explain the pictures and go through more of an, engineering side. >> good evening, board of directors, i am going to... and board and good evening. ladies and gentlemen. i have a picture here. my name is antonio, prada and i am the engineer, and the contractor for 4121,-20th street project and you can see here is the front. this is the door and leading to the basement, and this is the property of the appellant. and you can see here there is a window, and it shows most partly, the floor is over here, and above, just above this concrete wall stem wall. and i have another picture here.

this is a stem wall of the appellant. and this is the door that leads to the basement, where we are digging two feet below this slab. i am close with a picture to the appellant's stem wall. this is our job site stem wall that very much level. and so based on this, we don't understand how a 5 to 6 feet grade difference could occur between the appellant's foundation and our excavation and so we estimate that it is less than 4 feet including the

excavation. and so, also, i wanted to show and construction sequence to show that we are considering the neighbor's stability. this is the s1.2 of the approved drawings and it shows, here, this, this line is where the balance of the property, and it is adjacent to ours and the foundation. and the overlap is only 14 feet.

and this is 22 feet. and at the mentioned earlier that the overlap is 20 feet. but, i measured it and it is only 14 feet. and we have here, aa construction sequence and you will see on it that we divided into one, 2, 3, and 1, 2, 3, and each section is two feet wide. and the construction sequence is for us to excavate the sections one of the same time. and so, there are, and they are four feet apart or six feet in the summer and that is to protect and that is to leave some part of the foundation to support the neighbor's foundation. and the excavation is actually just, if you look at one, yes

this is 6, and this is the neighbor's foundation. this is our foundation. i assume that there are approximately the same level, because they have the same height of stem wall, that is why i have that is how i draw this. and then from this to this, that is our excavation, and we are talking about two feet, 2 and a half feet. this drawing shows one and a half, but in the actual, it is about two and a half. so, two feet and two and a half feet, that is all the excavation that we have and based on my experience, and on it is very safe and it is also been approved by the ct, that they think that it is safe to do. i would like to point out other

things that the appellant has mentioned. he claims that the foundation is 100 years old and so it is and it has weak concrete. i would like to point out that even a weak concrete is sufficient to support a house. and a two story house, just like this one. and it has a load of only about 800 pounds per linear foot. and normally the concrete is 3,000 and let's talk about 1,000 psi concrete. and is my time over? >> yes. >> before you leave, have you visited the adjacent house to ascertain where his basement

floor line is. >> no, sir. >> the question from your photos is then, two questions, one is you indicate that you said when you showed the picture of the door, that goes into your property that you were excavating two feet down from the slab, are you talking about the walkway slab? >> yes, and also the basement slab because they are the same elevation. >> okay. >> so the bottom of that door then, matches your existing basement floor slab. >> yes, sir. >> okay. >> how do you know that the concrete wall of the neighbor does not extend up beyond that edge of the siding?

>> i think that the, i just,... >> which part of the wall? >> if you look at your exhibit 2, the photo on the left, you are pointing to the siding of the adjacent neighbor. >> and the assumption was presented as the bottom of that siding is...

>> roughly, where the adjacent neighbor's footing starts. >> right. >> and the, i could, and the that, and the basis of that conclusion is the house where they are very similar and they have the same wood, and this wood, is very similar this wood is very similar to this wood. and they have the same height. and so, i assume that these two houses were built if not at the same time, very close to each other. and so, looking at the photo that he showed you, and if the ground is higher on the other side of the property, the stem wall, in our property will be built higher, because you don't put wood against the dirt, you only put the concrete. >> okay. >> and so your assumption is

that the siding on both buildings lapsed the foundation wall only by a little bit. >> that is right. >> okay. >> mr. duffy? >> commissioners, bear with me on this case, i had some information printed at dbi but i left it behind me, and i am using the technology here. so i got the ipad. and looking up the permits and script. but this does not give me all of the information that i need to describe it. but, the permit that is under appeal, and the description of the work is increased basement ceiling height by six feet to 8 feet and replace the new concrete slab and repair the plastering on the first and

