Location Building Detail Fields

Floor of Interest

•       CE IF

•       EU ETC

•       GB IF

•       HI TC

•       JP IF

•       JP TY

•       US HU

•       US IF

•       US ST - Straight-Line Winds, Tornados

Floor of interest in cases in which the entire building is not covered at this location. The following list describes each value (in bold).

•       -1 Basement (for use only with AIR Inland Flood Model for the United Kingdom, AIR Inland Flood Model for the United States, and AIR Hurricane Model for the United States) or cellar (for use only with AIR Inland Flood Model for Central Europe)

•       0 Unknown/default (or no floor of interest)

•       1 Ground floor

•       2 1st floor above ground floor

•       3 Second floor above ground floor

Enter replacement values (building, contents, and Business Interruption) and policy terms for the floor of interest, not for the whole building.

For the hurricane peril, use this field with terrain roughness and adjacent building height.

Different floors of the building experience varying degrees of damage. The nature of damage experienced by each floor can also be different.

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

•       Must be a numeric value between -1 and 999, inclusive

•       Floor of interest cannot be greater than the number of stories, unless the number of stories is 0.

•       If you select -1 as the floor of interest, you must select Masonry basement (1) or Concrete basement (2) as the Foundation Type.

•       If you specify any of the following construction or occupancy class codes for this location, Touchstone ignores your setting for this field:

•       IFM (400 series occupancy class codes)

•       Mobile homes (191-194 construction class codes)

•       200 series construction class codes (including automobiles and pleasure boats)

•       Industrial occupancies (321-330 occupancy class codes)

Floor Area

Click here for differences between Gross Area and Floor Area.

This field does not affect losses.

Total floor area for the building at this location

The floor area units that you have specified determines the unit in which you should express the value for this field.

•       Optional

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

•       Can be a numeric value between 0 and 999,999,999, inclusive

0

Floor Area Units

One of the following units of measurement for the floor area:

•       Acre (AC)

•       Hectare (HA)

•       Square feet (SQFT)

•       Square meters (SQM)

•       Optional

•       Can contain up to 40 characters.

Floor Occupied

This field does not affect losses.

Single floor or range of floors occupied in the building at this location

Optional

[NULL]

Building Condition

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       HI TC

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

•       US HU

•       US ST - Straight-Line Winds, Tornados

•       NZ EQ

One of the following general qualitative descriptions of the condition of the building at this location, based on visual inspection of the building cladding and maintenance:

•       Unknown (0)

•       Average/default (1)

•       Good (2)

•       Poor (3)

The external appearance of cladding and maintenance gives a qualitative estimate of expected performance.

For earthquakes: Buildings with signs of distress or duress, such as cracking due to aging and ground settlement or overloading or cracking due to damage from previous earthquakes, are likely to experience additional damage during an earthquake.

For hurricanes: Buildings with signs of distress or duress are likely to experience additional damage during a tropical cyclone. Some examples of these signs are an aging roof, exterior walls, or cladding; loose roof tiles or chimney damage; or damage from previous tropical cyclones.

•       Optional

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

Unknown/default (0)

Building Shape

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

•       NZ EQ

One of the following values to describe the overall shape of the footprint of the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Square (1)

•       Rectangle (2)

•       Circular (3)

•       L-shaped (4)

•       T-shaped (5)

•       U-shaped (6)

•       H-shaped (7)

•       Complex (8)

Shape is critical for the performance of a structure, especially for large commercial buildings. In general, simple regular forms, like squares and rectangles, perform better than combinations of those, such as L- and T-shaped buildings. The sharp corners in these complex shapes are vulnerable.

•       Optional

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

Unknown/default (0)

Torsion

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

•       NZ EQ

One of the following values to describe the layout of structural elements that can lead to torsional loads in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Symmetric (1)

•       Asymmetric (2)

•       Corner building (3)

Wedge-shaped buildings and corner buildings are typical examples in which the lateral load-resisting components in a building are placed asymmetrically. This leads to torsional forces being induced when the building is shaken, which can lead to significant damage.

•       Optional

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

Unknown/default (0)

Soft Story

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

•       NZ EQ

One of the following values to indicate whether there is structural weakness at any floor in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       No (1)

•       Yes (2)

This field is only applicable if the number of stories is 2 or greater.

First-floor garages and taller first floors are likely to exhibit soft-story behavior.

The weakness is usually in the lateral load-resisting capacity of the floor and can often result in total (pancaking) collapse of the floor. In residential buildings, it is most often found in the first floor due to large openings or garages. In multi-story buildings, it can be present at any floor, although a large number of case histories exist with collapse of the first floor.

