Tag Archives: Berkeley balcony collapse

deck inspection

MY OPINION – THE SB 326 & SB 721 BALCONY BILLS NEED TO BE COMBINED & AMENDED

I am a balcony inspector the company that I work for does inspections under the two balcony bills. I speak often with other people in my industry including other balcony inspection company inspectors. We pretty much all agree that there is a lot of confusion amongst owners boards of directors and even the attorneys on interpreting the language in the balcony bills.

SB 326 regulates balcony inspections for condominiums. It requires inspections every 9 years by a structural engineer or an architect. It also requires a much higher percentage of balconies be inspected as opposed to what is required for apartment balcony inspections.

SB 721 regulates balcony inspections for apartments. Under this bill a general contractor can perform balcony inspections.

Continue reading MY OPINION – THE SB 326 & SB 721 BALCONY BILLS NEED TO BE COMBINED & AMENDED →
Ask the Deck Expert, best building practices

The Future is Here For Condo’s That Don’t Maintain; and It Doesn’t Look Good From Where I Stand

In a search today for something entirely unrelated to decks, I stumbled upon the news that a Homeowners Association in Diamond Bar CA had been red-tagged and the residents ordered to leave their homes because of deferred maintenance leading to structural concerns. The order to leave has been rescinded after the first engineers report declared the property and immediate hazard and recommended evacuating units was found to be lets say “over cautious”. There are 155 condos at the property on the first and second floors. The second floor units have balconies while first floor units have a patio.

Photo credit to The Patch Diamond Bar.

 Several structural engineers reports on the conditions found at The Village at Diamond Bar came to the conclusion that “while there are substantial deferred maintenance issues that should be addressed throughout the complex property, the condition does not create a widespread and immediate danger to the life or safety of all occupants of the individual units as previously recommended via a report by Khatri International, a structural engineer hired by the Diamond Bar Village Homeowner’s Association.“

Continue reading The Future is Here For Condo’s That Don’t Maintain; and It Doesn’t Look Good From Where I Stand →
balcony inspection, Berkeley deck collapse

Excellent Read for Condo & HOA Managers “Footing The Bill Paying for SB 326 Balcony Inspections”

Let’s make balconies safe by building them right with the best materials and skill available.

I stumbled on this article by Rachel Miller Esq and Sarah Brown with Reserve Specialist Dennis Eckert RS PRA on CAI’s website. Here Ms. Miller and Ms. Brown discuss the balcony bill in detail and raise a very good point-that Condo’s less than 10 years old may have additional rights under SB-800. Hidden damage exposed during destructive testing may qualify as a latent defect under SB 800 and therefore repairs might be paid for by the builder.

Continue reading Excellent Read for Condo & HOA Managers “Footing The Bill Paying for SB 326 Balcony Inspections” →
deck inspection, Wanke Industrial Commercial Residential Inc

CONSUMER ALERT- PALM SPRINGS AND SAN DIEGO BASED COMPANY PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS WANKE INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL IS TERRORIZING THEIR CLIENTS.

I have heard from several clients of the company formerly known as Wanke Industrial Commercial Residential who have told me horror stories about their tactics. Threats that if they don’t “fix balconies” that they will send a report to the city saying that the decks are dangerous etc. The scummy owner likes to use his wife’s law firm Lindborg and Mazor LLP to bully clients. I can’t give you legal advice but I would tell you to go get legal advice and do not allow the company formerly known as Wanke Industrial Commercial Residential try to push you around. I would encourage you to file complaints with the CSLB the attorney general’s office as well as the department of consumer affairs. If you receive threatening letters from his attorneys I would suggest that you go to the state bar and file complaints against them.

Is it a conflict of interest to do deck inspections under the balcony bill laws in California without disclosing that the company you are being referred to make the repairs or do the destructive testing is owned by the same person?

Continue reading CONSUMER ALERT- PALM SPRINGS AND SAN DIEGO BASED COMPANY PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS WANKE INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL IS TERRORIZING THEIR CLIENTS. →
deck expert

Reputations and Brands Take Years to Build, Why is This One Allowing Their Good Name to Be Abused?

Imagine driving into a Ford dealership; you are looking to buy a new car…

After taking your new Ford home and driving it for a couple months you have a problem with it. No problem you think, I’ll go to the dealership and they’ll fix it under the factory warranty right? Away you go and the dealership looks at you and says, we’re sorry, your warranty was for only 30 days and 30 days has passed…we can fix it for $X,XXX.xx.

You stand there in disbelief, saying wait this is a Ford dealership, I bought the car from you and have a factory warranty. The service manager says no you don’t, we warranty the car but only for 30 days after you buy it. So you call Ford and say hey I bought a car from X dealership and they say there’s no factory warranty available, what’s up with that?

Continue reading Reputations and Brands Take Years to Build, Why is This One Allowing Their Good Name to Be Abused? →
deck expert

IT’S DECK SAFETY MONTH, AND THE BALCONY COLLAPSES CAN’T STOP/WON’T STOP UNTIL AND UNLESS…WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Removal of the deck boards against the building reveals a seriously deteriorated set of beams.
They died because of poor workmanship and failing to inspect the deck. #NeverAgain

The North American Deck & Railing Association (NADRA) has declared May as “Deck Safety Month”, although IMHO, every month should be Deck Safety Month.

Rarely does a day go by without my Google alerts, “deck collapse” & “deck fire” sending me an email about another balcony collapsing somewhere or someone’s grill or fire pit on their deck was the cause of a major house fire.

Two weeks ago the headlines were about the Malibu balcony collapse, where 16 people fell to the rocks 15 feet below while at a house party on the coast. Fortunately no one died. This time. Six years ago, six students died and seven were seriously and permanently injured…broken backs, crushed lungs, featured bones, when the balcony they were standing on to take a picture for a birthday celebration suddenly collapsed.

Continue reading IT’S DECK SAFETY MONTH, AND THE BALCONY COLLAPSES CAN’T STOP/WON’T STOP UNTIL AND UNLESS…WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! →