Location building detail fields
Validation rules for fields related to secondary building characteristics, that is, for the building details of a location.
Our individual risk methodology follows a structured, logical approach that groups building characteristics according to their function to reflect the contribution of each characteristic to overall building performance. For information about the secondary risk characteristics that are supported in a specific model, refer to the "Model in Touchstone” chapter in the model description, which is available on the Client Portal. Documentation for some Verisk models includes a separate document that serves as a guide to the secondary risk characteristics (SRC) used in the model.
Click the following links for information about Location Surrounding Detail fields, such as custom elevation and flood fields, and about Location Connection Detail fields, such as Foundation Type.
| Field | Perils | Description | Validation rules | Default value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor of Interest |
|
Floor of interest in cases in which the entire
building is not covered at this location. The following list describes each value.
Enter replacement values (Replacement Value Building, Replacement Value Content, and Replacement Value Time) for the floor of interest, not for the whole building. For the hurricane peril, use this field with terrain roughness and adjacent building height. Different floors of the building experience varying degrees of damage. The nature of damage experienced by each floor can also be different. |
|
|
| Floor Area | n/a | This field does not affect losses. The total floor area for the building at this location The specified floor area units determine the unit in which you should specify the value for this field.Differences between Gross Area and Floor Area. |
|
0 |
| Floor Area Units | n/a | One of the following units of measurement for
the floor
area:
|
|
|
| Floor Occupied | n/a | This field does not affect losses. Single floor or range of floors occupied in the building at this location |
Optional | [NULL] |
| Building Condition |
|
One of the following general qualitative
descriptions of the condition of the building at this location, based on
visual inspection of the building cladding and maintenance:
The external appearance of cladding and maintenance gives a qualitative estimate of expected performance. For earthquakes: Buildings with signs of distress or duress, such as cracking due to aging and ground settlement or overloading or cracking due to damage from previous earthquakes, are likely to experience additional damage during an earthquake. For earthquakes, the default is "Average". For hurricanes: Buildings with signs of distress or duress are likely to experience additional damage during a tropical cyclone. Some examples of these signs are an aging roof, exterior walls, or cladding; loose roof tiles or chimney damage; or damage from previous tropical cyclones. |
|
The default may vary for wind models, but is generally Unknown (0). |
| Building Shape |
|
One of the following values to describe the
overall shape of the footprint of the building at this location:
Shape is critical for the performance of a structure, especially for large commercial buildings. In general, simple regular forms, like squares and rectangles, perform better than combinations of those, such as L- and T-shaped buildings. The sharp corners in these complex shapes are vulnerable. |
|
Unknown/default (0) |
| Torsion |
|
One of the following values to describe the
layout of structural elements that can lead to torsional loads in the
building at this location:
Wedge-shaped buildings and corner buildings are typical examples in which the lateral load-resisting components in a building are placed asymmetrically. This leads to torsional forces being induced when the building is shaken, which can lead to significant damage. |
|
Unknown/default (0) |
| Backwater Valve Protection |
|
(Added in Touchstone 2024) Prevents leakage out of a plumbing
fixture if a sewer system backs up the building's drain line.
