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Los Angeles-area, CA, May 11, 2016 — The Los Angeles City Council passed Ordinance No. 184169 on March 29, 2016. Effective May 11, 2016, the ordinance mandates the evaluation and retrofit of buildings that experience substantial structural damage at low levels of earthquake shaking.

This ordinance requires that immediately after an earthquake, a damaged building be evaluated and findings submitted to the building official. If the evaluation finds substantial structural damage, the building’s retrofit scheme will be designed for moderately reduced building code level design loads. For specific technical values, read Ordinance No. 184169. If less than substantial damage is found, the building can be repaired to its pre-damaged condition.

Ordinance No. 184169 is one of the multiple recommendations outlined in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Resilience by Design report, Strengthen Our Buildings category. In 2015, the city of Los Angeles passed two ordinances involving the first two recommendations: the mandatory seismic retrofit of soft-story and concrete buildings. The ordinance effective today addresses the task force’s recommendation of a mandatory retrofit of buildings that incur excessive damage in a low level of shaking.

 

About Structural Focus

Structural Focus is a structural engineering consulting company specializing in the design of complex and innovative buildings. Whether the projects involve historic restoration or detailed laboratories, acoustically-sensitive post-production facilities or performance spaces, educational structures or corporate headquarters, Structural Focus embraces the collaborative process of design through an ongoing, open, creative and clear dialogue between the team and owner.