Saunders Construction Blog
WHAT WE’RE SAYING
The Northridge Earthquake: Pioneering Disaster Recovery
The 1994 Northridge Earthquake is remembered for the widespread destruction it caused across Southern California, but its long-term impact on disaster recovery planning is equally significant. It became a turning point for modern recovery methods, later applied to...
2024 Guide to California Balcony Inspections and Compliance
In California, ensuring the safety and structural integrity of balconies, decks, and similar elevated structures is more critical than ever, with the California balcony inspection law mandating compliance by January 1, 2025. This ordinance was introduced after a...
Who Do I Hire for Structural Repairs?
Structural repairs are critical for maintaining the safety and integrity of your commercial or industrial property. Structural problems like roof condensation don’t fix themselves; they only worsen over time, leading to more extensive and costly repairs. Whether...
The Northridge Earthquake: Shaping Modern Seismic Resilience
As part of the Earthquake Country Alliance’s Northridge Earthquake Anniversary Webinar Series, Episode 4, titled “The Northridge Earthquake – 30 Years Later – A Catalyst for Engineering Resilient Communities,” brought together experts to explore how the...
Discover the Saunders Retrofit Advantage
In business since 1979, Saunders Seismic is a commercial industrial contractor that has specialized in seismic solutions since 1984. We perform seismic retrofits and structural repairs to existing buildings, making them more earthquake-resistant. However, when it...
SEL vs. SUL: Mastering Seismic Risk Assessments
Seismic events pose significant risks to structures, especially in earthquake-prone areas. Therefore, understanding seismic risk is critical to ensure buildings’ safety and financial viability. Lenders, insurance companies, and risk managers use risk assessments...
Building Seismic Safety: The Seismic Retrofit Process
Despite advancements in building codes, older structures may still need to meet current seismic safety standards. Building owners, property managers, and investors must understand how an effective seismic retrofit process protects lives and commercial investments....
What Factors are Driving the Demand for Cold Storage Facilities?
The newest rapidly evolving market in commercial real estate is cold storage. This surge in demand is being driven by several key factors, including shifts in consumer behavior, advancements in technology, and broader economic trends. Understanding these drivers is...
West Coast Seismic Risks: Protect Your Real Estate Assets
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported multiple swarms of earthquakes along the California-Mexico border. Earthquake swarms are common in the Imperial Valley and can be a cause for concern, as major, damaging earthquakes have been known to follow. However, these...
Seismic Retrofits: A Smart Investment for Soft-Story Apartment Building Owners
Soft-story apartment buildings are characterized by open tuck-under parking or commercial space on the ground floor and residential units above. They are prevalent in many urban areas, especially in California which is a high seismic activity region and due to their...
Top Trends Shifting Retail in Commercial Real Estate
The forecast for retail in commercial real estate is undergoing significant shifts, influenced by various factors and trends. Retail Commercial Real Estate is sure to be top of mind at the upcoming annual ICSC Las Vegas conference, for details on the conference,...
Marin Medical Center Client Profile: Healthcare Facilities, Hospitals & Medical Offices
Saunders Construction recently completed a seismic retrofit for Marin Cancer Medical Center. One of our forte’s is completing seismic retrofits and structural repairs in occupied spaces with ongoing tenant operations. This requires a lot of client communication and...
NAIOP’s I.CON West was a Success – Top Takeaways
One of the best Industrial events in Commercial Real Estate every year is NAIOP’s I.CON West (& East). This year in Long Beach, CA mid-March there was record-setting crowd of over 1,200 of commercial real estate’s top industrial owners, developers,...
Building Basics, Types of Buildings & Causes of Structural Failure (Animation Video)
Sometimes a simple video is worth a million words. For a complete understanding of a sometimes-over-complicated explanation of building basics and how structural failures occurs, please view the following video:...
January 17th marked the 30-Year Anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake
“What would have happened if the Earthquake struck during normal working hours?” Fortunately, it was a holiday in 1994 and the notorious Northridge quake struck at 4:31 AM PST. It was a magnitude 6.7 earthquake and the shaking lasted 10–20 seconds. The quake’s...