•       Optional

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

Unknown/default (0)

Structural Irregularity

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to describe irregularity in such things as floor plans, structural components, uneven weight distribution, etc. for the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Vertical Offset (2)

•       Non-uniform Floor Area (3) (e.g., a sudden change in floor area along the height)

•       Discontinuous Shear Wall (4) (i.e., the main load-resisting components are not provided in a regular, symmetric pattern)

•       Heavy floor (5) (e.g., placement of heavy equipment on higher floors)

AIR no longer supports the Regular (1) value. If you use this value, Touchstone maps it to Unknown/default (0) upon import.

Structural irregularities can lead to catastrophic collapse of properties as witnessed in the Mexico City and Kobe earthquakes.

•       Optional

•       Defaults to a value in the Touchstone user interface

Unknown/default (0)

Special Earthquake-Resistive Systems

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to indicate whether there are earthquake-resistive systems installed in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Base isolation (1)

•       Visco-elastic dampers (2)

•       Other energy dissipaters (3)

Some new commercial buildings (mainly in California and Japan) have special devices/design elements to resist earthquake loads. Structures with special design have performed satisfactorily in recent events, such as Northridge.

Optional

Retrofit Measures

(This field is reserved for future use in the Japan Earthquake model.)

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

•       NZ EQ

One of the following values to describe any retrofit measured used in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Bracing of cripple walls (1)

•       Bracing of parapets (2)

•       Bracing of soft-story (3)

•       Foundation anchorage (bolting) (4)

•       Glass/window strengthening (5)

•       Tilt Up (6)

•       General (7)

A properly retrofitted structure can resist earthquakes even though the original structural form had weaknesses.

•       Optional

•       For U.S. Earthquake (M11), if you want to use the Bracing of cripple walls (1) option, you must also select Crawlspace cripple wall (4) as the foundation type.

•       For U.S. Earthquake (M11), if you want to use the Foundation anchorage (bolting) (4) option, you must also select Gravity/Friction (4) as the foundation connection.

Short Column

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to indicate whether there are short columns in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       No (1)

•       Yes (2)

This field applies to old concrete structures in which the fill height of some columns has been restricted by spandrel beams or infill walls. If some of the columns along the perimeter are shorter than the adjacent columns, there is high chance that the shorter columns can no longer bear the loads for which they were originally designed.

Optional

Ornamentation

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to describe the amount of decorative elements attached to exterior of the building at this location:

•       Unknown (0)

•       None/default (1)

•       Average (2)

•       Extensive (3)

Decorative elements may fall during an earthquake. Examples include unreinforced or unbraced parapet walls or entryway roofs, which can break off during excessive shaking.

Optional

Water Heater

This field is reserved for future use in the Japan Earthquake model.

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to indicate whether the water heater in the building at this location is braced:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Braced (1)

•       Unbraced (2)

If the water heater in a residential building is not properly secured, it can topple during earthquakes and cause damage, to both itself and any part of the structure underneath it.

Optional

Redundancy

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to indicate whether there are multiple lateral load-resisting elements (frames or shear walls) in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       No (1)

•       Yes (2)

Redundancy provides additional reinforcement against earthquake damage.

Optional

Tall One Story

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to describe the height of the one-story building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       <= 20 feet (1)

•       > 20-40 feet (2)

•       > 40 feet (3)

Single story buildings that are taller than typical one-story structures (e.g., churches, gymnasiums, auditoriums, etc.) have been observed to experience more damage. The majority of the seismic weight of the building (the building's roof) is further from the ground, which may induce larger overturning forces. The structure may also contain slender elements that may be more likely to experience buckling failure modes.

Optional

Equipment

•       CA EQ

•       HI EQ

•       JP EQ

•       US EQ

One of the following values to describe the level of equipment bracing in the building at this location:

•       Unknown (0)

•       Well-braced (1)

•       Average-braced/default (2)

•       Unbraced (3)

Anchoring mechanical and electrical equipment to the floor or bracing them against structural elements can resist damage. Vibration isolators (springs) are not as effective. In addition, piping should be braced to restrain the movement.

Optional

Seal Of Approval

•       HI TC

•       US HU

•       US ST - Straight-Line Winds, Tornados

One of the following values to describe the level of professional engineering attention given to the design of the structure of the building at this location The following list describes each value (in bold):

•       Unknown / Default (0)

•       Fully Engineered Structure (1) Designed by a Professional Engineer who is required by the local jurisdiction to seal the calculations and drawings.

•       Partially Engineered Structure (2) Inspected by a Professional Engineer and found "deemed-to-comply" with the respective building code. Local jurisdiction does not require the Professional Engineer to seal the calculations.

•       Minimally Engineered Structure (3) Structure does not satisfy any of the conditions mentioned above.

This field is only applicable if you specify a year built for the building at this location.

