2. Moisture content w 40%, and
3. Undrained shear strength S
u
< 500 psf
Any profile containing soils having one or more of the following characteristics:
1. Soils vulnerable to potential failure or collapse under seismic loading such as liquefiable
soils, quick and highly sensitive clays, collapsible weakly cemented soils.
2. Peats and/or highly organic clays (H > 10 feet of peat and/or highly organic clay
where H = thickness of the soil)
3.Very high plasticity clays (H > 25 feet with plasticity index PI > 75)
4.Very thick soft/medium stiff clays (H > 120ft)
For S
1
: 1 foot = 304.8 mm, 1 square foot = 0.0929 m
2
, 1 pound per square foot = 0.0479 kPa
FEBRUARY 2002
30
Structural
Engineer
Rather than
seismic zone, the
IBC uses a para-
meter called
Seismic Design
Category.
Table 1615.1.1: Site Class Definitions
the 2000 IBC (see Figures 1 and
2). The maps are based on the
1997 NEHRP map set which
are available at the USGS Web
site: http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/eq/html/
ibc_maps.html. The NEHRP maps were pre-
pared by the USGS based on recommenda-
tions from the BSSCs Seismic Design
Procedures Group.
Rather than seismic zone, the IBC uses a
parameter called Seismic Design Category as
the mechanism for imposing design restric-
tions, detailing requirements, and structural
limitations. The Seismic Design Category
assigned to a building is important in that it
affects the permissible analysis procedures,
applicability of structural redundancy, method
of lateral load distribution, applicability of
special load combinations, limitations on
structural systems, limitations on structural
irregularities, and, last but not least, various
ductile detailing requirements. It should be
noted that the IBCs Seismic Design Category
is similar to the Seismic Performance Category
used in the current editions of the Standard
Building Code (SBC) published by SBCCI and
the National Building Code (NBC) published
by BOCA. However, the Seismic Performance
PART ONE OF SI X
CODE SERIES
FEBRUARY 2002
31
Structural
Engineer
find the S
S
and S
1
for Site Class B soil. These
values can be obtained from spectral accelera-
tion contours by using maps published by the
Federal Emergency Management Association
(FEMA) or by using the Seismic Design Para-
meters CD produced by USGS. The Seismic
Design Parameters CD requires either the zip
code or the latitude and longitude of the
building site. The maps are available from
FEMA by calling (800) 480-2520. The Seismic
Design Parameters CD is available from
ICBO by calling (800) 284-4406. In areas of
relatively high seismicity, such as in California
or near the New Madrid fault in the central
Mississippi Valley, longitude and latitude coor-
dinates should be used instead
of zip codes because the spec-
tral acceleration contours are
spaced closely.
Step 3: Determine the Site Class at the pro-
posed building site from IBC Table 1615.1.1
(shown on Page 30). The Site Class is assigned
a letter A, B, C, D, or F with A represent-
ing the best soil type, which is hard rock, and F
representing very poor, soft soil. If the Site
Class has not been established by a geotechni-
cal report, Site Class D may be assumed for
sites with at least dense or stiff soil profiles.
Step 4: Determine the maximum considered
earthquake spectral accelerations, S
MS
and S
M1
.
human life in the event of a collapse or signifi-
cant failure. Category III occupancies are build-
ings or other structures designated as essential
facilities that are intended to survive to provide
essential services in the post-event environ-
ment. Category I occupancies are all buildings
or other structures that are not classified as
either Category II or III. Footnote (a) of Table
1604.5 indicates that the occupancy category
is equivalent to the Seismic Use Group. Cate-
gory IV structures are agricultural buildings,
temporary, and minor storage facilities; regard-
ing the seismic design requirements, they are
assigned to Seismic Use Group I.
Step 2: Determine the building location to
Site Class S
S
0.25
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.6
2.5
Note b
S
S
= 0.50
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.7
Note b
S
S
= 0.75
0.8
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.2
Note b
S
S
= 1.00
0.8
1.0
1.0
1.1
0.9
Note b
S
S
1.25
0.8
1.0
1.0
1.0
Note b
Note b
A
B
C
Table 1615.1.2(1): Values of site coefficient F
a
as a function of S
s
a
D
E
F
a. Use straight line interpolation for intermediate values of mapped spectral acceleration at short period, S
S
.
b. Site-specific geotechnical investigation and dynamic site response analyses shall be performed to determine appropriate values.
