Julian Construction Tells How to Determine the Cost of Soft Story Retrofit

(LosAngeles.CityRegions.Com, February 06, 2017 ) LOS ANGELES, CA: Julian Construction, Inc., (http://www.julianconstruction.com), a foundation repair and construction company in Los Angeles, explains how to figure the cost of soft story retrofitting.

The City of Los Angeles passed Ordinance 183893 in 2016, which requires the retrofit of two or more story buildings, pre-1978 wood-frame soft-story buildings and non-ductile concrete buildings, and those that have parking on the ground floor or similar open floor space. Residential buildings that have 3 or fewer units are not subject to the ordinance.

For the average Los Angeles apartment building which requires 2-moment frames, the total cost will be around $50,000 to $65,000. For a large complex building that requires 4 or more frames, it may cost over $100,000.

Three facets of cost are:

1. Engineering costs
2. Construction fees
3. Permit fees

Engineering costs

The cost for engineering depends on whether you have a junior (non-professional) or senior (professional) engineer. The difference can be in the hours they work as well as the cost. With the extensive list of requirements they have, there is a particular requirement that the work be inspected by a professional engineer at the end.

Other factors can be that if building elevation is necessary, and building testing to see the quality of the pre-existing beams, wood, columns. This kind of testing is typically referred to as “destructive” and can need patching. Additional work will be needed for the patching.

Construction Fees

With construction, there are also multiple factors that can affect cost. First off the building could be incorrectly identified as a soft story building or have already had its renovations. In this case, the owner can submit evidence to the city that the building does not need to be updated. It can be very useful to have a detailed report from a construction company to submit to the city with other evidence explaining that the building does not need an overhaul.

Permit Fees

The city charges various fees, but in this particular instance, you need a permit in order to start the construction. The fee is based on the cost of the work to retrofit any given building. There is an online calculator the city provides in order to check what this fee would be.

Julian De La Torre, founder, and owner of Julian Construction stated: “No two soft-story retrofitting projects are the same and so there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Ideally, we consider several factors to determine the best way to approach the project to get the building to meet the structural standards of retrofitted soft-story buildings, while also having a minimal impact on the function and use of the building. We see these kinds of soft-story buildings every day. Fortunately much more is known about the risks involved with this type of design now, so buildings today are built much more securely. But with older buildings, it is important to know the risks involved with soft story structural issues. If you’d like a free inspection of your property, give us a call. We have decades of retrofitting experience and will make sure your home is properly secured.”

Julian Construction owns its own company and is built on a “no middlemen” model – no salesmen, no subcontractors. When you work with Julian Construction you get the principals of the company and workers of Julian Construction under your home. The result is the highest quality work at affordable prices. They can be contacted by phone at 323 733-3377, by fax at 323 733-4477 or via their website, www.julianconstruction.com. You can see tips and advice about home foundations on their blog, at http://julianconstruction.com/blog/ or http://quakeproofers.com/blog/.

Julian Construction

Shawn Kyles

2145342189

kyles7777@aol.com

Source: EmailWire.Com