Law Systems Regarding Seismic Capacity Evaluation of Housing in Japan and Systems Rationalization to Promote House Owners' Action of Seismic Risk Reduction

Abstract

The questionnaire survey on subsidies for seismic diagnosis of private housing was carried out for prefectures and major cities in Japan as of January 2003.The result revealed that 30% of prefectures and 60% of major cities have the subsidies. Though the free-of-charge system gathers more than 100 subsidy users a month, even a small burden charge influences the number of users. The law systems regarding seismic capacity evaluation are reviewed on their purposes and evaluation methods. It is pointed out that the qualified results of seismic diagnosis funded by the subsidies should be used for the discount of earthquake insurance, and the seismic performance should also be Certificated for the insurance discount after the retrofit works.