Quake Report Prompts Building Code Review

Gov. Pete Wilson pledged Wednesday to re-examine building codes in the wake of a report by the state Seismic Commission that tougher enforcement of the codes would have prevented much of the damage done by the Northridge quake.

“That’s what we wanted to hear,” said commission President Paul Fratessa in an interview. The current building code process, he added, “does not hold someone accountable to the state of California.”

The commission’s 195-page report was formally delivered to officials from Wilson’s office Wednesday as the panel began a two-day public hearing at the Burbank Airport Hilton. The commission hearing continues today at 8:30 a.m.

The document declared that lax attention to existing codes by engineers, inspectors and legislators led to much of the damage from the 6.7-magnitude temblor. It offered 168 recommendations to beef up state law and ensure its enforcement.

In a statement, Wilson said he would help implement at least one of them--formation of a committee to recommend statewide standards for acceptable earthquake risks. He said he would have his Cabinet review the other 167 recommendations and report back in 30 days.

“While the guidelines currently in place are strong, we must take whatever steps are necessary to ensure they are the strongest possible,” Wilson said.

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But the report found that the strength of the code was not the main problem.

“The building code itself is not in need of a major overhaul,” the report said, “but far more attention to strict adherence to the code and the elimination of shoddy design and construction is clearly needed for earthquake-safe buildings.”

Some other recommendations in the report were:

* Strengthening the 1970 Alquist-Priolo Act, which limits building in fault zones, to broaden the definition of active faults.

* Requiring automatic gas shut-off valves at the service entry point of all mobile home parks and consideration of such a requirement for private residences.

* Accelerating Caltrans’ $600-million toll bridge retrofit program. Caltrans has set a completion date for retrofitting only one of its toll bridges.

Commission members and witnesses testifying at the hearing Wednesday stressed that the Northridge quake was only a “moderate” temblor which hit while freeways and office buildings were mostly empty and that California may not be so lucky the next time.

School officials fretted that many Los Angeles schools are still not up to code, saying ceilings, light fixtures and canopies could crumble in the next quake.

“It bothers me to think that children are attending [unsafe] schools every day,” Commissioner Patricia Snyder said.

Frank Haines, a vice president of State Farm Insurance Co., said the insurance industry has paid out more in claims for the Northridge temblor than it received in earthquake insurance premiums in all of this century. As a result, he said, many companies, including his, no longer offer earthquake insurance in California.