(a) To meet the building and construction requirements of this subpart, the Department, except as noted, adopts as its seismic safety standards the seismic safety levels set forth in the model building codes that the Interagency Committee on Seismic Safety in Construction (ICSSC) recognizes and recommends as appropriate for implementing the Executive Order. The ICSSC, as of the date of this rule, recognizes and recommends:

(1) The 1991 International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) Uniform Building Code (UBC);

(2) The 1992 Supplement to the Building Officials and Code Administrators International (BOCA) National Building Code (NBC); and

(3) The 1992 Amendments to the Southern Building Code Congress (SBCC) Standard Building Code (SBC).

(b) The seismic design and construction of a covered building shall conform to the model code applicable in the locality where the building is constructed, unless:

(1) The building code for the locality provides a higher level of seismic safety than provided by the appropriate model code, in which case the local code shall be utilized as the standard; or

(2) The locality does not have seismic safety building requirements, in which case the ICSSC model building code appropriate for that geographic area shall be utilized as the standard.