This paper presents the initial building vulnerability schema proposed for the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled 'Cost-Effective Mitigation Strategy Development for Building Related Earthquake Risk'. The development of a building schema which categorises the Australian building stock into distinctive vulnerability classes is an integral part of the risk and impact assessment process. In undertaking this categorisation a review was undertaken of existing earthquake vulnerability schema found in the literature alongside a schema developed by an expert group for Australia. The schemas found in the literature were the HAZUS, the United Nations Global Assessment Report on Risk (UN-GAR), the RiskScape, the Global Earthquake Model (GEM), the US Geological Survey Prompt Assessment Global Earthquakes for Response (USGS PAGER), and the European Macroseismic Scale-98 (EMS-98). Also included was an Australian specific schema developed based on the recommendations made at a workshop in Melbourne in February 2001 (Stehle et al., 2001). Key building parameters from each of these were considered along with the building types found in the countries or regions where these schemas were developed. The proposed schema categorises buildings by the building attributes: Building Usage, Primary Lateral Load Resisting System, Height Range, Proximity to Coast, Wall Type, Wall Material, Roof Material, and Age. The draft schema has been developed in recognition of the current and projected ability to define national building exposure and of the parallel BNHCRC mitigation projects examining vulnerability to wind and riverine flooding. While vulnerability schemas are hazard specific, alignment has been sought with schemas for the other hazards where possible. The draft schema is considered to be a preliminary version, and is expected to evolve during the project as it develops new knowledge on vulnerability and mitigation options for key high risk Australian building types.
