The draft code for performance-based seismic design of buildings in Taiwan

Performance-based seismic design (PBSD) has been widely recognized as an ideal method for use in the future practice of seismic design. This paper summarizes the development of the seismic design draft code for buildings in Taiwan using performance-based seismic design methodology and presents the results of comparisons and case studies following the guideline in this paper. First, the current seismic design code provisions are examined according to the theoretical basis of PBSD to identify which methodologies of PBSD need to be incorporated into the current seismic design code. Then, a PBSD flowchart is presented. Finally, a draft of the proposed code is described. Transparent seismic design objectives for buildings of different use groups have been established qualitatively and interpreted quantitatively as performance criteria including drift limits. Site feasibility requirements, conceptual design scopes and basic rules have been proposed. Performance objective-oriented procedures for preliminary design and seismic performance evaluation have been presented. Suggestions on seismic performance criteria and the evaluation of existing buildings have been made. In order to provide clear, easy to follow guidelines, comparisons and case studies have also been conducted. It is believed that PBSD methodology will bring a new era to engineering practices with increased confidence in, and reliability on, seismic performance and safety.