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Oakland Mandatory Soft Story Ordinance

On January 22, 2019, the city of Oakland adopted the municipal ordinance (OMC) No. 13516, also known as the Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program. As part of that program, the owners of buildings that appear on the List and Map of Potential Soft Story Buildings have been notified that their building may be subject to […]

What a shock!

What a shock! Two significant earthquakes, collectively known as the Ridgecrest earthquakes—with magnitudes of 6.5 and 7.1 (Mw)—hit Southern California on July 4 and 5, 2019. The Ridgecrest earthquakes were the largest earthquakes to hit California since the destructive 1994 Northridge earthquake. Engineers expected significant building damage in the area surrounding Ridgecrest. But the evidence […]

Deadline Looming for Retrofit on SF Buildings Subject to “Soft-Story Law “

September 15th, 2017 is the deadline to pull permits for buildings requiring retrofit work in San Francisco under the 2013 Soft-Story Law.  As of April 9th, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that many owners of the “tier three building category– wood frame structures containing between five and 15 units” have yet to file for permits.  […]

City of Berkeley offers retrofit grants for soft story buildings

City of Berkeley have obtained FEMA funding that can be applied towards the engineering fees of up to $5,000 and 30% of construction costs up to the total combined design and construction costs of $25,000.  The funds are available in the form of reimbursements. In order to be eligible for the engineering costs reimbursement, the […]

California to Develop Earthquake Early Warning System

Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill expediting the research and development of a statewide earthquake early warning system that has potential to save lives. The warning system is designed to detect the first shock waves from an earthquake, and alert people before the slower but devastating waves spread. Once the system is ready, Californians will […]

There Are Still 60% Of Soft Story Buildings In San Francisco That Have Not Complied With SF Earthquake Safety Standard!

In an interview done by KPIX 5, the Director of the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, Tom Hui, said that only 40 percent of soft story buildings in San Francisco are in compliance with seismic retrofit ordinance.  A map that shows status of soft story building in San Francisco can be found on San […]

Additional steps you can take to secure you home

Additional steps you can take to secure you home.  Have you noticed a continuous stream of news about earthquakes from around the world lately?  I certainly have and it reminds me that we are overdue for one.  There are a number common sense things that don’t cost a lot of of money  that one can […]

A Residential Seismic Retrofits Grants May Soon Be Available for Eligible Oakland Property Owners!

The City of Oakland has requested a federal funding for two programs that provides grant for Oakland property owners that are interested in seismic retrofitting their property. If the City of Oakland receives the funds, property owners will be contacted to complete a full application. The criteria to participate in the programs are as follow: […]

ATTENTION: Owners of “Tier 2” Soft Story properties in San Francisco!

San Francisco “Tier 2” property owners, the September 15th deadline of the mandated seismic retrofit program is approaching! Owners of Tier 2 properties, with 3-stories and 15 or more residential units need to submit permit application by deadline. Failure to submit permits and plans to Department of Building Inspection will result in code enforcement action […]

Los Angeles Passed a Seismic Retrofit Ordinance!

The city of Los Angeles Passed Ordinance NO. 183893, a seismic retrofit Ordinance which will affect as much as 17,000 buildings in the city. The goal of this Ordinance is to improve tenant safety, lower likelihood of building collapse, and to reduce earthquake damage. This Ordinance will be costly and the city has decided that […]