A Comparative Study on Seismic Provisions Made in ‎UBC-1997 and Saudi Building Code for RC Buildings‎

This paper presents a comparative study of static analysis procedure ‎for seismic performance based on UBC-1997 and SBC-301-‎‎2007(Saudi Arabia). These building codes define different ductility ‎classes and corresponding response reduction factors based on ‎material, configuration and detailing of reinforcements. Codes differ ‎significantly in specifying the procedures to estimate base shear, drift ‎and effective stiffness of structural members. One of the major ‎improvements made in new SBC (based on IBC-2003) is ground ‎motion parameters used for seismic design. In old SBC (based on ‎UBC) maps have been based on seismic zones. However new SBC ‎provide contour maps giving spectral response quantities. In this ‎approach, a case study of RC frame building located in two different ‎cities and with different ductility classes has been performed. ‎Moreover, equivalent static method based on SBC-301 and UBC-1997 ‎is used to explore the variation in results based on two codes, ‎particularly design base shear, lateral loads and story drifts.