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Figure 6-5: Graph comparing actual elastic demand with code-mandated

design forces.
source: Holmes, W., The History of U.S. Seismic Code Development, published in the
EERI Golden Anniversary Volume 1948-1998, Earthquake Engineering Research
Institute, Oakland, California, 1998).

ments to structural engineering practice, SEAOC established the Applied

Technology Council (ATC) to translate engineering research into usable
design information.

In the aftermath of earthquakes of the 1960s and 70s, the need for more
stringent building standards at the state level was recognized. The Cali-
fornia Hospital Act, passed soon after the San Fernando earthquake,
mandated more stringent building standards, plan checking, and in-
spection for hospitals under the direction of the Office of Statewide
Health Planning and Development, with the intent of improving patient
protection and maintaining building use through the regulation of non-
structural as well as structural design.

6.2.4 Late 20th Century: the Move toward New

Model Building Codes
By the mid 1970s, the need for federal seismic design standards, coupled
with the structural engineering profession’s interest in significantly
updating code content and streamlining its organization, shifted code
development from regional to national efforts. A series of projects to
develop national guidelines for seismic design began in the mid‘70s.
This effort provided the groundwork that led to the publication: ATC-3-

6-8 THE REGULATION OF SEISMIC DESIGN