Mapped spectral response acceleration at short periods
Figure 1: Graphical representation of S
S
PART ONE OF SI X
CODE SERIES
The mapped spectral response
accelerations S
S
and S
1
are
based on Site Class B soil. These
values must be modified by the
site coefficients, F
a
and F
v
, to account for a Site
Class other than B. The site coefficients are
functions of the mapped maximum consid-
ered earthquake spectral response accelera-
tions S
S
and S
1
as well as Site Class. To
determine site coefficients F
a
and F
v
, use IBC
Tables 1615.1.2(1) and 1615.1.2(2) (shown
on the previous page and below). It should be
noted that where Site Class F soils exist or
where Site Class E soils exist with mapped
maximum considered earthquake spectral
FEBRUARY 2002
32
Structural
Engineer
response accelerations S
S
> 1.25 or S
1
> 0.5,
the site coefficients must be determined by a
site-specific geotechnical investigation. Once
the site coefficients are determined, find the
maximum considered earthquake spectral
accelerations, S
MS
and S
M1
, by multiplying
the mapped spectral response accelerations,
S
S
and S
1
, by the site coefficients, F
a
and F
v
,
respectively. In other words, S
MS
= F
a
S
S
and S
M1
= F
v
S
1
.
Step 5: Determine the design spectral
response accelerations, S
DS
and S
D1
. The 5 per-
cent damped design spectral response accelera-
tions, S
DS
and S
D1
, are obtained by taking
2
3 of
the maximum considered earthquake spectral
acceleration values, S
MS
and S
M1
. Thus, S
DS
=
2
3S
MS
and S
D1
=
2
3S
M1
. According to the NEHRP
Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regula-
tions for New Buildings and Other Structures,
Part 2, Commentary (FEMA 303), the design
ground motion is based on a lower bound
margin against collapse that is inherent in
structures designed in accordance with the
NEHRP provisions, which is estimated to be
1.5. Therefore, the design ground motion (S
DS
and S
D1
) are obtained by taking
2
3 of the maxi-
mum considered earthquake spectral accelera-
tion values (S
MS
and S
M1
).
Step 6: Knowing the Seismic Use Group of
the building and the design spectral response
Figure 2: Graphical representation of S
1
Site Class
S
1
0.1
0.8
1.0
1.7
2.4
3.5
Note b
S
1
= 0.2
0.8
1.0
1.6
2.0
3.2
Note b
S
1
= 0.3
0.8
1.0
1.5
1.8
2.8
Note b
S
1
= 0.4
0.8
1.0
1.4
1.6
2.4
Note b
S
1
0.5
0.8
1.0
1.3
1.5
Note b
Note b
A
B
C
Table 1615.1.2(2): Values of site coefficient F
v
as a function of S
1
a
D
E
F
a. Use straight line interpolation for intermediate values of mapped spectral acceleration at one-second period, S
1
.
b. Site-specific geotechnical investigation and dynamic site response analyses shall be performed to determine appropriate values.
Mapped spectral response acceleration at one second period
PART ONE OF SI X
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FEBRUARY 2002
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Structural
Engineer
accelerations S
DS
and S
D1
, determine the Seis-
mic Design Category of the building from IBC
Tables 1616.3(1) and 1616.3(2). The Seismic
Design Category is a function of the design
spectral response accelerations, S
DS
and S
D1
,
and the Seismic Use Group. The final Seismic
Design Category assigned to the building is the
most severe of the Seismic Design Category
based on S
DS
in Table 1616.3(1) and S
D1
and
Table 1616.3(2). It should be noted that struc-
tures with an S
1
greater than or equal to 0.75g
in Seismic Use Group I and II are assigned to
Seismic Design Category E, and Structures with
an S
1
greater than or equal to 0.75g in Seismic
Use Group III are assigned to Seismic Design
Category F. Note also that it is the mapped
spectral response acceleration, S
1
, not the
design spectral response acceleration, S
D1
, that
triggers these requirements.
For a more detailed discussion of Seismic
Design Category and the associated parame-
ters, refer to the 2000 IBC Handbook, Structur-
ovisions, by S.K. Ghosh, Ph.D., and R.
