Seismic Compliance Unit presenters at the Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) agency outlined how general acute care hospitals should prepare and submit seismic compliance plans and building-level milestones during a webinar, emphasizing that plans are required for all hospitals and are due by the end of this year. "When people see the word 'plan,' they think about drawings. So this is really not about the drawing or calculations or evaluation," said Ollie, a presenter with the Seismic Compliance Unit, describing the required submission as a high-level outline for how each building will reach seismic compliance.

The guidance matters because the plans feed a public online record, set construction and permit deadlines for retrofit work, and are the basis for any requests for extended compliance time. The unit said it will post submitted plans and its remarks on each facility's page on the HCAI website so reviewers, facilities and the public can see status, comments and whether plans are approved, remarked or denied.

Key application structure and tools: presenters said the online application has two primary tables: a compliance-method table (one line per building describing the method of compliance and any project numbers) and a building-milestones table (up to 10 milestones per building, with the option to mark some as "critical" for campus-level tracking). The unit provides a downloadable spreadsheet of example milestones and a user guide that shows the step-by-step application screens. "We have an example spreadsheet on our website," Ollie said, urging facilities to download sample templates and FAQs.

Milestone strategy and limits: the unit recommended that hospitals choose a small number of meaningful critical milestones (for example, an SPC or NPC upgrade tied to a tower or nursing wing) rather than many minor items so reviewers can quickly assess whether a campus is on track. Presenters said facilities may list many building-level milestones but should prioritize significant tasks as critical milestones. For projects that require an NPC 5 retrofit, the unit advised that NPC 5 milestones be entered on only one building per campus to reduce duplication and future editing.

Representative deadlines: presenters spelled out construction and permit deadlines hospitals should plan around. Construction drawings for MPC and NPC retrofit projects are due March 1, 2026; permits for MPC/NPC projects are due March 1, 2028; and the target date for completing required retrofits and achieving compliance is Feb. 19, 2030. Presenters said approved facilities that receive an extension will have staggered construction deadlines but that the construction-permit and completion dates still apply to projects covered by any approved extensions.

Review, amendments and extensions: the unit said it conducts a reasonableness review of proposed dates and may contact facilities by phone and in writing to request clarifications. Facilities that seek a delay must submit the compliance plan together with the delay request and supporting documentation explaining why extra time is needed; the unit said it may request additional documents and that review turnaround will be less than 120 days. "If a delay is asked, and for the facilities who are eligible, the compliance plan and the delay request should go hand in hand," Ollie said.

Examples and milestone types: Hailey, a presenter with the Seismic Compliance Unit, walked through detailed, downloadable examples for common scenarios: campuses with multiple general acute care buildings that require SPC 4d, NPC 4 and NPC 5 upgrades; single-building campuses that must fit several retrofit projects into the 10 available milestone slots; buildings planned for demolition or conversion to non–general-acute-care use (OSHPD 1R); and cases where services are being relocated to a new or existing building. For construction milestones, the unit recommended intermediate indicators such as 20% and 50% completion as useful progress markers; for many projects the unit prefers a 20% intermediate milestone as evidence of construction momentum.

Public visibility and transparency: presenters emphasized that once the unit has reviewed a submission, its status and any reviewer comments will appear on the facility detail page on the HCAI website. "Our comments will be visible. We truly believe this should be a fully transparent process," Ollie said.

Resources and contact: presenters pointed attendees to a policy intent notice (PIN 80) on rules and delay procedures, the online user guide, frequently asked questions and the example spreadsheet. Kelly, the webinar moderator, said the slide handout would appear on the HCAI website in about one week, the session recording in about two weeks, and gave the unit email for questions: seismiccomplianceunit@hcai.ca.gov.

Ending: presenters encouraged facilities — especially smaller rural hospitals that may be eligible for state grant support mentioned in earlier webinars — to review prior webinars and the example spreadsheet and to use the application’s critical-milestone feature to help demonstrate campus-level progress.