Statements and Positions - Structural Engineers Association of California

HomeStatements and Positions

Statements and Positions

The following documents represent internal, professional, and public positions developed and/or supported by SEAOC. Positions are developed by various means but are ultimately approved by the SEAOC Board of Directors, and stand as the official position of the organization.

SEAOC Position on Adaptive Reuse (June 2024)

The Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) recognizes the vital role that adaptive reuse can play in sustaining communities and the built environment, particularly through the conversion of office spaces to residential units. The California Existing Building Code currently accommodates such changes of use or alterations.

To the extent that local jurisdictions consider amending local ordinances to encourage adaptive reuse, the changes must maintain:

1. The integrity and quality of project review.
2. Existing mandatory and voluntary seismic retrofit programs.

Additionally, SEAOC believes that adaptive reuse efforts could improve community resilience by applying standards that would help residential structures remain functional — or return to function quickly — following a major earthquake.

SEAOC Statement on Carbon Reduction (Jan 2024)

SEAOC recognizes the need for coordinated action across all communities to achieve globally stated decarbonization goals. As such, we support public policy and industry efforts to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment. This includes promoting requirements and incentives for the adaptive reuse or retrofit of existing buildings, use of low-carbon construction materials, design for resilient buildings, exploration of more efficient design and construction methods, and reduction of construction waste.

SEAOC and EERI Joint Policy Agenda (Feb 2023)

SEAOC and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) release joint policy statement calling for support of California's 2022 soft-story retrofit program, compliance with hospital seismic retrofit/rebuild deadlines, and development of a Functional Recovery performance standard.

EERI-SEAOC Joint Policy Agenda

SEAOC Statement and Recommendations on Mandatory Building Assessments (2021)

Following the collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, FL, in June 2021, SEAOC and other professional organizations reviewed the merits and limitations of proactive structural condition assessments. In particular, the County of Los Angeles solicited guidance from SEAOSC and SEAOC on a proposed program of mandatory inspections. In response, SEAOC convened an advisory committee of members statewide to compile insights and perspectives on this topic. Here are SEAOC’s statement and recommendations:

SEAOC Letter to LAC DPW

SEAOC Recommendations re Building Evaluations

SEAOC List of Vulnerable Buildings (Feb 2019)

Guidance document developed by SEAOC Existing Buildings Committee.

SEAOC Vulnerable Buildings