Welltower owns an existing medical office building in Beverly Hills, California, consisting of four above-grade levels and a partial basement. The building was originally constructed in 1946 and later underwent a major renovation. Based on the available project information, the building includes approximately 11,000 square feet per floor on Levels 1 through 4, for an estimated above-grade floor area of roughly 44,000 square feet, plus the partial basement area.

Engineering Fire Protection, LLC provided existing building code consulting and a holistic fire/life safety review to help the client evaluate a practical compliance path for the property. EFP reviewed the building’s existing fire and life safety features, applicable historical and current code requirements, and the proposed approach for modifying the existing elevator opening protection system.

Through this review, EFP helped justify a prescriptive code path for removing the outdated elevator gates and smoke curtain assemblies that had frequently gone into trouble condition, and replacing them with a modern code-compliant solution where required. EFP prepared the supporting code analysis and permit documents, filed the building permit application on behalf of the general contractor and owner, and coordinated directly with the building code reviewer. EFP also attended review meetings to explain the applicable code requirements and help the reviewer understand the proposed compliance approach. This support helped the project team successfully obtain approval for the elevator opening protection modifications while improving the building’s fire/life safety performance and reducing ongoing maintenance concerns.