Commercial Earthquake Retrofitting in San Francisco
Each year, the southern California area experiences about 10,000 earthquakes. Most of these earthquakes are so small that they are not felt. Several hundred are of a magnitude greater than 3.0, and 15-20 are over 4.0. Earthquakes can easily cause buildings to collapse, which is extremely dangerous and can cause injury to those inside and out. Accordingly, it is critical that all San Francisco properties are retrofitted for seismic activity.
Retrofitting laws in San Francisco require that all soft-story and non-ductile-concrete buildings are retrofitted. The Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program (MSSP) was created in 2013 with the goal of protecting San Francisco residents in the event of an earthquake. It is enforced by the Department of Building Inspection. It is important for all San Francisco commercial property owners to be aware of these requirements and make sure their homes are safe in the event of an earthquake.
WHAT KIND OF SAN FRANCISCO COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES ARE INCLUDED?
- Soft-Story – These buildings are multi-story. One or more floors have windows, large doors, and other openings. There is a weaker first floor in these buildings that cannot support the weight of the other stories during an earthquake.
- Non-Ductile Concrete – Structures that contain brittle concrete elements, such as beams, walls, columns, and connections, often perform poorly during earthquakes and must be retrofitted.
SAN FRANCISCO SEISMIC ORDINANCE COMPLIANCE
In order to ensure your property meets earthquake retrofitting requirements, it’s important to work with a reputable and experienced San Francisco retrofitting service. At Victor Construction & Engineering, our retrofitting experts use physics to fortify residential buildings to prevent them from collapsing during an earthquake. Each property is different, so we develop an individual formula in order to guarantee a strong, sound retrofitting job. Our priority is ensuring that the community of San Francisco is safe during earthquakes, so we pay full attention to detail in each project and conduct on-site assessments prior to beginning. We may also provide other seismic-related services, such as chimney strengthening, foundation anchoring, and sloped site footing alteration.
Click here for frequently asked questions related to earthquake retrofitting.
CONTACT US
If you are in need of San Francisco earthquake retrofitting for your commercial property, contact Victor Construction & Engineering today. We have over 30 years of experience fortifying San Francisco buildings against seismic activity. Call 415-472-9144 to learn more.