third floors and 2eds 5,000 valuation and it was on 8-112014 and it got issued on 8-12, 2014. and we have a suspension on 8-19-2014, something to do with a check and then the board of appeals suspension came on 8-26 and the permit did go through intake and it went through the building structural review by an, engineer, and one of the structural plan checkers and so it went through the planning department and the permit got issued. i did notice as well, we do have special inspections on the project, which means that there are third party inspections as well as dbi inspections and that is for concrete sampling and rebar and so the engineer, actually has to do the inspections as well as dbi and they have to get someplacement and sampling done on the concrete, and i did notice that we issued a notice of violation.

for the excavation. and so it looks like i don't have that, and that is what i don't have with me. but it looks like there is a notice of violation. and i did notice, other complaints as well, in and around the middle of the year, up to the time of this permit and beyond as well. and a couple of things that just, from what i have heard so far, and i would be a little bit concerned, and i don't have the information that dbi notify the neighbor, and based on what i see, and from the detail that the engineer showed us, on s, and 1.2, where they showed the excavation, along the property line, that certainly is something that a neighbor should be notified of. and section, 3307 in the san francisco building code, addresses notification and protection of the property adjacent properties, and there would also be a section of 32, that will require notification

to a neighbor, and prior to the start of excavation to give the neighbor the actual opportunity to review what they are going to do next to his property and not that he wants to hire an, engineer to conduct with, and i don't have that information with me and i would, refer to the permit holder on the engineer, and did they do that, because in my opinion, if this excavation was right along the property line, and it shows the excavation going approximately once up, and below the neighbor's foundation, which commissioner fung i think was referring to as well. and that is definitely something that a neighbor needs to get the opportunity to review, prior to excavation happening. and now this excavation may have started before that, i have not been to the site myself. and i do know other dbi staff have been but i don't have any other notes apart from my own observations here and what i saw when i looked it up. >> so, we may, and i... we may

have some issues with regards to this, if there was improper notification from dbi through the adjacent neighbor and this type of work we are supposed definitely, and on this description of work on a property line, i would imagine that dbi should be notifying the neighbors, by way off the structural notification. and we do that on structural work, when there is, and that is warranted and sometimes when the work starts without a permit, we have to go backwards to get forward and we have to stop, and get those sites talking and usually it is the engineer of record, and the neighbors sometimes have to hire an, engineer, which they did and the engineers need to get talk and figure out how to get it done and it is common in san francisco and lowering the slab and dealing it and a lot of this board as well and the concerns about that and generally i am up here saying

everything is okay and this looks like it has been done and in this case, i am not so sure, that is my observations just on it and i am available for the questions. >> thank you. >> mr. duffy, you know, the plan checker, wouldn't they have asked for more information on the adjacent condition when you have unequal elevations? >> i don't see how they can verify the calculations. >> just let me and i will go on the overhead, if you don't mind. >> and i will use the and, and i am going to use a sheet from the police. and if i could get an overhead.

we have that drawing, mr. duffy. >> i want to refer to that. so this is one of the, and this is the sheet 1.2 and it does show a detail, that is arrow to the left and then the new foundation that is going in under this permit to lower the slab shows the difference of 1 foot thick actually and i thought that was one foot, and one foot, six difference and that is this engineer, here, and mr. prado, and on that is before you come in for the

permit to figure out where the top of the bottom of the adjacent footing s and that is typical and that is our engineer, and dbi would approve this, and the other part of it, and this is, if the they are showing the sequencing of the pours along the line. >> which is good. >> and so they got to do it, if you notice, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, the whole way up there and so you will excavate the section one which is two feet and you could do, section one, again, further up, and two feet section, and you pour it in the small pieces until you have the whole wall done. based on the fact that it is close to the property line, and i think that the only thing that i have the question on, and maybe, they will be able to answer that, and they did discuss that with the neighbor prior to do that, because this is always a good, and this is a good way to do it but did the neighbor know that that is what

