News Los Angeles Business, Info & Events
By Alex Castro
May 9, 2016
Los Angeles, CA – Family-owned and operated construction and engineering firm, The Project Masters Group, Inc., announced last month plans to establish a new retrofit division. The business has officially launched TPMG Seismic, a division wholly devoted to seismic retrofitting in the Los Angeles Area.
The Project Masters Group officials report that the new division will allow them to provide competitive engineering and construction services for clients seeking soft story or non-ductile seismic retrofits.
This news follows in the wake of new Los Angeles City ordinances requiring some 15,000+ buildings to be retrofitting for higher earthquake safety. Due to the complexity of the requirements, a dedicated team was reported to be the most efficient way to assist these new clients.
A co-owner of the Valencia, CA based company reports that their in-house engineers and construction managers have an extensive background in similar work. They have stated it is their wish to make the process as simple and cost-effective as possible.
About The Project Masters Group
The Project Masters Group, Inc. opened its doors just 3 years ago in 2013. Owned and operated as a family, the business boasts 100+ years of combined industry experience.
The firm was founded on the idea that the experience of veteran professionals and the energy of a new firm is the best way to provide excellent service to local clients. With the tagline ‘Your Project, Our Experience. Done.’ It is evident that the team hopes to make difficult construction projects easier for clients. For more information, please visit http://www.theprojectmastersgroup.com for information about the parent firm or http://www.easyseismicretrofit.com for the TPMG Seismic Division page.
About Los Angeles Seismic Retrofit Laws
The need for an entire division devoted to soft story seismic retrofitting and non-ductile seismic retrofitting in Los Angeles is entirely due to increasingly stricter building codes. On November 22, 2015 Ordinance 183983, signed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and his team, came in to effect. The new law requires some 15,000+ buildings in the Los Angeles City limits to undergo seismic retrofitting.
The 2 primary structures impacted are soft story buildings erected prior to 1978 and non-ductile buildings constructed prior to 1976.
A soft story building is typically built from wood and has a weak ground floor due to openings for covered parking. Many residents of the San Fernando Valley recognize these as ‘Dingbat’ Apartments.
Non-ductile structures are older, large concrete buildings that lack the ability to resist the lateral stress of an earthquake.
Building owners face a deadline of 7 years to retrofit their soft story buildings, and 25 years to finish a non-ductile structure. While this timeline appears to be very generous, some building may require lengthy engineering and permitting periods, as well as funding delays. Owners are urged to begin the process by contacting a seismic retrofitting firm as soon as they received an order to comply.
These new requirements are expected to mitigate billions of dollars in damages and thousands of lives in a major earthquake.
Contact
To learn more about seismic retrofitting or The Project Masters Group, please contact
Alex Castro, Director of Operations
26027 Huntington Lane. Ste. F
Office: (888) 790-0569
alex@tpmg.us
