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68℉Definitions
Dwelling Unit - Includes:
- A single unit, rented or owner-occupied, that includes permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation;
- Any residential unit in a building with R-1 or R-2 occupancy, including short-term rental units;
- Any guestroom, with or without a kitchen, in a tourist or residential hotel or motel;
- Any unit in a townhouse building; and
- Any unit occupied as a dwelling unit, whether approved or not approved for such use, shall be counted as a dwelling unit.
Owner - Is the owner of record as shown on the last assessment on the county tax roll. For notification purposes, under the Ordinance, this includes the actual owner of record, sole or part owner, or owner’s agent, employee, or other legal representative.
Rental Housing Unit - A dwelling unit that is not owner-occupied.
Subject Building - Buildings subject to the Ordinance meet these criteria:
- Constructed or permitted for construction before January 1, 1990 or have a design based on an adopted version of the 1985 or earlier edition of the Uniform Building Code; and
- Contain two or more stories and three or more dwelling units; and
- Have a wood-frame target story;
OR any building for which the Owner is sent notification or screening instructions until it is found to be exempt through the screening process.
Wood-Frame Target Story - Applies to:
- A basement story or underfloor area that extends above grade at any point; OR
- Any above-grade story where the wall configuration of such basement, underfloor area, or story is substantially more vulnerable to earthquake damage than the wall configuration of the story above; OR
- A significant portion of lateral or torsional story strength or story stiffness is provided by wood-frame walls.
A story is not a Wood-Frame Target Story if it is the topmost story or if the difference in vulnerability is primarily due to the story above being a penthouse or an attic with a pitched roof.
Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance & Program
Please see the Background section below for the information, research, and outreach that led to the Council's decision. The City is generally defining soft story buildings as:
- A wood-frame building with at least three residential units.
- Built before 1990.
- May have crawl spaces lacking any earthquake retrofit.
- May have levels with large openings used for parking, storage, etc.
Subject buildings are further defined and categorized as discussed below.
ImplementATION OF the Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance
Timeline
The ordinance implementation timeline is as follows:
| ACTION | TIMEFRAME |
|---|---|
| Online portal development for building owners to file information and interact with City staff | Dec. 31, 2024 |
| City conducts outreach to building owners and tenant/housing groups. | Nov. 2024 - June 2025 |
| Program status presentation to Community and Economic Development Committee | Summer 2025 |
| Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance goes into effect | April 1, 2025 |
Details of Implmentation
Refer to the Definitions (left column of this page) to understand the applicability of the Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance.
Subject Building Categorization
Residential buildings subject to the Ordinance (also see the definition at left for Subject Buildings) are categorized by age and number of dwelling units as follows:
Group 1 - Includes subject buildings constructed before January 1, 1978 and contain five or more units. Subject buildings not assigned to groups 2 or 3 are assigned to Group 1.
Group 2 - Includes subject buildings constructed after January 1, 1978 and before January 1, 1990 and contain five or more units. Subject buildings not assigned to Group 1 are assigned to Group 2.
Group 3 - Includes subject buildings constructed before January 1, 1990 and contain three or more units. Subject buildings not assigned to groups 1 or 2 are assigned to Group 3.
Compliance Deadlines
Under the Ordinance, Owners will be notified of the following compliance deadlines that apply to the subject building groups:
Screening Phase Deadline is Oct. 1, 2026 for all building groups - Buildings in groups 1, 2 and 3 must all be screened by Oct. 1, 2026 (18 months from the ordinance going into effect on April 1, 2025).
Design, Permit, and Construction Phase Deadlines
Group 1 - April 1, 2030
Group 2 - April 1, 2031
Group 3 - April 1, 2032
background
California's modern building codes include construction standards for buildings to be resilient to most earthquakes. But buildings constructed before these earthquake standards went into effect — prior to the 1990s — may not be as resilient unless they have been retrofitted. Of particular concern are soft story buildings.
These buildings are at risk of collapse during a major earthquake, which happened in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and 1994 Northridge earthquake — and property owners at that time collectively faced millions in lawsuit damages. Not only could people die or get hurt, but structural damage could cause homes to be uninhabitable for a long duration; such impacts could happen to an estimated 8,000 total units in San José — see FAQs Question 5.
Damage to a soft story building in San Francisco from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
In 2018, the City Council directed staff to develop a policy and program for the story issue. Also in 2018, the City received a $4.6 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help property owners with the costs of the retrofits.
San José's Housing Department, with help from consultants, lead the development of the program and ordinance with these three goals: 1) Public health and safety as the priority for a soft story retrofit program; 2) Equity and inclusion to enable equitable distribution of program costs and benefits among owners and tenants of different circumstances; and 3) Cost controls to balance the cost of compliance with the cost of risks posed to owners, tenants, and the City (such costs are outlined in FAQ Question #6.
The ordinance development process evolved as follows:
June 2023: Staff present program overview to Housing and Community Development Commission. Read the memo.
July 2023 to Jan. 2024: Outreach conducted to tenant, property owner, and real estate groups about the concerns and impacts of a soft story retrofit ordinance. City staff also researched similar ordinances/programs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland.
March 25, 2024: Presentation to Community and Economic Development Committee
April 2024: Consultant report is published. The City hired a consulting engineering firm to produce a report that inventoried target wood-frame soft story buildings in San Jose; reviewed relevant engineering studies and costs; and made policy recommendations. Read the Soft Story Mitigation Program Phase 1 Report.
September 24, 2024: City Council approved the Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance.
Benefits of Ordinance
-
Saves lives. First and foremost, it will help to save lives.
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Protects property. Buildings and tenant property alike have greater protection.
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Reduces community costs. The ordinance helps to reduced potential costs. For people displaced by a major earthquake, the estimated cost of mass care and shelters is $222 per person per day ($666,000 for 100 people per month). Costs for fire, rescue, and police response would add to this amount.
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Reduces owner liability. Property owners gain protection from liability. As mentioned above, the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes resulted in a collective payout of millions in damages by property owners to tenants.
DOCUMENTS
- Soft Story Mitigation Program, Phase 1 Report April 15, 2024
- Memorandum to Consider Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance, Sept. 13, 2024
- Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance, approved by City Council Sept. 24, 2024
for more information
- Sign up for project information.
Contact
Project Manager: Abraham Chacko
Email: SoftStoryRetrofit@sanjoseca.gov Phone: 408-535-3598
Send any mail to:
San José City Hall
200 E. Santa Clara St.
San José, CA 95113
Attn. Abraham Chacko, Planning Division, 3rd Floor