DrewL2 (California)
Posts: 2
Posts: 2
Posted:
In 2016, the city of L.A. passed ordinance 183893, which requires the retrofit of pre-1978 wood-frame soft-story buildings. This has been big news, so I was surprised to find no posts about this here.
Our building falls under the mandatory ordinance. Thankfully (and ironically), because our 1963 building was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, it was repaired up to 1994-era standards and the parking was reinforced.
We’ve been working with an engineering firm to assess whether/what additional work we need to do. The good news? Initial analysis suggests we may be compliant as-is. The bad? They’re charging us $20,000 for the *analysis*. We are a single, 3-story building with 30 1/2/3BR units.
To me, this sounds out of whack, even with multiple on-site visits and physical tests. I was expecting $2-$5k. Was hoping to hear here from other Los Angeles HOAs and how much engineering tests have cost you.
Their breakdown:
$400 Initial building & blueprint inspection
$3200 Destructive testing & report
$4000 Preliminary analysis
$11,400 Final report + meet w/ city inspector
Our building falls under the mandatory ordinance. Thankfully (and ironically), because our 1963 building was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, it was repaired up to 1994-era standards and the parking was reinforced.
We’ve been working with an engineering firm to assess whether/what additional work we need to do. The good news? Initial analysis suggests we may be compliant as-is. The bad? They’re charging us $20,000 for the *analysis*. We are a single, 3-story building with 30 1/2/3BR units.
To me, this sounds out of whack, even with multiple on-site visits and physical tests. I was expecting $2-$5k. Was hoping to hear here from other Los Angeles HOAs and how much engineering tests have cost you.
Their breakdown:
$400 Initial building & blueprint inspection
$3200 Destructive testing & report
$4000 Preliminary analysis
$11,400 Final report + meet w/ city inspector
I'd assume that hundreds (if not more) of L.A. HOA's have been going through a similar process.