5.2.1 Panel-To-Panel Connections

Adjacent wall panels are not connected by welded steel inserts.

For conforming buildings, the evaluator may consider this condition as mitigated, and no calculations are necessary. The deficiency is in the strength of the inserts. Check the welded inserts. Determine where connection failures would be brittle (e.g., pull-out of an embedded item would occur before yield of a mild steel element). Analyze structure for stability assuming that these brittle connections have failed or are not capable of transmitting forces or check such connections for seismic force amplified by the factor C_d/2, but not less than 1.5.