Information for City of San Francisco Soft-Story Building Owners

As September 15, 2013, six thousand building owners will receive a letter and screening form from the Department of Building Inspection. The purpose of this Screening Form is to verify whether notified buildings are subject to the Wood-Frame Seismic Retrofit Program or are exempt.

Buildings under the scope of SF ordinance have to meet the following criteria:

If the building has more than 5 units, is 3 or more stories high, was built before 1978, has a ground floor that is made of wood construction and additionally:
The building has a large garage door opening on one or more sides of the building.
The building has a glass storefront on the ground floor of the building.
The building has first or ground floor wall configuration that is substantially different that the stories above it.
The building has a basement or underfloor area such as crawlspace that extends above grade at any point.

For more information regarding the soft story screening forms click here.

For more information about the San Francisco retrofit requirements, or to set up an appointment for us to look at your building, please email us at info@enginious-structures.com or call our office at (510) 272-9999.

More information about the City of San Francisco’s soft-story ordinance can be found at www.sfgate.com/softstory, or www.sfappeal.com/softstory.

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