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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.  […]

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 […]

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 […]

EQ IQ (Continued)

Additional steps you can take to secure you home.  These steps are paraphrasing and adding to another New Yorker article by Kathryn Shultz “How to Stay Safe When the Big One Comes” as it relates to SF Bay Area.  See the previous post that talks about earthquake facts and crawl space strengthening and foundation bolting […]

EQ IQ

If haven’t read this month’s New Yorker article about the Cascade fault that spans from Vancouver down to Northern California (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one), you definitely should.  It’s a fascinating read and has a lot of useful information, especially in the light of a little jolt that we had this morning.  Here are some take aways from the […]

Enginious Structures are now certified via AllianceNRG

After a rigorous review, AllianceNRG who partnered with the city of San Francisco to administer a 100% public financing options for the soft story apartment building owners, has certified Enginious Structures as one of the few engineering firms that are allowed  to participate in this program.  As part of the process, AllianceNRG verified licensing, workers comp, […]

San Francisco’s Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Financing Q&A Panel is January 26th

The San Francisco Apartment Association and AllianceNRG will be holding a panel for property owners who have questions about financing options. The meeting will be held at 6pm January 26th, at the Ft. Mason, Fleet Room, Building D.   AllianceNRG has partnered with the city of San Francisco to provide financing for soft story retrofits. […]

San Francisco now offering 100% financing for all soft story buildings that require seismic retrofits

The city of San Francisco has partnered with AllianceNRG to provide property owners 100% financing for all property that requires upgrades on multifamily soft story buildings for structural engineering and design costs. The financing covers only the improvements with no need to refinance the mortgage on the property. Up to 30 years long term financing with […]

San Francisco Soft Story Retrofit Program, Update

San Francisco has seen an overwhelming 92% of buildings come into full compliance with the screening portion of the Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance.  Property owners were given a year to complete the initial screening forms which would determine if a building would be subject to the Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program.  Starting next week, the […]

San Francisco Private School Seismic Ordinance Approved

Mayor Edwin M. Lee introduced the Private School Earthquake Safety Ordinance, which will require the seismic evaluation of 120 private K-12 schools in San Francisco over the next three years.  After careful review and public outreach engaging school administrators, design professionals and parents, we are pleased to announce that the Ordinance was unanimously approved by […]