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All posts for the month January, 2014

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 […]

New Method of evaluating and strengthening of Soft Story Buildings

A small investment in engineering will potentially save on overall project construction costs.