UPDATE: CAPSS and the Seismic Strengthening of Soft-story, Wood-frame Buildings

In February 2009, the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) delivered to Mayor Gavin Newsom the report titled Here Today-Here Tomorrow: Earthquake Safety for Soft-Story Buildings. This report focuses on policy recommendations for multi-unit, wood frame soft-story buildings in San Francisco.   Please click here for more information on the recommendations and to download the complete report.

The San Francisco Controller's Office of Economic Analysis recently released  an economic impact report entitled "Voluntary Seismic Strengthening of Soft-story, Wood-frame Buildings: Economic Impact Report".  Also, most likely in response to the Controller's report and the lackluster response to the voluntary retrofitting of soft-story buildings, Mayor Newsom announced his intention to require that all soft-story buildings in the city be seismically retrofitted to minimize the loss of housing stock and help bolster San Francisco's resiliency when a future earthquake occurs.  

The Controller's full report may be downloaded here:

Main conclusions from the report:

• An estimated 55,000 housing units within San Francisco are contained in what are known as "soft-story" buildings, whose ground floors are too weak to withstand a serious earthquake. Much of the damage could be mitigated by retrofitting the building to provide necessary ground-floor reinforcement.  However, to date, property owners have undertaken relatively few soft-story retrofits, averaging about 40 buildings per year.
• The proposed legislation attempts to stimulate the voluntary retrofitting of soft-story buildings, by providing property owners with incentives that will reduce the cost of the retrofit. Specifically, developers will be exempt from fees that the City charges for plan and permit review, and sidewalk encroachment.
• The Office of Economic Analysis finds that the legislation will have only a modest effect in stimulating voluntary retrofits. The fee reductions amount to approximately 2.7% reduction in the cost of retrofitting. A private property owner will act based on his or her financial interest, which lies in minimizing the long-term cost of reconstruction, given upfront retrofit costs and the probability of an earthquake. The OEA estimates that, even with the fee incentives, the property owner's private cost is only 48% of their private long-term benefits.
• The issue of soft-story retrofits addresses a broader range of social interests than that of a private property owner. Subsequent legislation that attempts to further stimulate, or require, soft-story retrofitting, should consider the full range of costs and benefits accruing to tenants, and the City as a whole, as well as private property owners.

When the next earthquake occurs, San Francisco's overall economic resiliency will depend on structurally safe housing for people to live in.  BOMA San Francisco members understand that the small businesses in our commercial buildings can only operate when their employees have a seismicly safe place to live.  As such, your BOMA San Francisco Advocacy Team will continue to monitor any new developments with regard to soft-story building seismic retrofit requirements and report them to you in a future blog post.