The Field Act and Related Legislation & Comparison of the Field Act and Uniform Building Code

Compiled by Alan Williams, courtesy of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing from  The Field Act: History and Issues for California Schools by Daniel Barclay

TABLE 1 The Field Act and Related Legislation
Year	Legislation	Effect
1933	Field Act	Sets seismic safety standards for new public school buildings.
1939	Garrison Act	Required overhaul of existing, unsafe public school buildings.
1967	First Greene Act	Set deadline for inspecting pre-Field Act public school buildings.
1968	Second Greene Act	Set deadline for upgrading pre-Field Act public school buildings.
1972	School Building Sites Act	Requires school districts to consider seismicity in selecting school sites.
1972	Seismic Safety Element Act	Requires city and county general plans to include a seismic safety element.
1972	Alquist-Priolo Act	Prohibits the construction of new buildings across known active earthquake faults.
1973	Hospital Seismic Safety Act	Sets seismic safety standards for new hospitals.
1977	Earthquake Hazard Reduction Act	Set broad goals for reducing earthquake hazards. (Federal legislation)
1985	Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act	Required the California Seismic Safety Commission to develop a statewide plan to reduce earthquake hazards.
1986	Essential Services Building Act	Sets seismic safety standards for critical facilities.
1990	California Seismic Hazards Mapping Act	Requires the design and use of seismic hazard maps in general plans.
1990	Private Schools Act	Extends the Field Act to new private schools.
1992	Charter Schools Act	Makes Field Act provisions optional for charter schools.

TABLE 2 Comparison of the Field Act and Uniform Building Code
Attribute	Field Act	Uniform Building Code
Load factor design for steelwork	Not allowed	Allowed
Aspect ratio of plywood diaphragms	3 : 1	4 : 1
Aspect ratio of plywood shear walls	2 : 1	3.5 : 1
Shear resistance of gypsum board	Not allowed	Allowed
Empirical masonry design	Not allowed	Allowed
Repetitive design of wood member	Not allowed	Allowed
Engineering geologic reports	Required	Optional
Force factor for wall anchors	1.2	0.75
Minimum size of framing member for highly loaded shear walls and diaphragms	3 x	2 x
Full time general inspector	Required	Not required
Continuous special inspector of prestressed concrete	Required	Not required
Continuous inspector of glued laminated timber	Required	Not required
Continuous inspection of manufactured wood trusses	Required	Not required
Inspection of steel shop fabricated member	Required	Not required
Continuous special inspection of masonry	Required	Optional
Maximum height of masonry grout pour	4 feet	6 feet
Frequency of concrete testing	50 cubic yards	150 cubic yards
Testing of prestressing tendons	Required	Optional
Testing of reinforcement	Required	Optional
Steel deck diaphragm thickness	20 gage minimum	No minimum
Masonry core testing	Required	Not required
Masonry, grout, and mortar testing	Required	Optional
Ceiling and lighting fixtures bracing	Required	Not required
Anchorage of cabinets 5 feet or higher	Required	Not required