Optional

Extra Data

This field does not affect losses.

Extra data to describe the building at this location

Optional

[NULL]

IS Value Type

•       JP EQ

One of the following values to describe the type of measure of the total seismic performance of the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Less than 0.3 (1)

•       0.3 - 0.45 (2)

•       0.45 - 0.55 (3)

•       0.55 - 0.65 (4)

•       0.65 - 0.75 (5)

•       0.75 - 0.85 (6)

•       0.85 - 1.0 (7)

•       1.0 - 1.25 (8)

•       Greater than 1.2 (9)

This measure accounts for all the characteristics that affect the response of a building to an earthquake.

The value is based on seismic performance evaluation guidelines.

If you use this modifier, Touchstone disables all other modifiers.

Optional

Lattice Type

•       JP EQ

One of the following values to describe the type of web for H-shaped steel in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Full Web (1)

•       Grid (2)

•       Lattice (3)

The characteristic influences the ductility of a structure.

Optional

Multi Story Hall Type

•       JP EQ

One of the following values to indicate whether there is a multi-story hall in the building at this location:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       No (1)

•       Yes (2)

Multi-story halls cause the unequal distribution of external forces among floors and columns. This causes stress to concentrate in some of the components, which makes buildings more vulnerable to earthquake damage.

Optional

First Floor Height

•       JP IF

•       JP TY

•       US HU

•       US IF

Height (in meters) of the first floor in the building at this location above the ground surface / grade

A value of -999 for this field in your import data represents Unknown/Default.

Touchstone supports this field for all residential, commercial, and small industrial buildings.

The value in this field overrides the value for the base flood elevation.

A raised first floor significantly reduces a building's vulnerability to flood damage.

•       Optional

•       If you specify any of the following construction or occupancy class codes for this location, Touchstone ignores your setting for this field:

•       IFM (400 series occupancy class codes)

•       200 series construction class codes (including automobiles and pleasure boats)

Service Equipment Protection

•       US HU

•       US IF

One of the following values to indicate whether mechanical, electrical, or plumbing service equipment in the floodable parts of the basement of the building at this location has protection:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Protected for flood (1) (i.e., protected for flood by being elevated and/or flood proofing)

•       Unprotected for flood (2) (i.e., not elevated and not flood protected)

Touchstone supports this field for all residential, commercial, and small industrial buildings.

Protection can be in the form of the equipment being elevated or in the form of some type of flood-proofing.

•       Optional

•       If you specify any of the following construction or occupancy class codes for this location, Touchstone ignores your setting for this field:

•       IFM (400 series occupancy class codes)

•       200 series construction class codes (including automobiles and pleasure boats)

Content Vulnerability

•       US HU

•       US IF

One of the following values to describe the portion of the contents of the building at this location that have a low vulnerability. The following list describes each value (in bold):

•       Unknown/Default (0) Level of vulnerability is unknown, or you want to use the Touchstone default setting.

•       Low (1) An unusually large percentage of the contents is water-resistant or protected.

•       Moderate (2) A typical percentage or the contents is water-resistance or protected.

•       High (3) A low percentage of the contents is water-resistant or protected.

•       Very High (4) Almost none of the contents are water-resistant or protected.

Touchstone supports this field for all residential, commercial, and small industrial buildings.

This field enables you to indicate that some of a building's contents are resistant to water damage or have flood protection.

•       Optional

•       If you specify any of the following construction or occupancy class codes for this location, Touchstone ignores your setting for this field:

•       200 series construction class codes (including automobiles and pleasure boats)

Certified Structures (IBHS)

•       US HU

One of the following values to indicate whether the building at this location has achieved an Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) FORTIFIED designation:

•       Unknown/default (0)

•       Fortified Home (IBHS) Bronze Option 1 (1)

•       Fortified Home (IBHS) Bronze Option 2 (2)

•       Fortified Home (IBHS) Silver Option 1 (3)

•       Fortified Home (IBHS) Silver Option 2 (4)

•       Fortified Home (IBHS) Gold Option 1 (5)

•       Fortified Home (IBHS) Gold Option 2 (6)

•       Fortified for Safer Living (IBHS) (7)

When importing values for this field, use integer identifiers. For example, import "1" for "Fortified Home (IBHS) Bronze Option 1".

Optional

This feature works only for AIR occupancy codes 301, 302, 303, and 306 when used in combination with AIR construction codes 101-14, 111-119, and 131-137.

IsFireSprinklerAvailable

•       N/A (For Non-Catastrophe Peril Analysis)

One of the following values to indicate whether this location contains one or more fire sprinklers:

•       Yes (1)

•       No (0)

•       Unknown

When importing values for this field, use integer identifiers. For example, import "1" for "Yes".

Optional