2024 Top Predictions for Commercial Real Estate
Let us compare the top predictions from 2023 to 2024. Last year there was a lot of speculation regarding a recession on the horizon which could still holds true for 2024. The top factors in 2023 to influence commercial real estate are geopolitical issues, inflation...
California Balcony Inspections, What to Know!
In California, there is a mandatory safety inspection and must be performed before January 1, 2025. According to SB-721, this bill would require an inspection of exterior elevated elements and associated waterproofing elements, as defined, including decks and...
Pre-construction Planning is Key to Completing Successful Seismic Retrofit Projects
We specialize in seismic solutions and provide efficient services from start to finish on each project. Our estimating bids set the standard for being precise, detailed, and technical with our specialized processes down to the phase of the final daily routine,...
Did you participate in the “Great California Shakeout” this year?
The Great Shakeout is where you have a one-minute earthquake drill to prepare for proper emergency protocols during an earthquake and it takes place the third Thursday every October. This year the Shakeout drill took place October 19th at 10:19AM. 10.2 million...
Safety Training with American Scissor Lift and Guardian Fall Protection
Another year, another safety training! Thank you to American Scissor Lift Inc. and Guardian Fall Protection for hosting and providing equipment training, harness safety training, and boom/scissor and forklift training with the safety orientation. Their expertise and...
What are 6-Major Benefits to performing seismic retrofits?
What are the top benefits seismic retrofitting your commercial building? 6-Major Benefits of Seismic Retrofits 1. Mitigate Risk & Liability: Seismic retrofits significantly mitigate risk and liability associated with earthquake damage. By proactively strengthening...
NAIOP-U: Alternative Development Uses/Considerations& CREW’s Industrial Summit
Saunders attended NAIOP’s Alternative Development – Uses/Considerations Program as well as CREW’s Industrial Real Estate Summit last month. There was a plethora of insightful and informative information shared at each event. The Alternative Development program...
Value Engineering & Budgets
Saunders Construction has over four decades of experience performing seismic retrofits. We have completed thousands of projects on every type of building with our top management logging thousands of hours of field experience. As a result, we have encountered countless...
Is “Hurriquake” a real thing?
In mid-August, California was on watch of Hurricane Hilary which by the time it hit land would be downgraded to a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center said, it had potential for “life-threatening” floods and debris flow warnings which remained in effect...
What is Functional Recovery?
According to Ryan Kersting,(Associate Principal, Buehler Engineering) Functional recovery is a post-event (e.g., post-earthquake) performance state in which a building or lifeline infrastructure system is maintained, or restored, to safely and adequately support the...
What is the buzz in the Industrial sector of Commercial Real Estate?
Ever since the pandemic which was the primary factor that brought about hybrid and work-from-home flexibility companies have been relying on special resources and building amenities to lure employee back to the office. However, industrial and warehouse building...
Structural Risks to Commercial Buildings in Extreme Heat
Summer has just begun and according to recent news outlets, millions of people and structures across the country are experiencing severe weather including thunderstorms and a deadly heat wave that is sweeping the South. Just as the heat takes a major toll on us,...
Saunders Proud Sponsor of SEAOSC Technical Summit & President’s Luncheon
SEAOSC Technical Summit took place on June 22nd this year and the focus was on three important topics that are defining the current landscape of structural engineering and seismic safety. The philosophy of Functional Recovery which the industry codes are shifting...
Seismic Retrofits for Occupied Buildings!
Performing seismic retrofits on a building can be a daunting and intimidating project for commercial building owners and real estate professionals to take on and manage. And, then add to the mix the building is occupied with tenant(s) operating thriving businesses. It...
Will AI (Artificial Intelligence) Impact the Construction Industry?
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is expected to play an increasingly significant role in the future. So yes, AI is expected to have a major impact on every industry including the construction industry. One of the key areas where AI is being used in construction is in...