Tag Archives: Deck Safety Month

CAI-CLAC Fucked Up The SB326 Balcony Bill, They Need to UnFuck It To Protect Their HOAs

Let me start by saying that  I’m a member of CAI.  That said I’m not one to fall in line.  I don’t follow any party line. I march to the beat of my own drummer. 

The balcony bill has no teeth behind it. Essentially it is a paper tiger. The bill says you have to inspect, but if you don’t, there isn’t any state agency that will come after you. The only  consequences an HOA faces is if a deck fails and people are injured or killed and the HOA failed to have an inspection done. The insurance company will have to pay and then they won’t renew your policy and you’d be essentially uninsurable.

SB 721, the apartment inspection bill prevents inspectors from bidding to repair damages they may find. That’s a good thing. It keeps inspectors on the straight and narrow. Does SB 326 prevent inspectors from bidding on repairs? Nope. The result is a lot of grifters taking advantage of unsuspecting HOAs and stealing their money.

Now the ultimate insult is before us. The SB 326 balcony bill requires a licensed architect or a licensed structural engineer to perform the inspection and sign/stamp the report. But what happens if a civil engineer signs the report? The bill is clear, it must be a licensed architect or structural engineer. So if a civil engineer signs the report, they should lose their license right? Or at least have a complaint disclosure on their license right?

But the truth is a civil engineer who signed a SB 326 inspection report will be simply admonished for signing the report as the Board of Professional Engineers has no ability to discipline said engineer.

Case in point, Raffi Abkarian, a civil engineer who signed a balcony inspection report. After investigation by the Board of Professional Engineers, they sent this letter to me saying that civil code 5551 gave them no authority to discipline Abkarian even though he signed the report. They basically said he’s guilty as fuck but we can’t do anything.

CAI CLAC insisted on writing a bill for their HOAs because they didn’t like SB 721. They wrote their own bill, the state senate rubber stamped it and here we are. The very HOAs that CLAC professes to want to protect are exposed and are getting screwed by unsavory companies and there’s no recourse for HOAs.

CLAC, it’s time to UnFuck the balcony bill and rewrite it. Protect your HOAs, don’t expose them to grifters.

What does CLAC need to do? Simple, get the balcony bill rewritten to toughen it up. The answers are above… But I will put them below.

Ban inspectors from bidding any work for at least 18 months after an inspection. (Home Inspectors are, look it up). Require inspectors to divulge any ownership interest in any Waterproofing or contracting company in writing. They have conflicts of interest.

Give the Board of Professional Engineers the ability to discipline any engineer that is not a structural engineer who signs a report. Require the structural/ architect to attest that they were on site, inspected the structural elements and determined that they are ok. No robosigning reports. Any engineer that is not a structural engineer who signs a report should have their license suspended for at least one year.

Require HOAs to have their EEEs inspected or be scheduled to have inspections done by the deadline or face financial consequences.

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Surveillance video shows ashtray catching fire at a NJ Moose Lodge

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Well here it is folks, the proof of how dangerous a cigarette can be. Extinguish your butt and discard it properly. In water. Watch the video. Then read the article and see how this building narrowly escaped burning to the ground.

Luckily the fire department saved the building. Others aren’t so lucky.

Surveillance video provided to the New Jersey Herald shows an ashtray igniting on the deck of the Moose Lodge in Newton. https://uw-media.njherald.com/embed/video/10131151002?placement=snow-embed

The Seventh Anniversary of The Tragic and Avoidable Berkeley Deck Collapse is June 16th. We Shall Never Forget You…

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Ashley Donohoe, Olivia Burke, Eoghan Culligan, Niccolai Schuster, Lorcán Miller, Eimear Walsh and Aiofe Beary, who was badly injured but survived the initial fall, sadly passed away recently. Seven lives cut short. Six lives permanently altered.

Last weekend I was in Berkeley. I stayed right around the corner from 2020 kittredge Street where the balcony collapsed. I was looking for a place to park my vehicle and they have a parking area there. It didn’t even strike me at the time when I drove in and parked that this was holy ground.

I walked outside of the garage and was on the sidewalk… I looked at it and then I looked up. When the place was library gardens there were two decks, one of which fell. As I walked down that sidewalk where they lay I trembled.

The Berkeley deck collapse was entirely preventable…and must not happen ever again. I call upon every state in the nation to implement deck inspections. Lives are at stake.

Slip Resistant Stairs

Concrete stairs can often be slippery when wet. That can create liability issues for owners of apartment buildings.

The stairs on this apartment buildings were dingy, dark and dangerous. Uninviting, they needed some help.

Before-Ugly dingy dangerous stairs

After the old coating was taken off with grinders, they could be redone with an inviting look that provided safety with a slip resistant broom finish.

Simple broom finish with sand added to the texture.

Polymer is used as a primer on the steps, and then a concrete broom ($14.00 at Home Depot) is used to create a texture.

Deck sealer is used to seal the stairs.
Safety stripes create a visual warning.

As the above photo shows, the stairs appearance of dramatically different, clean, safe and it looks great.

Don’t let dangerous stairs be a hazard on your property, get them updated and safe for a reasonable cost.

Exterior Elevated Elements Working Group Agenda for 5/25/17 is Announced

 

9e0e3-0216001100The deck waterproofing industry needs to speak up!

From the California Building Standards Commission-

Notice is hereby given that the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC), Exterior Elevated Element (EEE) Subcommittee will solicit technical expertise on the items listed in the attached agenda and the link below.  The public is invited to attend and provide their input or comments.  For questions on this notice, please contact CBSC at (916) 263-0916.

http://www.bsc.ca.gov/calendar/othermtgs.aspx Website www.bsc.ca.gov

 

Continue reading Exterior Elevated Elements Working Group Agenda for 5/25/17 is Announced

Deck Inspection’s Save Lives! Consumers, Download A Free 10-Point Deck Safety Checklist & Check Your Deck Today!

URGENT! CONSUMERS ADVISED TO HAVE THEIR DECKS INSPECTED    

DECK COLLAPSES INJURE THOUSANDS EVERY YEAR    

Deck inspections are advised for every deck every 3 years. The rate of deck collapses is alarming and more must be done to prevent injuries and deaths.

Watch this short video on deck inspections and why they are so important-the first hand experiences from survivors of deck collapses are chilling. Please download the safety checklist and get an inspection done ASAP if you find anything questionable.

DeckExpert.com, as a member of the National Deck & Railing Association, encourages professional deck inspections. Download NADRA’s consumer checklist, designed to help owners of wood/composite decks to determine if they need a deck contractor or specialized inspection to determine if repairs or replacement of your deck is necessary. Don’t become the next victim and a become a statistic on a ever growing grim listing of deaths and injuries from deck collapses.  Click the link to open and download the  NADRA_Homeowner Checklist

Inspect your deck before that party you are planning, be safe, be sure!