Great experience with AJO. Giuseppe is honest, personable and and, above all, knowledgeable. Our ADU is lovely, more so than I even imagined it would be. Kelly, the office manager, is helpful, kind and available. read more

Just completed a rebuild of a 4 story Victorian in the Mission district which included a voluntary soft-story retrofit and a new foundation. Our architect referred us to Giuseppe and AJO - what a find. You get 4 experienced engineers for one very reasonable price. They do multiple site visits with engineering and design teams. Lots of opportunities for consultation including multiple design changes in case the architect or city mandate them, which they always do... Giuseppe is very approachable and knows EVERYTHING about city codes etc. He even knows how to help you wind your way through the complex bureaucracy that is SF planning and building with minimal pain. Professional, congenial, flexible, reasonable price... I can't imagine a better engineering firm exists in SF. Jake Sinclair MD read more

Our apartment building in San Francisco fell under the soft story retro-fit required by the City so we had to travel uncharted waters in our search for an honest, reputable and easy to work with construction company. Thanks to YELP, we found it with Giuseppe and the wonderful people at AJO. We assembled 3 bids including 2 other companies, and AJO fell right in the middle price wise but it was their stellar YELP reviews that convinced us. We received constant and timely updates all through the process which I truly appreciated as this process can be anxiety producing. They handled all phases including plans, permits and we ended up with a job done on time and broom swept clean at the end. All with absolutely no headaches or hassles. I highly recommend getting at least 3 bids and definitely make sure AJO is one of them. read more

This is the easiest 5 Star Yelp rating I've ever done...AJO Group is nothing short of phenomenal!!! Guiseppe and his team handle the job from start to finish beginning with the City's complicated permit process, through construction, to final completion. I've been in the facilities maintenance business for 30+ years and have never seen it go any smoother! I wanted a company that handled both the engineering and construction aspects of the project to eliminate the potential of finger pointing which in my experience costs the client $$$. Well, it all worked out perfectly because my retro project went off with out a hitch. I now have a building that is safer for my tenants and a more secure investment for myself. read more

Five stars to the A J O GROUP ! I highly recommend Giuseppe Sircana owner of the A J O GROUP , he helped me , from start to finish to get an EXTREMELY difficult City Permits for a residential project at my home in Noe Valley. For the actual construction I used Giuseppe 's team They were fast , timely, efficient and cost effective!!!!! BRAVO !!!!!! read more

Great experience with AJO. We used them for a basement excavation and structural retrofit. Professional, prompt, high quality, no cost surprises (hit the initial project budget spot on). Deep experience with SF historic homes and city permits. Highly recommend working with them! read more

Just completed a second story deck that included installation of a new door and outdoor stairs. It came out great and working with Giuseppe and the AJO team exceeded all expectations. Super responsive, very professional and accountable. Drawings were great, they knew how to navigate the city permitting and quality of construction was efficient and high quality. No hidden fees or unexpected change orders. We went through two other architects/engineers before finding Giuseppe and Giuseppe was the only one where we didn't feel like we were being scammed. I would definitely use them again for any construction projects. read more

Giuseppe Sircana and his team are professionals. When looking for an engineering company for the mandatory seismic retrofit, AJO's cost was reasonable and their design plans were very detailed. Giuseppe walked me thru what needed to be done, the timeframe, and also went to the city for the permits. I also used AJO for the construction as their proposal was detailed and right in line with the industry. During construction, Erasmo, the construction manager, provided updates as needed and contacted me right away when unforeseen problems arose. The project was estimated at 6-8 weeks and AJO completed construction in 4 weeks! I lived in the Bay Area until a few months ago and am now on the East Coast. I was worried that I would not be able to see exactly what was being done. AJO provided pictures, videos. and explanations of everything each step of the way and when I returned to SF to check on the work, I was met by Erasmo who walked me thru the progress. At project completion, Giuseppe and Erasmo went above and beyond to ensure I was pleased with all aspects of the retrofit, from construction of the steel beams, to matching paint in areas of the garage where walls were replaced, to clean up of the work area. I couldn't have been more pleased with AJO and would definitely use them again if another project arises. Thank you, Giuseppe! read more

Erasmus was in charge of my renovation/restoration after a fire in the unit. The work was impeccable efficient and done ahead of schedule. Workers showed up on time as promised. read more

As with some of the other reviewers, I came to know Giuseppe after the City of SF required seismic retrofits. As my building did not qualify, but the City thought it did, we needed his recommendation to be excluded from the requirements. He helped us push through some of the City bureaucracy and misunderstandings to be excluded. Great service, follow up and if I need a Sructural Engineer again, I'd definitely give Giuseppe a call. read more

