seismic retrofit of soft-story buildings

Updated May 24, 2010

The City of San Francisco is working on a legislative proposal that would require rental housing owners to seismically retrofit certain soft story buildings. The voluntary program was passed by the Board of Supervisors and signed into law by Mayor Newsom.

If you own a wood frame, soft story building of five units or more and the building is over 3 stories or more you may be affected by this proposed legislation. Typically, buildings on a corner with multiple ground floor garages or large commercial spaces may be a part of the first phase in the ordinance.

SFAA is part of a task force appointed by Mayor Newsom to work on the outline and content for the mandatory program law. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Fricke at SFAA.

Definition and Design Criteria (pdf)