Seismic Upgrading Services for Buildings on Vancouver Island and The Gulf Islands

The West Coast of British Columbia is in the Cascadian subduction zone, a highly active seismic region where the earthquake risk is high. Many existing buildings and their occupants are at risk from seismic events, including single family custom homes. In BC Single family homes before 2012 were not required to meet formal earthquake design requirements in Part 9 "Small Buildings" of the BC Building Code (BCBC) and many of those homes are at high risk for earthquake forces due to large interior clear spanning spaces and a large proportion of door and window openings on one or  multiple levels. Many commercial buildings constructed under Part 9 of the BCBC prior to the 2012 BCBC also fall into this category.

 

Often older buildings are repurposed as restaurants, and then are classed as having an Assembly Occupancy. In this case the building is subject to the formal seismic design requirements of Part 4 "Structural Design" of the BCBC, with some relaxation on earthquake force level. These requirements are very stringent when compared to BCBC Part 9 earthquake design requirements and these projects often require innovative upgrade techniques to meet those code requirements.

            

Alex Apostoli, P.Eng. offers innovative seismic upgrading solutions for existing buildings throughout Vancouver Island and the rest of BC.