Chittenden, S.E., published by ICBO.
John R. Henry, P.E.
Henry is a senior staff engineer ICBOs Education
Department. He is responsible for developing and
presenting seminars on the structural provisions of
the UBC and the IBC

. He holds a bachelors
degree from California State University, Sacramen-
to and is a member of the Structural Engineers
Association of California and a member of the
American Society of Civil Engineers.
This article was reviewed by Eric Stafford, P.E.,
with SBCCI; Michael Pfeiffer, P.E., with BOCA; and
Mark Johnson with ICBO, as it is part of a collabo-
rative series of articles.
Given: An office building with a Business
Occupancy category of Group B is located
in Albuquerque, N.M., which has a UBC
Seismic Zone of 2B.
Step 1: Determine the Seismic Use
Group of the building. Per IBC Section
1616.2 and Table 1604.5, an office building is
not Category II or Category III.Therefore,
it is a Category I building, and the building
is in Seismic Use Group I per footnote (a)
of Table 1604.5.
Step 2A: Determine the zip code
or latitude and longitude of the
building site. The zip code is 87110, the
latitude is 35.109123 degrees, and the
longitude is -106.576999 degrees.
Step 2B: Using the USGS CD,
determine S
S
and S
1
for Site Class
B soil.
S
S
= 0.618
S
1
= 0.185
Step 3: Determine the Site Class at
the proposed building site from IBC
Table 1615.1.1.
Assume Site Class D, which is the default
Site Class, for good soil with no geotechni-
cal report.
Step 4A: Determine site
coefficients F
a
and F
v
from Tables
1615.1.2-1 and 1615.1.2-2 based
on the Site Class and S
S
and S
1
.
F
a
= 1.31
F
v
= 2.06
Step 4B: Determine the soil modified
maximum considered earthquake response
accelerations, SMS and SM1.
S
MS
= F
a
S
S
= 1.31 x 0.618 = 0.810
S
M1
= F
v
S
1
= 2.06 x 0.185 = 0.381
Step 5: Determine the short and
long period design spectral response
accelerations, S
DS
and S
D1
.
S
DS
=
2
3S
MS
= 0.540
S
D1
=
2
3S
M1
= 0.254
Step 6: Determine the building
Seismic Design Category from
Tables 1616.3 (1) using S
DS
= 0.540
and Seismic Use Group I, and Table
1616.3 (2) using S
D1
= 0.254 and
Seismic Use Group I.
The final Seismic Design Category is
the most severe based on S
DS
and S
D1
.
Seismic Design Category based on S
DS
is D. Seismic Design Category based on
S
D1
is D.The final Seismic Design Category
of building is D.
Note: If a geotechnical report indicated
Site Class C instead of Site Class D, the
Seismic Design Category for the above
building would be C.
2000 IBC Seismic Design Category Example
Seismic Use Group
Value of S
DS
I II III
A
B
C
Da
A
B
C
Da
A
C
D
Da
S
DS
< 0.167g
0.167g S
DS
< 0.33g
0.33g S
DS
< 0.50g
Table 1616.3(1): Seismic Design Category based on short
period response accelerations
0.50g S
DS
a. Seismic Use Groups I and II structures located on sites with mapped
maximum considered earthquake spectral response acceleration at one-
second period, S
1
, equal to or greater than 0.75g, shall be assigned to Seis-
mic Design Category E, and Seismic Use Group III structures located on
such sites shall be assigned to Seismic Design Category F.
Seismic Use Group
Value of S
D1
I II III
A
B
C
Da
A
B
C
Da
A
C
D
Da
S
D1
< 0.067g
0.067g S
D1
< 0.133g
0.133g S
D1
< 0.20g
0.20g S
D1
a. Seismic Use Groups I and II structures located on sites with mapped
maximum considered earthquake spectral response acceleration at one-
second period, S
1
, equal to or greater than 0.75g, shall be assigned to Seis-
mic Design Category E, and Seismic Use Group III structures located on
such sites shall be assigned to Seismic Design Category F.
PART ONE OF SI X
CODE SERIES
Table 1616.3(2): Seismic Design Category based
on one-second period response accelerations