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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 […]

Berkeley Expands Financing Options for Soft Story Building Owners

According to the Daily Californian (“Expansion of Berkeley financing program to ease costs of seismic retrofitting,” posted on 8/18/15), soft story building owners can now access PACE, Property Accessed Clean Energy, funds to help ease the cost burden of undergoing a retrofit of their buildings. PACE financing allows property owners to borrow the money necessary […]

Berkeley Apartment Building Owners Halfway There

According to the Contra Costa Times (“Berkeley: More than half the soft story buildings retrofitted, city says,” posted on 10/6/15), more than half of the apartment buildings identified as needing to be seismically retrofitted have completed the process since the soft story ordinance passed in 2005.  According to the article 145 soft story apartment buildings […]

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 […]

Napa wake up call!

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated in 2007 that there is a 63% probability of at least one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake, capable of causing widespread damage, striking the San Francisco Bay region before 2030. There is a 67% probability of a similarly sized earthquake striking the Southern California region within the same period. […]

Private schools in SF require seismic engineering evaluation

The Private Schools Earthquake Safety Working Group, comprised of volunteer parents, school representatives, other interested persons, and City staff presented a report that resulted in having a new legislation introduced requiring all Private Schools to perform a seismic evaluation by 2017.   Buildings within the scope of the ordinance to be evaluated at one of […]

Video of Simulated Soft-Story Building Collapse due to Earthquake

In the following video clip, engineers test a soft-story building with a 6.7 magnitude simulated earthquake to determine the effects of a large earthquake on buildings with a soft-story condition. The results are quite dramatic, as the bottom floor of the building collapses, and the building topples sideways. Click on the link below to watch […]

Common Misconception: My Building Survived 1989 Earthquake So I Don’t Need A Retrofit

Building owners commonly believe good performance of their building during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake validates a building as being safe to withstand a major earthquake. However, the Loma Prieta earthquake registered a magnitude 6.9 with an epicenter located approximately 60 miles from San Francisco. For comparison, the Great Earthquake of 1906 registered a magnitude of […]

Berkeley passes its own mandatory Soft Story ordinance

On December 3, 2013 City Council adopted Ordinance No. 7,318-N.S. amending Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 19.39 to require property owners of soft, weak or open front (“SWOF”) buildings with five or more dwelling units to retrofit their buildings within the next five years. Owners have three years to apply for a building permit and two […]