Berkeley Soft-Story Ordinance
Berkeley has a mandatory soft-story retrofit ordinance for certain older wood-frame multifamily residential buildings. The City’s Mandatory Earthquake Retrofit Programs require owners of soft, weak, or open-front buildings with five or more dwelling units to retrofit their properties under Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 19.39.
The ordinance applies to buildings on Berkeley’s inventory of potentially hazardous SWOF buildings, which are generally older wood-frame residential structures with open or weak lower-story conditions beneath residential units.
Which Buildings Are Covered?
Berkeley’s soft-story program applies to certain existing wood-frame multi-unit residential buildings or portions of buildings that contain five or more dwelling units. A building may fall within the program if it has:
- Wood-frame construction
- Five or more dwelling units
- A ground floor or basement with parking or similar open space
- One or more levels above the open lower-story condition
- Soft, weak, or open-front wall lines identified by the City
- A permit history that places it under older seismic design standards
Berkeley maintains an Inventory of Potentially Hazardous Soft, Weak or Open Front Buildings, which shows the status of buildings identified through the City’s program.
What Berkeley Required Owners to Do
Berkeley required owners of potentially hazardous SWOF buildings to submit a building permit application for the retrofit by December 31, 2016. Under BMC Section 19.39.050, retrofit work then had to be completed no later than two years after the permit application was submitted.
Those original deadlines have passed. For owners with unresolved soft-story issues, the key question is whether the building remains on the City’s inventory, whether retrofit work was completed and documented, and whether any remaining compliance issue needs to be resolved with Berkeley Building and Safety.
Evaluation, Tenant Notice, and Technical Requirements
Berkeley’s soft-story program began before the mandatory retrofit phase. Under the earlier phase, owners of identified SWOF buildings were required to submit an engineering evaluation report identifying structural weaknesses and possible retrofit approaches. The City’s Engineering Evaluation Report Requirements explain the framework for evaluating these buildings.
Owners of buildings on the soft-story inventory were also required to notify tenants and post an earthquake warning sign. Berkeley’s Soft-Story Prospective Tenant Notice explains that these signs could only be removed after the property was retrofitted.
For retrofit design, Berkeley’s Framework Guidelines for Soft, Weak or Open Front Building Retrofit Design provide technical guidance for complying with Chapter 19.39. Depending on the building, retrofit work may involve shear walls, moment frames, collectors, foundation work, or other lateral-force-resisting improvements designed by a qualified professional.
Current Status for Berkeley Property Owners
Because Berkeley’s original retrofit deadlines have passed, owners should treat any remaining SWOF issue as a compliance and documentation matter. A property may need review if it still appears on the City’s inventory, if retrofit work was completed but not properly documented, or if ownership changed before the building’s status was fully resolved.
The City’s current inventory shows many buildings with completed retrofit status, but owners should confirm the record for their specific property rather than relying on general assumptions.
Get Clear on Your Berkeley Retrofit Status
If your Berkeley property appears on the City’s SWOF inventory or has unclear retrofit documentation, the next step is understanding what City records show and whether any remaining compliance action is required. Retrofit1 can help property owners review soft-story concerns, coordinate licensed structural evaluation, and plan retrofit work when additional strengthening or documentation is needed.
When a property has seismic concerns beyond Berkeley’s SWOF ordinance, broader structural improvements can be evaluated through earthquake retrofitting in Berkeley while keeping ordinance compliance and broader retrofit planning clearly separated.