This recently issued Manual of Practice is intended as a guide to design professionals and their clients such as building owners, prospective purchasers, tenants, regulatory officials, and others. This guideline establishes the assessment procedure, including investigation, testing methods, and format for the report of the condition. The methodology is particularly relevant in the current period marked by numerous building conversions. As a member of the Subcommittee on Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings, Dan Eschenasy, the GMS Principal Forensic Engineer, contributed to its development by focusing mainly on the chapter related to the assessment of masonry.
It should be noted that Dan also contributed to the Publication of the ASCE Guideline for Condition Assessment of the Building Envelope (30-14), and together with Alissa Shapiro, GMS Associate, participates in the development of ASCE 11-28 Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings Standard.
Dan Eschenasy is a forensic engineer with over 40 years’ experience in structural engineering. In 2022, he retired from the NYC Buildings Department where he was the Chief Structural Engineer. In this position and as Chief Structural Engineer at the NYC Department of Design and Construction, Mr. Eschenasy was typically the first engineering responder and investigator to almost all major NYC building incidents, such as collapses of buildings, retaining walls, cranes, or other construction installations.
On 9/11 he was tasked to organize the engineering response to the disaster. He also was a member of the ASCE/FEMA task force that investigated the WTC collapse. Published in various technical magazines, the results of his forensic investigations and related statistics became the basis for changes in the structural and construction chapters of the NYC Building Code.
Mr. Eschenasy’s experience will enhance the structural forensic engineering services that GMS already provides to clients including investigations, structural assessments, litigation support, design of mitigation strategies, and post-disaster response.