Santa Monica Soft-Story Ordinance
Santa Monica has a mandatory seismic retrofit program for buildings identified as potentially vulnerable, including soft-story multifamily residential buildings. The City’s Seismic Retrofit Program was adopted in March 2017 and applies to several building types, including soft-story wood-frame buildings with open or weak lower-story conditions.
For soft-story properties, the program is especially relevant to older multifamily buildings with residential units above parking, garages, carports, or other large ground-floor openings.
Which Buildings May Be Covered?
Santa Monica’s soft-story requirements apply to certain older wood-frame buildings with soft, weak, or open-front lower stories. A building may be on the City’s seismic retrofit list if it has:
- Wood-frame construction
- Parking or similar open space at the ground floor or basement
- Soft, weak, or open-front wall lines
- One or more stories above the vulnerable lower level
- Characteristics that indicate further seismic evaluation may be needed
Being listed by the City does not automatically mean the building is structurally deficient or must be retrofitted. It means the property has characteristics that require evaluation. Owners can use Santa Monica’s seismic retrofit map and property list to check whether a building has been identified.
Santa Monica Soft-Story Compliance Timeline
Santa Monica issued notices for soft-story buildings in phases beginning in September 2017. The City’s Seismic Retrofit Ordinance Compliance and Noticing Schedule lists deadlines by soft-story building category:
- More than 2 stories and fewer than 16 units: retrofit complete by September 2025
- 16 or more units: retrofit complete by October 2025
- 2 stories with 7 to 15 units: retrofit complete by November 2025
- 2 stories with fewer than 7 units: retrofit completion deadlines vary by notice group, with dates listed in 2026
Because deadlines vary by building type and notice group, owners should confirm the specific compliance schedule for their property through City records.
Required Compliance Steps
Santa Monica’s How to Comply with the Seismic Retrofit Program page outlines the general process. Owners may need to:
- Request reconsideration if they believe the property should be exempt
- Hire a California-licensed civil engineer, structural engineer, or architect for structural analysis
- Submit the analysis to Building and Safety
- Submit retrofit plans and calculations if strengthening is required
- Obtain a building permit
- Complete construction and receive final inspection approval
If the approved structural analysis shows retrofit work is not required, the building may be removed from the seismic retrofit list.
Means and Methods Plan
Santa Monica requires a Means and Methods Plan as part of plan review for tenant-occupied residential properties. The City’s Retrofit Guide to Compliance explains that this plan must be reviewed and approved before the retrofit project can move through plan review.
This requirement helps address tenant-facing impacts such as parking access, construction staging, noise, access routes, and temporary disruption during retrofit work.
Current Status for Santa Monica Property Owners
Many Santa Monica soft-story buildings are now in the later stages of the program. Depending on the notice category, owners may be dealing with structural analysis, plan approval, retrofit construction, final inspection, or unresolved documentation.
Owners should confirm whether the property appears on the City’s seismic retrofit list, whether any reconsideration was approved, whether retrofit plans were submitted, and whether final inspection has been completed.
Get Clear on Your Santa Monica Retrofit Next Step
If your Santa Monica property appears on the City’s seismic retrofit list or has unresolved documentation, the next step is understanding what City records show and which deadline applies. Retrofit1 can help property owners review potential soft-story conditions, coordinate licensed structural evaluation, and plan the path through permitting, construction, final inspection, and compliance documentation when retrofit work is required.
When a building has seismic concerns beyond Santa Monica’s soft-story requirements, those improvements can be evaluated through earthquake retrofitting in Santa Monica while keeping ordinance compliance and broader retrofit planning clearly separated.