Four Reasons You Should Consider Soft Story Retrofitting Your Property

Posted on: 12 November 2021

A story building gets termed as having a soft story when it is established that its first floor is not strong enough to support the weight of the floors above during an earthquake. To put it simply, if your building is a soft story, it is has a high likelihood of collapsing during an earthquake.

Hence, soft story retrofitting refers to the reinforcement of the first floor of a story building to make it strong enough to support the weight of the above stories so that it doesn't collapse during an earthquake. Thus, it is essential to note that if your property is located in a seismically active area, soft story retrofitting is an essential service you need to consider.

With that said, here are four benefits of conducting soft story retrofitting on your property.  

Mandatory Soft Story Program

Depending on the state you live in, there could be a mandatory soft-story retrofitting program that the department of building inspections has enforced. According to the law, if the state you live in has such a program, all property owners must ensure that their buildings get soft story retrofitting.

Thus, in such states where a mandatory soft-story retrofitting program has been established, e.g., California, failing to conduct soft story retrofitting on your building is considered as breaking the law. Thus, you could get sued or fined for failing to comply with the mandatory soft-story laws.

Minimizing Your Insurance Premiums

Suppose your home or commercial building is located in a seismically active region. In that case, it is essential and sometimes mandated by law that you get insurance cover against damage that an earthquake might cause.

Nonetheless, considering that a building requires several types of insurance coverage, e.g., fire, floods, and earthquakes, the premiums you pay towards property insurance coverage can be significantly high. However, insurance companies are willing to reduce your premiums if you take active measures to safeguard your property against damage.

Thus, if you conduct a soft story retrofit on your building, your insurance company is willing to reduce the premiums you pay toward earthquake coverage. Hence, retrofitting a soft-story building enables you to save money on your property insurance premiums.  

Increasing Property Value 

When property investors are looking to purchase a property situated in a seismically active region, one of the main factors they consider is whether the property has soft story retrofitting. Typically, a building that has been retrofitted is bound to attract higher offers than a not retrofitted building. Therefore, soft story retrofitting is a key determinant of the value of a property.

Thus, if you plan on selling your story home or building, it is advisable to conduct soft-story retrofitting before you sell it because the retrofitting service will significantly increase the property's value.

Safety

The most important reason soft story retrofitting is essential is that it ensures the safety of the occupants of a building during an earthquake. Typically, earthquakes can occur at any moment of the day or night without warning. Thus, living in a building with a soft story poses the risk of the building collapsing during an earthquake while its occupants are still inside.  

Therefore, it is highly advisable to conduct soft story retrofitting on your building to protect your family or tenants even if there is no mandatory soft-story program in your state. 

Also, it is essential to note that if an earthquake were to occur and your building collapses while tenants are still inside, you would be held liable for negligence because you neglected to retrofit the building.

Contact a local soft-story retrofit service to learn more.

Share  

Going for the Big Build

Sometimes, contractors talk about the "big build." This is usually a build that is larger than the ones they have done in the past. Sometimes, it is a build that pushes them to enhance their skill set or step outside the box. Ask yourself what the equivalent of a big build is in your life. As you do, you'll learn that you can relate to contractors more directly than you thought possible. On the surface, they build homes and other structures, but deep down, they're artists striving to create. Read more about contractors and their work here, and keep deepening your understanding.

Latest Posts