We engaged A.J.O Group for our 65-unit historical boutique hotel in Union Square San Francisco. With the realization that we were dealing with a property that was over one hundred years old, we knew that we needed to entrust the structural integrity of our building and the safety of our guests with an expert in the field. We were blessed to find A.J.O. Group, headed by Giuseppe Sircana. Giuseppe treated our building with devotion and attention. He is an expert in the San Francisco Soft Story Ordinance. We are also going into a full-scale renovation of our entire guest rooms and lobby and Giuseppe has proven to be an expert in all questions with regard to structural integrity and seismic issues. Giuseppe and A.J.O. Group is a man of character. He is honest. He is responsive. He does not exaggerate the scope of work. We are proud and happy to consider Giuseppe and A.J.O. Group a part of the Hotel Bijou team. Thank you Giuseppe and we are thrilled to recommend you. Very truly yours, Hotel Bijou San Francisco read more

Very professional, timely, and when issues arise, AJO is there to take care of all issues. I have worked with a few contractors, AJO is at the top of list, due to the extensive project. Highly recommend . read more

We are very impressed with this company. We have a 12-unit building in Cow Hollow and were recently asked to do some reinforcement work to bring it up to code. Giuseppe and his crew went into immediate action and walked our family through the entire process from city inquiry to legal to project management to implementation. We were constantly notified of progress via phone and email and were immediately serviced when had questions of our own. Bravo AJO Group; keep up the great work! read more

I highly recommend AJO Group. Giuseppe S., business owner for AJO tried working with the architect I hired who provided impractical drawings not taking into account all the previous work that was previously done for seismic retrofitting. Giuseppe offered invaluable advice to her with cost savings to us. The architect incorporated Giuseppe's advice but also modified her blueprints with additional work that was not needed. After wasting 1.5 years with this architect and not getting anywhere, we finally hired AJO. Within two months of hiring AJO Group, they provided acceptable approved drawings to the City, completed all the work, and had the special and final inspections signed off on. Even with one change order, AJO Group was able to complete the work within the discussed timeframe. Throughout the job, whenever I had issues, Giuseppe was always responsive. read more

I have done a few projects with AJO Group now and I have to give them a promotion, an additional Star. And I'm stingy with 'stars' but Giuseppe and his team do great work, are clear communicators and punctual. Why is that so rare today in that profession?? They're great. read more

AJO Group completed the city-mandated soft story seismic retrofit this Spring at my 12-unit building in Russian Hill. What a great job! - minimal hassle, great communication, and went much quicker than I expected. Still rough with 7 weeks of construction, but under the circumstances it went great. Even installed brand new garage doors. End result is a clean, safer building that meets all the City requirements. I recommend calling them if you need to get this work done! read more

The A.J.O. Group is a class act. They did a superb job on my building's voluntary retrofit. Giuseppe Sircana carefully reviewed the drawings we provided (and noticed an error that needed to be fixed up front) and his team was exceptionally professional - highly industrious, very friendly and considerate and cleaned up every day so that our sidewalk was immaculate. They gave us regular updates on the progress of the work and came in on time and on budget. Can't thank them enough, and highly recommend. read more

AJO has been harassing residents in my neighborhood about parking at 18th and Guerrero in SF. Their "no parking" permits are almost 1 month expired, yet they still have them up and are yelling and threatening my neighbors who try to part in these legal spots. Either renew your permit or remove the sign, it's not fair to neighbors that have already dealt with less available parking for months because of the construction. read more

Thanks to Giuseppe and his outstanding team at AJO Group, we completed a major soft-story earthquake retrofit in our 1911-era Nob Hill building, in record time at a reasonable cost. In pursuing this City-mandated retrofit, we talked to many engineers and contractors, even attending a City-sponsored trade show that introduced dozens of these companies. From my first meeting with Giuseppe, then negotiating the work scope, price, schedule, and throughout each step of the project through completion and City sign-off, Giuseppe and his team stood out from their crowd of competitors, as very capable and very focused on getting the job done to our satisfaction. No glitz, no frills - just smart, hard work, and excellent, prompt results. If that's what you want for your own earthquake retrofit, Giuseppe and his AJO Group proved on our project that they are up to the task! read more

I recently used A .J. O. Group, Giuseppe Sircana, for soft story retrofit for my 12 unit building. I couldn't be happier with the whole process. He took care of the plans, permits and finished the job within the time frame he quoted. During construction, he came upon hidden problems in the building, notified me immediately, and resolved the situation. I live in San Diego and Giuseppe's communication via email, text or phone was immediate. I was always kept in the loop, as was the manager of the building. I couldn't be happier with the entire process, his fairness and integrity, and have recommended him to other property owners. read more