|
Optional | Unknown (0) |
| Soft Story |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether there is structural weakness at any floor in the building at this location:
First-floor garages and taller first floors are likely to exhibit soft-story behavior. The weakness is usually in the lateral load-resisting capacity of the floor and can often result in total (pancaking) collapse of the floor. In residential buildings, it is most often found in the first floor due to large openings or garages. In multi-story buildings, it can be present at any floor, although a large number of case histories exist with collapse of the first floor. |
|
Unknown/default (0) |
| Structural Irregularity |
|
One of the following values to describe
irregularity in such things as floor plans, structural components, uneven
weight distribution, etc. for the building at this location:
Touchstone no longer supports the Regular (1) value. If you use this value, Touchstone maps it to Unknown/default (0) upon import. Structural irregularities can lead to catastrophic collapse of properties as witnessed in the Mexico City and Kobe earthquakes. |
|
Unknown/default (0) |
| Special Earthquake-Resistive Systems |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether there are earthquake-resistive systems installed in the building at
this location:
|
Optional | |
| Retrofit Measures |
|
One of the following values to describe any
retrofit measured used in the building at this location:
|
|
|
| Short Column |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether there are short columns in the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Ornamentation |
|
One of the following values to describe the
amount of decorative elements attached to exterior of the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Water Heater |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether the water heater in the building at this location is braced:
|
Optional | |
| Redundancy |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether there are multiple lateral load-resisting elements (frames or shear
walls) in the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Tall One Story |
|
One of the following values to describe the
height of the one-story building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Equipment |
|
One of the following values to describe the
level of equipment bracing in the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Seal Of Approval |
|
One of the following values to describe the
level of professional engineering attention given to the design of the
structure of the building at this location The following list describes each
value (in bold):
|
Optional | |
| Extra Data | PAL (All licensed perils) | This field does not affect losses. Extra data is used to describe the building at this location. | Optional | [NULL] |
| IS Value Type |
|
One of the following values to describe the
type of measure of the total seismic performance of the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Lattice Type |
|
One of the following values to describe the
type of web for H-shaped steel in the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| Multi Story Hall Type |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether there is a multi-story hall in the building at this location:
|
Optional | |
| First Floor Height |
|
Height (in feet for Japan and for the US, in
meters for Europe) of the first floor in the building at this location above
the ground surface / grade A value of -999 for this field in your import data represents Unknown/Default. Touchstone supports this field for all residential, commercial, and small industrial buildings. The value in this field overrides the value for the base flood elevation. A raised first floor significantly reduces a building's vulnerability to flood damage. |
|
|
| Service Equipment Protection |
|
Indicates the level of protection to
mechanical, electrical, or plumbing service equipment in the floodable parts
of the basement of the building at this location:
Touchstone supports this field for all residential, commercial, and small industrial buildings. Protection can be in the form of the equipment being elevated or in the form of some type of flood proofing. |
|
0 |
| Wet Floodproofing |
|
One of the following values to indicate the
level of wet floodproofing mitigation techniques in the building at this
location. Protection can be in the form of the equipment and stock
protection. It also accounts for the use of flood openings in the foundation wall.
|
|
0 |
| FIRM Compliance |
|
Indicates compliance of the building with FEMA
flood zone requirements in design and construction. The following list
describes available values:
|
|
0 |
| Content Vulnerability |
|
One of the following values to describe the
portion of the contents of the building at this location that have a low
vulnerability. The following list describes each value:
Touchstone supports this field for all residential, commercial, and small industrial buildings. This field enables you to indicate that some of a building's contents are resistant to water damage or have flood protection. |
|
|
| Certified Structures (IBHS) |
|
Residential single- and multi-family homes
(occupancy types 301, 302, and 303) of wood, masonry, concrete, or steel
that meet IBHS criteria for load resistance are eligible for gold, silver,
or bronze certification, which represents the level of disaster protection
or mitigation. In addition, commercial buildings including, but not limited
to, hotels, group institutional housing, condominiums, general commercial
buildings, retail stores, and wholesale stores (occupancy types 304, 305,
306, 311, 312, 313+) that meet the IBHS fortification standards set forth
for commercial buildings are eligible for this feature. One of the following values to indicate whether the building at this location has achieved an Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) FORTIFIED designation:
When importing values for this field, use integer identifiers. For example, import "1" for "Fortified Home (IBHS) Bronze Option 1". When importing values for this field, use integer identifiers. For example, import "1" for "Fortified Home (IBHS) Bronze Option 1". |
Optional This feature works only for AIR occupancy codes 301, 302, 303, and 306 when used in combination with AIR construction codes 101-14, 111-119, and 131-137. |
|
| Is Fire Sprinkler Available |
|
One of the following values to indicate
whether this location contains one or more fire sprinklers:
Note: We have retired
non-catastrophe loss analyses in Touchstone 9.0. Therefore, these
fields do not affect losses. |
Optional | Unknown |