Three Options to Fix Your Sidewalk if Safe Sidewalks LA Program Fails You
Broken sidewalks are so common in Los Angeles, it’s become part of our landscape. There are over 11,000 miles of concrete sidewalks around the city, and most of them are decrepit – done in by years of use, roots from unmaintained city trees, and erosion. The uplifted concrete is so bad that rats have even taken their homes under busted sidewalks. 
No doubt you’ve walked over the hills and valleys of sidewalks – and you probably have broken sidewalks in front of your home or business. That spells bad news for you. The city is purposefully murky when it comes to who should be liable in a trip and fall case regarding sidewalks. While the city has paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle such lawsuits over the years, when you try to find out who is responsible in these kinds of lawsuits, the city will tell you to refer to a lawyer.
You want the city to fix your sidewalk? Good luck. The city currently has a wait list that is more than ten years long. That’s right. It will take more than ten years for the city to come out and fix your sidewalk.
If you’re a property owner, you don’t have that kind of time. With insurance companies bailing out of California, you know you have to do everything you can to keep your insurance. Most insurers are now requiring that you fix that broken sidewalk before you can be covered.
So, what is a property owner to do? Do it yourself (sort of).
Option One:
Safe Sidewalks LA Repair Program by the City of Los Angeles
One of the many lawsuits the city has settled has to do with making sidewalks compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the settlement of the Willits vs. the City of Los Angeles, the city has set aside money to be used to fix sidewalks through a rebate program to make the sidewalks ADA-compliant.
Pros of Safe Sidewalks LA Program
The best part of the Safe Sidewalks LA program is the money. The city will send you a rebate check of up to $12,000 to fix your sidewalk. All you have to do is to complete an application online and then wait. Check your emails religiously. Once the city approves your rebate, you have two weeks to accept it. Then you hire a concrete contractor with a C-8 concrete license to do the work and you’re in business. The concrete contractor will work with the city inspectors to make sure the correct permits are pulled and that the work passes all inspections. Plus – it only takes about a week to get the entire project completed. That’s better than waiting 10 years for the city to fix it.
Cons of Safe Sidewalks LA Program
Nothing sounds better than free money to fix your property, right? Well, it does come at a cost. While the program bills itself as a way for you to fix that broken piece of concrete, the actual out-of-pocket expense is likely to be more than the rebate.
Increasingly, concrete contractors and property owners are finding a limit to the rebate program. Specifically, the scope of work. Let’s say you have just two broken slabs of concrete. That is easily fixed with the $12,000 allotted by the rebate. However, many contractors and property owners report that city inspectors are demanding that the entire sidewalk of the property be replaced from property line to property line, including your driveway apron (the entrance), regardless of whether or not the driveway apron needs to be replaced. All that work costs upwards of $20,000. That’s at least $8,000 out of your pocket. That’s not following the spirit of the settlement.
Not only that, but there are other hurdles in this program. For one, wait time. It can take up to three years for the city to approve your rebate. And you have to keep checking your email inbox for that approval because you only have a two week window to accept it. How is that fair? The city takes three years to award you a rebate that you only have two weeks to accept?
There are other hidden fees. Since this is a rebate program, you (the property owner) have to pay for the sidewalk repair upfront. You have to hire a C-8 concrete licensed contractor on your own. You cannot have a general contractor do this work. You will not get the rebate if you hire a general contractor. Also, although the rebate claims to include tree canopy and root pruning, you have to understand that that kind of work will set you back a few thousand dollars. To fix the city’s trees that they fail to maintain.
Bottom line, repairing the entire concrete sidewalk panels on your property line, the approach/apron plus the canopy pruning and root pruning cost an average of $25,000, not the $12,000 the city will offer you in the rebate program. This is the reason why most homeowners opt-out of the sidewalk repair program and transition to hiring a contractor themselves which proves to be a lot less expensive.
Option 2:
Hire A C-8 Concrete Contractor To Perform The Sidewalk Repair
It’s great that the city is offering some relief from the price of fixing your sidewalk. However, it’s just not that cost-effective or timely. Another option is to hire a concrete contractor with a C-8 or A license to do the job and just pay them yourself without the rebate. This way, you can control how much of the concrete is fixed, as well as the price.
Pros of hiring a C-8 concrete contractor to fix your sidewalk
The biggest reasons to just hire a concrete contractor and get the work done? Time and money. With city inspectors demanding that your entire sidewalk be replaced property line to property line, it only makes sense to narrow down your project and hire a concrete contractor to get the work done.
When you hire a concrete contractor, several things will happen. For one, you won’t have to wait up to 3 years for the rebate. A concrete contractor can pull a permit within five days. To fix just the broken parts of your sidewalk will cost about $5,000 to $10,000, depending on the extent of damage and how much tree pruning will need to be done.
In short, hiring a concrete contractor to fix your sidewalk can be a fast and affordable option.
Cons of hiring a C-8 concrete contractor to fix your sidewalk
Honestly, there aren’t very many cons to hiring a concrete contractor to fix your sidewalk. Of course, you will have to pay for the fix yourself, without any help from the city. That may be a bigger pill to swallow for some property owners. However, if you have the means to fix your sidewalk, this option gets you the best bang for your buck.
Option 3:
Hiring A C-8 Concrete Contractor To Fix The Sidewalk Without Permits
According to the City of Los Angeles. If you fix your sidewalk or if you don't, you are still liable if someone trips and falls in front of your home. Yes. They can still sue you. Sure, they can try to sue the city, but the city has much deeper pockets to protect itself from such lawsuits. The average trip and fall lawsuit is $50,000. You better hope your homeowners insurance covers the trip and falls accident. When we get calls from potential clients, we always ask, “Is it better to leave a trip hazard exposed in front of your house, or is it better to take matters into your own hands and fix it yourself without letting the city know about it?"
The answer is very clear. It's better to hire a C-8 concrete specialist to perform the sidewalk repair without permits than to expose your home to a trip and fall accident.
While we don’t advocate that property owners complete sidewalk repairs without permits, it is the most economical for most home and business owners.
Pros of Hiring A C-8 Concrete Contractor To Fix The Sidewalk Without Permits
Again, we don’t suggest that you fix your sidewalks without a permit. The city most definitely frowns upon that. But with repair costs so high, this is sometimes the only option for thousands of home and business owners in Los Angeles.
Once again, the pros come down to time and money. If you choose to do work without a permit, you don’t have to wait the 1-2 weeks to obtain a permit and you also don’t have to pay the fees associated. You also don’t have to wait for a city inspector to approve the work that’s been done. In fact, most concrete sidewalk repairs only take about a day or two to complete without a permit.
In addition, the project can be completed at a fraction of the cost. It will cost about 60% less than doing the work with a permit.
Cons of Hiring A C-8 Concrete Contractor To Fix The Sidewalk Without Permits
The biggest con? Fixing your sidewalk without a permit can be a bit dicey, if you’re caught by an inspector. If you are caught, you could be issued a stop-work order, requiring the job be canceled immediately. Also, you may face fines, which vary depending on the amount of unpermitted work being done.
The bottom line is, the city of Los Angeles is notorious for failing to fix its sidewalks. And now, with the pressures of insurers, it’s imperative that home and business owners take it upon themselves to fix the endless miles of sidewalk in the city.
Ready to fix your sidewalk? Give us a call for a free quote today. You (and your insurer) will be glad you did.
