ADDITION. An extension or increase in floor area, number of stories, or height of a building or structure.
ALTERATION. Any construction or renovation to an existing structure other than a repair or addition. Alterations are classified as Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3.
[A] APPROVED. Acceptable to the code official or authority having jurisdiction.
BUILDING. [HCD]Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
Exception: [HCD 1, HCD 2 & HCD 1-AC] For applications listed in Section 1.8.2 regulated by the Department of Housing and Community Development, "Building" shall not include the following:
- Any mobilehome as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 18008.
- Any manufactured home as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 18007.
- Any commercial modular as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 18001.8 or any special purpose commercial modular as defined in Section 18012.5.
- Any recreational vehicle as defined in Health and Safety Code, Section 18010.
- Any multifamily manufactured home as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 18008.7.
For additional information, see Health and Safety Code Section 18908.
Note: Building shall have the same meaning as defined in Health and Safety Code Sections 17920 and 18908 for the applications specified in Section 1.11.
BUILDING OFFICIAL. [HCD] The officer or other designated authority charged with the administration and enforcement of this code, or a duly authorized representative. See Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 91.202.
CHANGE OF OCCUPANCY. A change in the use of the building or a portion of a building. A change of occupancy shall include any change of occupancy classification, any change from one group to another group within an occupancy classification or any change in use within a group for a specific occupancy classification.
CODE OFFICIAL. The officer or other designated authority charged with the administration and enforcement of this code. See Building Official.
[HCD 1 & HCD 2] "Code Official" shall mean "Building Official" as defined in this code.
[BS] DANGEROUS. Any building, structure or portion thereof that meets any of the conditions described below shall be deemed dangerous:
- The building or structure has collapsed, has partially collapsed, has moved off its foundation, or lacks the necessary support of the ground.
- There exists a significant risk of collapse, detachment or dislodgement of any portion, member, appurtenance or ornamentation of the building or structure under service loads.
DEFERRED SUBMITTAL. Those portions of the design that are not submitted at the time of the application and that are to be submitted to the code official within a specified period.
EQUIPMENT OR FIXTURE. Any plumbing, heating, electrical, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigerating, and fire protection equipment, and elevators, dumb waiters, escalators, boilers, pressure vessels and other mechanical facilities or installations that are related to building services. Equipment or fixture shall not include manufacturing, production, or process equipment, but shall include connections from building service to process equipment.
EXISTING BUILDING. A building erected prior to the date of adoption of the appropriate code, or one for which a legal building permit has been issued.
[A] FACILITY. All or any portion of buildings, structures, site improvements, elements and pedestrian or vehicular routes located on a site.
[BS] FLOOD HAZARD AREA. The greater of the following two areas:
- The area within a flood plain subject to a 1-percent or greater chance of flooding in any year.
- The area designated as a flood hazard area on a community's flood hazard map, or otherwise legally designated.
HISTORIC BUILDING. Any building or structure that is one or more of the following:
- Listed, or certified as eligible for listing, by the State Historic Preservation Officer or the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, in the National Register of Historic Places.
- Designated as historic under an applicable state or local law.
- Certified as a contributing resource within a National Register, state designated or locally designated historic district.
LOAD-BEARING ELEMENT. Any column, girder, beam, joist, truss, rafter, wall, floor or roof sheathing that supports any vertical load in addition to its own weight or any lateral load.
NONCOMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL. A material that, under the conditions anticipated, will not ignite or burn when subjected to fire or heat. Materials that pass ASTM E136 are considered noncombustible materials.
PRIMARY FUNCTION. A primary function is a major activity for which the facility is intended. Areas that contain a primary function include, but are not limited to, the customer services lobby of a bank, the dining area of a cafeteria, the meeting rooms in a conference center, as well as offices and other work areas in which the activities of the public accommodation or other private entity using the facility are carried out. Mechanical rooms, boiler rooms, supply storage rooms, employee lounges or locker rooms, janitorial closets, entrances, corridors and restrooms are not areas containing a primary function.
[A] REGISTERED DESIGN PROFESSIONAL IN RESPONSIBLE CHARGE. A registered design professional engaged by the owner to review and coordinate certain aspects of the project, as determined by the code official, for compatibility with the design of the building or structure, including submittal documents prepared by others, deferred submittal documents and phased submittal documents.
REHABILITATION. Any work, as described by the categories of work defined herein, undertaken in an existing building.
REHABILITATION, SEISMIC. Work conducted to improve the seismic lateral force resistance of an existing building.
RELOCATABLE BUILDING. A partially or completely assembled building constructed and designed to be reused multiple times and transported to different building sites.
REPAIR. The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance or to correct damage.
[BS] REROOFING. The process of recovering or replacing an existing roof covering. See "Roof recover" and "Roof replacement."
[BS] ROOF RECOVER. The process of installing an additional roof covering over a prepared existing roof covering without removing the existing roof covering.
[BS] ROOF REPAIR. Reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing roof for the purposes of its maintenance.
[BS] ROOF REPLACEMENT. The process of removing the existing roof covering, repairing any damaged substrate and installing a new roof covering.
SEISMIC LOADING. The forces prescribed herein, related to the response of the structure to earthquake motions, to be used in the analysis and design of the structure and its components.
[BS] SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. For the purpose of determining compliance with the flood provisions of this code, damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damaged condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
[BS] SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENT. For the purpose of determining compliance with the flood provisions of this code, any repair, alteration, addition, or improvement of a building or structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure, before the improvement or repair is started. If the structure has sustained substantial damage, any repairs are considered substantial improvement regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include either:
- Any project for improvement of a building required to correct existing health, sanitary, or safety code violations identified by the code official and that is the minimum necessary to ensure safe living conditions; or
- Any alteration of a historic structure, provided that the alteration will not preclude the structure's continued designation as a historic structure.
[BS] SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. A condition where one or both of the following apply:
- In any story, the vertical elements of the lateral force-resisting system have suffered damage such that the lateral load-carrying capacity of the structure in any horizontal direction has been reduced by more than 33 percent from its predamage condition.
- The capacity of any vertical gravity load-carrying component, or any group of such components, that supports more than 30 percent of the total area of the structure's floor(s) and roof(s) has been reduced more than 20 percent from its predamage condition and the remaining capacity of such affected elements, with respect to all dead and live loads, is less than 75 percent of that required by this code for new buildings of similar structure, purpose and location.
TECHNICALLY INFEASIBLE. An alteration of a facility that has little likelihood of being accomplished because the existing structural conditions require the removal or alteration of a load-bearing member that is an essential part of the structural frame, or because other existing physical or site constraints prohibit modification or addition of elements, spaces or features which are in full and strict compliance with the minimum requirements for new construction and which are necessary to provide accessibility.
UNSAFE. Buildings, structures or equipment that are unsanitary, or that are deficient due to inadequate means of egress facilities, inadequate light and ventilation, or that constitute a fire hazard, or in which the structure or individual structural members meet the definition of "Dangerous," or that are otherwise dangerous to human life or the public welfare, or that involve illegal or improper occupancy or inadequate maintenance shall be deemed unsafe. A vacant structure that is not secured against entry shall be deemed unsafe.
WORK AREA. That portion or portions of a building consisting of all reconfigured spaces as indicated on the construction documents. Work area excludes other portions of the building where incidental work entailed by the intended work must be performed and portions of the building where work not initially intended by the owner is specifically required by this code.