Earthquake Proofing: Almost 500 SF Buildings Miss Seismic Deadline

San Francisco, as everybody knows, is earthquake country, and the city’s efforts to be prepared for the next minor or major earthquake includes a rigorous earthquake safety code for SF buildings. The most recent (and minimum) earthquake resilience effort has been the seismic retrofit requirement.

There are 3,464 buildings in the city that are required to get permits for the necessary seismic retrofitting. Out of those, 484 have missed the first major deadline for seismic retrofitting by not applying for the permits—as reported by Bay City News.

Department of Building Inspection spokesperson Bill Strawn said the 484 building owners are now out of compliance with the city law that represents the minimum for earthquake safety improvements.

Many of these 484 are “soft story,” meaning they have open space like retail or a garage on the first floor. Next, the owners without permits will be served a violation notice and warning. If they don’t comply after this, they could be banned from leasing, selling or using the property as collateral.