Anchorage building officials sent out more letters to let commercial property owners know that their buildings may not be safe to occupy.
The letter instructs property owners to take immediate action if they have a flat roof with wooden trusses and metal gang nail plates. To property owners with this type of roof, the city urges the swift removal of the snow load, or else the building may not be safe to enter.
Pictures of this type of roof are contained in the letter below. Municipal Plan Review Engineer Daniel King said the department has since identified over 100 more buildings suspected of fitting the profile and on Monday mailed those owners letters as well.“The muni is doing its best to maintain a level of safety, but it’s ultimately the business owner or the property owner’s responsibility to maintain their properties,” King said. “We have a dangerous building code which can identify dangerous buildings if they’ve been investigated but we can’t just say, ‘All buildings of this era are dangerous,’ because they haven’t been identified.” King said the municipality is preparing another round of letters that will go out to tenants of buildings that may pose a concern to let them know they could be at risk if the snow is not removed. King said the municipality has made building inspectors available to anyone who needs help identifying their construction and has also asked roofing companies to prioritize shoveling commercial properties over residential roofs. To request outside verification of roof type or submit an already-determined roof type, insert the following information in thisUnder “Personal Information,” at a minimum provide your name and contact number.In “Description,” provide the following:If you have determined the construction type, please list either “wood roof truss” or “other construction.” If you’d like assistance, please write “assistance required.”Under “Location,” select “address” and fill out all required fields.If you have determined the roof construction, please attach photos for verification. If you have had an engineer complete a review, please attach the engineer’s report or letter.