附件中是该规范的pdf版本，英文版。

首先简单说一下FEMA 273与356的关系，Federal Emergency Management Agency （FEMA）也就是 美国联邦紧急事务管理署 。

该部门颁布的FEMA273(1997)比较有名，全称Guidelines for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings，FEMA274在前面加了个Commentary,即为FEMA273的条文说明.虽然看名字是用于建筑的 Rehabilitation（也就是对已有建筑物的加固）,但其中许多方法很是值的推荐，比如非线性静力方法Pushovr分析时，当年有很多文献讨论其中的水平力的分布模式等。 FEMA356(2000)全称Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings，是FEMA273的发展版。
英文原文介绍如下：

The preparation of this prestandard was originally undertaken with two principal and complementary objectives. The first was to encourage the wider application of the NEHRP Guidelines for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, FEMA 273, by converting it into mandatory language. Design professionals and building officials thus would have at their disposal a more specific reference document for making buildings more resistant to earthquakes. This volume fully meets this first objective.

The second objective was to provide a basis for a nationally recognized, ANSI-approved standard that would further help in disseminating and incorporating the approaches and technology of the prestandard into the mainstream of design and construction practices in the United States. How successfully this volume achieves the second objective will become apparent with the passage of time, as this prestandard goes through the balloting process of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Several additional related efforts were ongoing during the development of this prestandard. A concerted effort was made to gather any new information produced by these endeavors. Topics varied considerably, but typically covered approaches, methodologies, and criteria. Whenever an analysis of the new information disclosed significant advances or improvements in the state-of-the-practice, they were included in this volume. Thus, maintaining FEMA 273 as a living document—a process to which FEMA is strongly committed—is continuing.


The title of this document, FEMA 356 Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, incorporates a word that not all users may be familiar with. That word—prestandard—has a special meaning within the ASCE Standards Program in that it signifies the document has been accepted for use as the start of the formal standard development process, however, the document has yet to be fully processed as a voluntary consensus standard.