News: Seismic Retrofitting
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The Torrance City Council on Tuesday, May 15, kicked off the creation of a seismic-retrofit ordinance for the city’s building stock.
The ordinance would include soft-story construction prior to 1997, including multifamily buildings. A staff report is available here.
A record number of Californians are getting earthquake insurance, and more and more cities throughout the state are passing laws to make buildings safer in a quake.
In 2016, the number of people signing up for an earthquake policy jumped more than seven-fold compared to previous years, the California Earthquake Authority just reported.
Earthquakes are not selective about where and when they strike, and they are equally as indiscriminate on the types of buildings they can rattle to the ground. While it is true that some structures may be more prone to damage than others, the reality is that virtually all buildings have the capacity to fail in a major quake.
Recognizing that, many cities throughout the state are kicking off new laws requiring retrofits of various types of buildings – a phenomenon the Los Angeles Times recently proclaimed as the start of a “new frontier” for earthquake safety.
Tagged: Seismic Retrofitting
If you need to seismically retrofit your apartment building, chances are good you’ll need to borrow money to do so. But what if you’re having trouble getting approved for a loan?
That’s where the new California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program comes in.
The program itself doesn’t loan money, but it lessens the financial risk for participating banks, making them more likely to offer loans to small-business owners, like mom-and-pop landlords.
The state’s Pollution Control Financing Authority received $10 million from the Legislature last year to administer the program, which went live last month. Representatives are seeking banks to… Read More
Tagged: Seismic Retrofitting
On a radio talk show Tuesday, CAA’s Debra Carlton extolled a bill that would provide tax credits to help landlords pay for seismic retrofits.
Carlton, senior vice president of public affairs for the California Apartment Association, discussed Assembly Bill 428 with host Larry Mantle on KPCC’s AirTalk.
AB 428 by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian has passed the state Legislature and awaits Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature.
The legislation would allow a tax credit in an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified costs paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer for any seismic retrofit construction on a qualified building.
“It’s certainly… Read More
Tagged: Seismic Retrofitting