The House passed a bill Friday to encourage school districts to evaluate their buildings for earthquake preparedness, two days after defeating the same bill.

Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, asked that the bill be reconsidered, after the bill's sponsor, Rep. Larry Wiley, D-West Valley City, had convinced him and other legislators who had voted against the bill to change their votes.

The bill requires that all schools submit information to the Legislature regarding the construction of the building, any relevant building improvements since that time, and any structural evaluations that have already occurred. This information will then be used to determine which schools need to be made consistent with post-1974 building practices.

According to information provided by Wiley last year, when he sponsored a similar bill, about 58% of Utah schools were built prior to 1974, when legislation was passed to strengthen building codes.

"This isn't any kind of a mandate that says they have to repair all that, but at least we know where they stand on it," said Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, who was one of the legislators who decided to support the bill after opposing it in the original vote.

Many legislators changed their vote after Wiley made it clear the Legislature could not be held liable for having information about faulty schools, without acting to improve them. Some legislators had previously worried that the state could be sued for knowing that schools were not structurally sound, but not acting on the information because of budget restraints.

The bill originally failed Wednesday on a 34-38 vote. It passed Friday by a vote of 50-18. The bill must now be considered by the Senate.