was happening? >> and we see this a lot in san francisco, and in the outlines. >> when did the complaints come in and was there an inspector sent out to deal with that? >> yes. i don't have any notices of violation receiving and i apologize for that, but there were inspectors out at the site and it did not look like it went to the level of a senior building inspector and i am looking at the district building inspector right there, and another floating building inspector went out there and i noticed a notice of violation was issued for the excavation and i am not sure if we had a senior building inspector out there to go over this. or if there were any other meetings with it. and i know that i was hoping to get out before the hearing and i know that a couple of weeks ago, this came on my radar and

went off again and i didn't have a chance to get out before the hearing if the pictures were the fours and it started the 12th, and when did the explains come in regarding the work being performed without a permit? >> yes. they did come in around and the permit was after the complaint. >> okay. >> and that is what i am looking at. and it was done without a permit. >> yes, yes. >> and i don't have it with me. >> okay. sorry. >> and usually i do, but not tonight. >> i will get you more information, and i did have it pulled up but i have to go to a different screen. >> is there any public comment on this item? >> please step forward.

>> my name is dennis abby and i live next door to this property on the other side and i have lived there for 23 years. and i am not a good public speaker so i am just going to read, my notes. i think that the issues here are much broader than what is going on with the basement, i think that this whole house project is or needs a lot more work and revision. like i said, my wife and i have lived in the house adjacent on the other side for 23 years. and we were initially pleased to see that this property was sold, because the neighbors who lived in there for 40-some-odd years in addition for not being pleasant people, never did a thing to maintain the property and we were hopeful that the new owners would do better.

however, i am now beginning to worry that it is going to be worse. a year, and i want to talk about, our own experience, and relate it to what is going on next door. a year and a half after we bought our house, we began a year long project to remodel it. like the house next doors, our house had been converted to two units some time in the past and i can tell you a lot about this house that none of these people know. that house was actually the house is lifted up and the first floor inserted in. and so there is a lot of structural stuff to be considered. when we did it our work, we were essentially converting the house to a single family home and adding a second parking space and we took the back of the house out further to make a bigger kitchen that went the

same distance as the houses on either side. and we wrote the architect and the licensed contractor and we submitted the plans to the city in march of 1992 and the construction did not begin until august. these people seemed to have gotten a permit in one day. i am just floored by that. and in the time that we were waiting for our permits, and before construction began, our plans were reviewed, and some changes were required by the city were made, and we also held hearings in our house for all of the neighbors, all 8 houses surrounding our house so that they could come and look at the drawings in our house, and not at the architect's house and see what we plan to do, and issue any comments. and they did and the comments were given. and we went through this process, 20-some years ago but it is not seemed to be happening today. and during the course of our work serious issues were discovered with our foundation at the expense of months of

delay and extra cost and we did the work to rebuild the foundation and we found some old wiring which of course, we replaced and brought up to code and the plumbing and just in this year, in january, we had to replace the suer pipe from the house to the street. >> your time is up. >> okay. >> sir? question, on one of your comments. you indicated that the subject house was lifted up? was all new foundations... >> i don't know about that. >> provided there? >> this is something that we learned in the process of doing house history research on our house and also during the process of getting the permits for our work. >> you are talking about... >> the houses were lifted up? or are you talking about the house? >> the house that we are talking about here, 4121. >> all right. thank you. >> sir, could you submit a speaker card if you have not,

so we can have it for the minutes, thank you. >> is there any other public comment, please step forward. >> hello, i am eve harris and i am at 401, 33, 20th straoelt and so i am two doors down hill from 4121. and with the abbeys in between us and i have been there for 7 years. and we were initially very pleased, and we had feared for a long time that the house was a fire trap or some type of hazard to the rest of us, particularly, those of us down hill, although, mr. goddard clearly has an interest as well. so clearly the work is being done with no permit and i remember seeing the permit posted on the door weeks after the work had begun, and being so excited that i went up the stairs and took a picture of it. and i didn't know what type of work was being done but the neighbors later filled me in. i know that it is not within

your purview, but as an example of the due diligence that is not happening there, there are actually health code violations on the property as well. we received notification that i can recall that any of this work was beginning, or they only knew about who had made the purchase, because we needed a realtor. and so, it is just not that kind of neighborhood and we would very much like for the property to be renovated but in a safeway. thank you. >> could you submit a speaker card. thank you. >> is there any other public comment? >> step forward. >> i am mark (inaudible) and i am the real estate agent for the trust. ... i

