These provisions present criteria for the design and construction of buildings subject to earthquake ground motions. Their purposes are to minimize the hazard to life for all buildings, to increase the expected performance of higher occupancy structures as compared to ordinary structures, and to improve the capability of essential facilities to function during and after an earthquake.

The NEHRP Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and Other Structures (referred to hereinafter as the Provisions) present criteria for the design and construction of structures to resist earthquake ground motions. The purposes of these Provisions are as follows: