Infrastructure protectionSanta Monica to require retrofit of earthquake-vulnerable buildings

Twenty years ago, Santa Monica passed laws requiring retrofitting of concrete, steel, and wood apartment buildings which proved vulnerable to collapse during an earthquake. The city stopped implementing the law a few years later, and officials recently acknowledged that the list of at-risk buildings has been lost.

Last week, the Santa Monica City Council authorized city officials to hire Degenkolb Engineers to help identify buildings built before 1996 which could potentially be at risk in a major earthquake. Once the buildings have been surveyed and recorded, engineers will review design drawings and permits to find any records of retrofit. Owners of vulnerable buildings would be notified and provided recommendations on how to best retrofit their buildings.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Santa Monica will become the first city in California to require retrofitting for buildings which are deemed vulnerable in earthquakes after a citywide inspection of concrete, steel, and wood-frame buildings. “We don’t want to drag our feet on getting this work done,” Mayor Pro Tem Terry O’Day said in an interview. “We’ve gone as far as our staff could go on its own with its resources. This consultant will help us fully understand the issue.”

Operating under a city approved budget which will not exceed $91,524, Degenkolb Engineers is expected to survey hundreds of buildings constructed before 1996, including steel office towers, concrete buildings, and wooden multi-story residential houses, but excluding single-family homes. “This will tell us which properties are at greatest risk, and what kinds of strategies are available to us to reduce the risk,” O’Day said. The inventory creates a valuable “baseline” for officials to know where to direct earthquake safety efforts, he said.

Los Angeles officials are reviewing calls for a similar survey of concrete and wood apartment buildings. U.S. Geological Survey seismologist, Lucy Jones, who is a science advisor to the city of Los Angeles on quake retrofit policy, approves of Santa Monica’s retrofitting effort and has said the program could be instructive for Los Angeles. San Francisco last year required retrofitting of wood apartment buildings, but Santa Monica’s program is more comprehensive as it covers the three building types considered most vulnerable to collapse during earthquakes.

Building officials estimate that Santa Monica has roughly thirty to 100 concrete and another thirty to 100 steel moment frame buildings built before 1996. Degenkolb Engineers will “identify all non-ductile concrete and steel moment frame buildings in the City of Santa Monica and … also assist staff in identifying all remaining types of seismically hazardous buildings,” according to a Santa Monica city official staff report. “Although some of these buildings have been identified and retrofitted to acceptable engineering standards, staff believes that there are many buildings that remain unretrofitted and may present a hazard to public safety,” building official Ron Takiguchi wrote in the report.

Property owners are concerned about costs should they be required to retrofit their buildings. “Every apartment owner is a responsible citizen and wants to retrofit. But who should pay for it is the real issue,” Michael Millman, who rents to low-income residents, told the Santa Monica City Council last Tuesday.

Degenkolb Engineers was issued the contract out of fourteen engineering firms whicht responded to the city’s proposal request. The inventory work will begin later this June and is expected to be completed in July. “Santa Monica is very serious about this,” Takiguchi said. “We want to have our building stock safer.”