Ot california fires
 

OT CALIFORNIA FIRES
Has an architect every time I see a building burn to the ground and I know it will have to replaced I think what a long process that will be
I have gone thru that process of getting a building built
1. Need a client who needs a building for a certain reason
2. Get a program of what he needs
3. See the property he wants it built on
4. Check zoning to see it allows that use
5. Do primary planning including site plan floor plans
6. Get a cost estimate
7. Meet with client to review plans and cost
8. Revise above till client agrees it meets what he needs
9. Go into final design stage
10. review again with client and get approval
11. In above process meet with city or county officials in charge of planning and get their approval
12. Start and complete construction documents
13. Put those construction documents out to contractors for bidding and apply for building permit
14. if bids meet cost goals and permit issued award contract to low bidder
15 start and finish construction of project
16. Get final approval by officals
17. client moves in
I may have left a step or two out but all those steps require time and a lot of effort Maybe 6 month minimum for say a simple house and up to 1 1/2 for a large complete project
so multiply that time by at least 2000 structures burnt to the ground so far and have years of time needed to rebuild And are there enough Architects contractors etc to do all that work/

Plenty, but there will be a shortage of Structural PEs to handle the seismic designs and Civil PEs for the G&D. It'll settle out in time, but there are going to be some delays.

There are not enough competent architects or contractors. Probably even bigger than that is the serious lack of competent tradesmen to perform the work.

I've been a contractor and/or in the contracting business since the early '80's and it has never been harder to get qualified individuals to perform the work.

After the fires in Laguna Beach in 1993 (~400 homes) it was nightmarish to get to a ground breaking-compounded by the arcane Laguna Beach process-and even harder to deal with construction. Add to that scammers, bad business people (many/most contractors are good at the trade, but bad at business) and it was an exasperating time.

This will be orders of magnitude worse.

Building materials are going to be challenging too. With hurricane recovery competing for materials, and to some extent talent. Construction has become an industry of vagabonds at the tradesman level.

Negotiating with insurance adjusters adds another dimension. Get in early and press hard.

Modular and manufactured homes are going to fill some of the gap and that will have a shorter turn around. That industry is also running at capacity now and kindly raised prices in response to the hurricanes (at least one of our vendors did).