Where do i begin. AJO Group is definitely highly recommended. They handled everything for me from beginning to end and it came off very natural that they were so helpful. I will for sure give them a 10 on communication , working with this difficult city , and PROFESSIONALISM. read more

We utilized AJO Group to assist us with the soft story retrofit retrofit requirements with the city. Giuseppe filed all the necessary paperwork requesting our building be exempt and the city approved. On another occasion I hired Giuseppe to provide an inspection required by the building department; I'm happy to say Giuseppe was very professional and timely in completing all that was required. It's always a pleasure to do business with Giuseppe and I refer his company to anybody. read more

We worked with Giuseppe and his team on an architectural survey and design for our front staircase, and they managed the entire permit process for us. They were professional, timely, communicative, and friendly, and also generously provided a brief consultation for seismic retrofit ideas for our garage without additional charge. I've been nothing but impressed by their work and look forward to working more with them in the future. No reservations about recommending them! read more

I am an Allied Member of AIA and have been around the Design/Build industry about 40 years! We were referred to Giuseppe over 5 years ago by a dear friend and prominent SF architect. He was truly great! We will never forget his expertise and responsiveness to the remodel of our son's 3-story triplex in SF! What appeared impossible became easy fare as he helped modify the drawings for fast Building Dept approval! Last year, our son bought his second home there and obviously we wouldn't have called anyone else for engineering questions. We love this guy! If you need an engineer in the Bay Area - can't do better! read more

i retained A.J.O. Group to provide structural engineering design for the full remodeling and second story addition of my house in Albany. The project was done in two separate phases: phase one we remodeled only the existing ground floor; phase two we added the second floor. Giuseppe and his team worked out the best solution to have seismic and structural elements already in place during phase one in order to limit the work at the ground floor during phase two. The design was efficient and cost-effective. They were also responsive during construction providing all necessary consultation and inspections to bring the project to completion. read more

Giuseppe and his team did the structural drawings for a new spec home my company is building in Oakland. His team is thorough, responsive, and accurate. What's more they produce only what you need and no more, saving you time and money. They were also able and very willing to create the design that met the structural requirements at the lowest cost. I highly recommend them. read more

Giuseppe and his team were excellent - they quickly designed and implemented the required earthquake retrofit work at our building. Very professional, efficient in all aspects. read more

We hired AJO Group to do a seismic retrofit on our 6 unit TIC in San Francisco and we couldn't be more pleased with their work. The President, Guiseppe Sircana was hands on and involved throughout the construction. They we extremely professional, competent, considerate and timely in all of their work. The bud was spot on, with only one small change order that really was anticipated to have been needed. No "extras" or other cost overruns. We also had them redo our exit stairs, which they skillfully and quickly got through the building department at a very fair price. The craftsmanship was excellent and the follow up for "punch list" items was great as well. I have nothing but good things to say about AJO Group and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to do major work to a multi family building or home. Honestly, in this day and age, it was very refreshing to have a company do what the agreed to do for the price they quoted. read more

We engaged AJO Group to perform structural engineering work on a major expansion and renovation of a San Francisco home, adding 1k square feet on the side of a steep hill with unsound footing, the stripping the rest of the house to the studs and making major structural changes. AJO brought good ideas to the table to achieve both safe and to-code engineering, and also considering the design goals with the architect. It is not always easy to marry these concepts together, but they did it....on time and budget. Highly recommended! read more

We are doing an extensive landscaping project in our yard which required several retaining walls to be engineered. I was referred to a couple engineering firms that I spoke with, and after having an in person meeting at the site with Giuseppe, I knew were were going to go with AJO. He was very willing to work with our schedule, discuss our options and spend some time to decide what we wanted to do with the plans, and even helped walk us through the process as this was our first large construction project. His team was quick to come out and survey our lot and generate detailed drawings of the project. Giuseppe again took the time to come meet with us to discuss the drawings when complete down to every detail and happy to update if we wanted minor changes. His team stepped in to quickly modify the plans during the painstaking permitting process. Giuseppe is a great guy to work with and was extremely professional throughout the entire project. If we do another project requiring structural engineering, we will be using AJO group. Thanks Giuseppe!! read more

Guiseppe helped me take out a load bearing wall in my apartment. He was a pleasure to work with and he also helped me find a great contractor who could get the job done. I've recommended him to a few people since then, I would gladly use him again. Matt read more

