Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 12941: Seismic Safety of Existing Federally Owned or Leased Buildings

President: Bill Clinton

Adopted minimum seismic assessment and mitigation standards for existing federal buildings and required inventories, cost estimates, technical support and reporting.

Status: In effect.

Is Executive Order 12941 still in effect? Yes. Continuing minimum-standards framework with completed initial inventories and periodically updated ICSSC standards.

What does Executive Order 12941 do?

EO 12941 adopted the Interagency Committee on Seismic Safety in Construction standards as the minimum level for evaluating and mitigating unacceptable earthquake risks in existing federally owned or leased buildings. Agencies had four years to inventory buildings and estimate mitigation costs; FEMA had notification and reporting duties; NIST provided technical assistance; and ICSSC was to update standards at least every five years. The initial deadlines are complete, while the standards framework continues under the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act.

Administration position: The order established a common risk baseline. It did not mandate immediate retrofit of every building regardless of cost, exemptions or the standards’ screening rules.
SignedDecember 1, 1994
Initial inventory deadlineFour years
Technical leadNIST and ICSSC

Before and after

Before the order

Agencies lacked a single adopted minimum standard for the existing federal portfolio.

After the order

Covered buildings were evaluated and mitigation planned against common standards.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Federal agenciesEvaluate covered buildings and mitigate unacceptable riskUnder updated standards
ICSSCMaintain and update standardsAt least every five years
NISTProvide technical assistanceFor implementation

What happened next

EO 12941 adopted the standards.

Initial inventories and cost estimates were due.

The statutory and standards framework remained published.