LOS ANGELES : Grace Period OKd for Repair of Steel-Framed Buildings

The Los Angeles City Council adopted an ordinance Wednesday that gives owners of steel-framed buildings damaged in the Northridge earthquake nearly three years to make repairs and imposes no guidelines for inspections or repairs.

Because studies are ongoing to find the best way to fix the damaged buildings, the ordinance allows owners to choose from a menu of traditional methods to bring the structures back to pre-quake conditions. The owners have the option of adding reinforcement to prevent future quake damage.

Building and safety officials defended the ordinance, saying their department will check the inspections and repairs made by owners to ensure that the structures are safe to occupy.

“If owners don’t do an adequate inspection job, we could force owners to redo the inspections,” said Richard Holguin, assistant chief of the city’s building bureau. “We think most structural engineers (hired by building owners) are pretty concerned.”

The nearly three-year period that building owners are given to complete inspections and repairs will also allow state seismic officials time to come up with new repair methods, said Karen Constine, chief of staff for Councilwoman Laura Chick, a member of the council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Earthquake Recovery.