Eight years after a survey counted over 2900 earthquake-vulnerable “soft story” apartments in Oakland, progress is being made to publicly identify, inspect and retrofit these buildings. Oakland has sent over 1400 letters to soft story building owners and soon will release its list of buildings to the public. The letters outline a new city ordinance mandating the building’s ground-floor structural support information be documented in a Level 1 seismic screening form. Building owners can hire an qualified engineer to complete the Level 1 screening form.

Recently, Dr. Scott Adan, a registered California structural engineer based in Oakland was authorized by the City to perform the screenings. For a limited time, Dr. Adan, Principal at Adan Engineering, is offering a level 1 seismic screening service for a flat $649 fee. The special rate is intended to assist building owners to conform with the mandate before the July 29, 2011 deadline. The service includes a building evaluation, and provides the filled-in, screener-signed Level 1 formwork required by the program. For additional information on the service, visit www.adanengineering.com.