>> i think that is a conflict under the public comment. if you want to speak you can speak under the time allotted to the permit holder, since you are a agent of the permit holder. >> okay. >> so is there any other public comment? >> seeing none, then we can have rebuttal starting with mr. goddard. >> okay. i think that i didn't make entirely clear the issue because all of the discussions seem to be concerned with what is going on at the front door of their basement. but, i tried to mention my property level rises towards the back, and so, the drop from my property to the permit property is much larger in the back. and because of the lack of foundation there, the safety issue is much more severe there. and it is very, i am absolutely

astonished that these measurements are not very clear to the permit holders, because it does not even require being on my property to know what these drops are. and so would i like to show you, a picture of the back of our properties. and to clarify that it really is an 8-foot drop. from my grade level to the basement, to their excavated depth. if i could show you another photo of the back of the properties here. >> reference it. >> this is in my appeal briefing. i am sorry about the quality of the picture. but on the left side is the permitted property and that doorway is on the floor above the basement and at the very back of the basement, the photo that i showed you earlier where the excavation is done, that door threshold is right above at the back corner of the

basement. and that is in the middle is the fence and on the right is my property and at the very back we see there is a walkway of about 7 feet or so. the level of the walkway on my property in the back granted it is not really obvious here, it is about 1 foot lower than that door threshold. >> under that there are the floor joists and two by tens and about a foot lower and so that is the level of the ceiling in the basement, a foot below that threshold is the ceiling of the basement and that is the level of the concrete on my side. >> it will be more, when you woint to the... >> yeah, i am sorry. >> point here. so this door threshold here, a foot below that is the ceiling of the basement. and it is the same level as my concrete right here. a foot delow this threshold.

sorry it is not totally obvious in this picture that that is the case. since their ceiling height is 8 feet high to the basement floor, it is an 8-foot drop at the back. of my property to theirs. >> so this clarification, there is another level below that door? >> that is the basement where the excavation, below that door. >> and then on xwrour building, do you have a basement level as well. >> yes, through the door that you see on the right is my basement which is at the same level as this walkway. >> okay. >> i am sorry, you can't speak. >> okay. >> thank you. >> okay, we can take the rebuttal from the permit holder. >> good evening, again, board. i would just like to make clear a few things, what the city inspector is saying, mr. duffy is that his base concern was not so much our plans of what we were doing but the notice to the appellant, and the appellant stood up here in his

own words and described the property and showing the excavation and what they were doing on the property and has been explained what is going on in the property and he has given notice by us. and i can't respond whether or not he was given notice by dbi or the set back on that is. and i understand that there are issues on whether or not the he is ka vasing started early and that is a point that he was trying to bring up, he explained that he was being explained what was going on there on the property and the excavation, and so forth. the department of building has no issue with the plan that i heard and i don't know if i am speaking out of turn, but they were approved by the city, and they were following them exactly to the t, there might be a little variance on the distance there in the footing. but other than that, you know, in *f and furthermore, my last point that i would like to make, is that we do have a skilled engineer who knows what he is doing, and i think that he understands where the stone wall is and isn't, and the notice what given, and i don't see any of the issues that i

can speak to. i think that ties up the concern for mr. duffy unless you have any concerns or questions, in which there myself and mr. prodo can answer. >> what were the circumstances that led to the work being started without a permit? >> that would be mr. prada question. >> i don't know when the work started commissioner, i am sorry. >> and i don't know when the work started and the permit situation. >> the work started was mostly demo and we were already working on the permit on for the foundation. and the excavation that we did is to verify the neighbor's foundation, and there is so the photo that you see there is only one excavation at that time. and we did not proceed until we got the permit, and started excavating the rest of the foundation. so it was for a