Library

Webpage describing when and how to safely turn off the natural gas to the home during an emergency.

Website providing certifications and codes for automatic gas shut off valves in the state of California.

Webpage with certification requirements for excess flow and earthquake valves from California's Division of the State Architect (DSA).

Report covering the fire performance of combustible cladding over combustible insulation.

Webpage describing how to guard homes and properties against wildfire, as well as what to do during a wildfire, whether sheltering in place or attempting evacuation.

Webpage providing maps and information to assess the particular hazards and risks for an area.

Webpage describing federal regulation related to excess flow valves on residential natural gas lines.

Report providing a collection of fact sheets describing guidance for constructing homes in wildfire zones.

Website containing educational and marketing resources for residential fire sprinklers.

Report assessing the costs of home fire sprinkler systems.

A guide that summarizes building materials and design considerations for increasing wildfire-resistivity of homes in areas that are prone to wildfires.

Report presenting seismic design and construction guidance for one- and two-family houses for homebuilders, knowledgeable homeowners, and other non-engineers.

Wildfire mitigation guidelines from the University of California outlining how to mitigate fire risk for attached decks.

Guidebook that provides information on earthquake hazards that can damage homes, the design and retrofit of earthquake resistant housing, and how to find more information on earthquake safety.

Factsheet describing defensible space and wildfire risk reduction steps that homeowners can take to make their homes safer during a wildfire.

Webpage describing how to locate and manually shut off natural gas service at the meter.

Report describing ways to retrofit a home to make it more resistant to earthquakes.

Factsheet describing tips for building or renovating with a focus on disaster resistance.

ICC-ES Evaluation Report reviewing proprietary steel shear wall panels developed by Simpson Strong-Tie Company to resist vertical and lateral loads in walls resulting from wind or earthquakes.

Wildfire guidance for homes located in the wildland urban interface, focused on site design and individual pieces of the home.

Ignition resistant residential construction and landscaping guidelines from FireSafe Montana.

Article describing excess flow valves installed on gas lines to shut-off natural gas flow to a home in the event that a gas line is severed due to an earthquake, natural disaster, earthquake, etc.

Article from Samuel L. Manzello and Sayaka Suzuki on tests undertaken to find the ideal amount of board spacing to resist deck ignition during fires.

Webpage detailing how to purchase and install the correct shut-off valve for homes in California, including differences between earthquake and excess flow valves and how to install each.

Site showing flame spread ratings and definitions for common building materials.

Report showing installers how to attach ducts, pipes, and associated equipment to buildings to minimize earthquake damage.

Website providing a probabilistic map of the expected number of damaging earthquakes around the U.S.

Document from IBHS explaining how to inspect homes for earthquake preparedness and retrofit solutions for homes that have suffered structural damage as a result of earthquakes.

Article describing dozens of ideas on how to retrofit a home so it is more earthquake ready.

Website describing the wildland-urban interface code and providing links to resources.

Test results used by multiple structural insulated panel manufacturers confirming a one-hour fire rating for specific SIP assemblies.

Guide for homeowners describing actions they can take to modify their home and the surrounding site to create a survivable space to reduce the amount of damage a home would likely experience during a wildfire.

Article describing lessons for builders and changes to local building code in Colorado Springs in response to regional wildfires.

A webpage outlining CAL FIRE’s recommendations for creating defensible space.

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, seismic, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2022 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2010 and is available in both digital and print...

Report providing a resource that communities can use to identify and evaluate a range of potential mitigation actions for reducing risk to natural hazards and disasters.

National Fire Protection Association website.

Website providing information on tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and more.

Report updating and expanding on a 2005 study that found, among other things, that every $1 of natural hazard mitigation funded by FEMA between 1993 and 2003 saved the American people an average of $4 in avoided future losses.

Website containing USGS-related publications related to natural hazards.

Report describing the interactions, both positive and negative, between common green building practices and the robustness of residential buildings to withstand natural hazards.

Guide for electrical systems design including installation guidance and best practices for flood-prone areas.

Guide for fuel systems design including installation guidance and formulas for calculating loads and buoyancy forces for specifying number, type and capacity of strapping for hold-downs in flood-prone areas.

Report for local governments, planners, emergency managers, developers, insurers, and property owners describing ways to improve the wildfire resistance of buildings, infrastructure and communities in the wildland urban interface.

An NFPA Standard that identifies a method for determining the minimum water supply necessary for structural fire-fighting purposes in areas where it has been determined that there is no water or inadequate water for fire fighting.

NFPA standard for design and installation of indoor automatic fire sprinkler systems.

NFPA standard for indoor automatic fire sprinkler design and installation, focused on residential dwellings.

NFPA standard for indoor automatic fire sprinkler design and installation for low-rise residential occupancies.