Regarding 250 21st Ave. Soft Story Seismic/ADU legalization projects, as owner I experienced from the initial concept/design phase through certificate of occupancy, A.J.O.'s consistent presence and mutual sense of ownership for my projects. A.J.O. professionals alleviated all of my concerns about unforeseen conditions and hidden costs. When unforeseen conditions were exposed, their team communicated fair, reasonable, and timely mutually agreed upon solutions to keep my projects moving forward. With COVID adding to construction phase challenges and scheduling adjustments, A.J.O. Project Management team kept me and the wide variety of sub contractors informed about safe practices, and their workers set the example on how to keep themselves, other trades and my occupants safe. A.J.O. Inc. has exceptional engineering and construction management skills; I highly recommend their services. Grateful recent customer, Matt Smyth read more

I can highly recommend A.J.O. and owner Giuseppe Sircana. They did a very thorough and cost-effective solution to upgrade our foundation, bolting, etc. Having young children in our 1908 home in Berkeley, we wanted to make sure the seismic safety was up to the highest standard. Giuseppe personally consulted us and supported the process from beginning to end. He is very responsive and a pleasure to work with. I would recommend their services to family and friends at any time. read more

Our HOA selected the AJO Group and Giuseppe Sircana for our soft story retrofit. We could not have been more pleased with them. Very professional, prompt , responsive, and fair. We plan to use them for another project in the near future and wouldn't even think of using someone else. San Franciscans should be grateful to have such capable and honest people to use for building projects. Tim Culler read more

I met Giuseppe Sircana with A.J.O. nearly a year ago after I received a letter from the City of SF indicating that a mandatory seismic retrofit would be necessary for the 9 unit building we own on 18th Avenue- SOFT STORY Building! He was punctual, knowledgable and I really liked the way he conducted business. Having met with 3 other engineering firms prior I was very impressed with Giuseppe. He did an exploratory on the property to see exactly what the building lacked by way of concrete, supports, foundation etc...he pulled the original blue prints from SF City Hall and reviewed them with me and went over every aspect of what needed to be done. He pulled permits, worked with his team, dealt with PGE for relocating the meter, met with inspectors and he did it in the time he outlined on his contract. I could not have been more pleased for the simple fact that he did it all...I was removed from every aspect of the project with the exception that he provided me with updates every other day as the project was underway. I recommend A.J.O. Group 100% for all your engineering needs and definitely can tell you they are experts in the mandated soft story retrofits! I can be reached by email if anyone would like more detailed information about my recommendation...bobbielin4949@gmail.com read more

I am an architect working mostly in San Francisco and the bay area and have been working with Giuseppe for the past 5 or so years. He is efficient and creative in his structural designs and in every project I have worked on with him so far he has been able to resolve the structural requirements in a way that also addresses the aesthetic intent. A.J.O. also understands construction costs is able to help guide clients and provide options based on budgets. Giuseppe is the engineer that I recommend to colleagues looking for an engineer for the reasons given above. Lastly, Giuseppe has been working in SF for a long time and has a solid understanding of navigating a project through the permitting process. read more

Giuseppe was a pleasure to work with! He was extremely professional and reliable. Communication was excellent. When unforeseen circumstances came up, he worked out a plan to keep our cost down. When there was a problem with the inspection, he worked to have it resolved in a timely manner. I highly recommend Giuseppe and AJO Group! read more

Giuseppe Sircana does amazing work. He prepared the plans for a detached garage and to build a three bedroom two bath apartment in an existing basement with low ceilings. Besides drafting the plans he was able to navigate the SF building department's red tape. When construction issues arose, he was available to quickly make changes to keep the project on schedule and below cost. He knows his stuff, like how to make your ideas work through his vast experience. Al read more

This business was referred to me after my friend told me about what a great job they did for him with his soft story project. Giuseppe saved alot of cost for my friend in comparison to what others told him it would cost. I did hire A.J.O. / Giuseppe. I found the cost to be very reasonable, and he showed up on time. Did the work he was supposed to, when I was told they were going to do it. Overall, the project was a success, and cost efficient. The others that I spoke with prior were not professional, nor did they understand the most efficient way to handle the project. Now, I can refer this company to others! read more

Our 1907 douglass fir house was missing a 50' long foundation on her north side. When our next door neighbors decided to embark on a massive remodel that required an entirely new foundation excavated 9 feet below us, we called their structural engineers AJO to discuss our options. After a frank conversation we decided to add a foundation under our house that could be shored up when the neighbor's project started, and we hired AJO to engineer it for us. Giuseppe Sircana and his crew surveyed the site, and after we signed off on the drawings AJO got the City to stamp the plans so we could pull a counter permit. Giuseppe personally handled the special inspections phase as well. We were extremely satisfied with the permitting process, their communication style, their speed of response to issues, and our new foundation was finished well before the neighbors' construction got started. Later we decided to hire AJO again to help us design a retaining wall. read more