Introduction of the Building Standard Law of Japan and the Performance-Based Seismic Design Methodology

일본의 내진설계법 및 내진성능 평가법의 소개

This manuscript introduces the Building Standard Law of Japan revised at 2000, June. Recently, The Building Standard Law of Japan was revised into the performance-based design format following the trend of international. The structural performance was evaluated for two limiting states; serviceability and soundness limit state, and safety limit state. The design earthquake forces were determined on the basis of seismic activities of the construction site, taking into consideration (a)characteristics of focal mechanism, (b)amplification by local surfaces geology, and (c)soil-structure interaction, in addition to the properties of the planned building including scale, configuration, foundation system, and structural characteristics.