The Safety Assessment Program (SAP)
The Safety Assessment Program (SAP) provides professional resources to local governments to help with the safety evaluation of buildings and infrastructure after a disaster. The goal of the Safety Assessment Program is to perform these safety assessments as quickly as possible. With its origins in the response to the 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, SAP has been successful during more recent earthquakes such as Loma Prieta (1989), Landers – Big Bear (1992), Humboldt (1992), Northridge (1994), Napa (2000), San Simeon (2003), Baja (2010) and the 2014 Napa Earthquake. SAP was also used under the interstate Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) to help local governments in Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina (2005), and most recently the California Wildfires (2107).
The Safety Assessment Program at The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) provides as a service, training, certification, and management of a cadre of personnel for the coordination of private industry volunteers, local government employees, and state agency resources, who provide help local governments to perform safety evaluations of their built environment after a disaster. Approved SAP personnel consist of professional engineers, architects, geologists, and certified building inspectors. Cal OES manages the Safety Assessment Program, in cooperation with partnering professional organizations.
