Wood-Frame Soft-Story Structures

Pasadena

The City of Pasadena adopted a mandatory soft-story retrofit in May 2019. See here for the City of Pasadena Mandatory Seismic Strengthening Provisions for Existing Wood-Frame Buildings with Soft, Weak, or Open-Front Walls.

Scope

Pasadena’s mandatory wood-frame soft-story program applies to existing buildings that have the following characteristics:

Wood-frame construction
Construction permit was applied for on or prior to November 12, 1976
Five or more dwelling units
The ground floor or basement portion of the structure contains parking or other similar open floor space that causes soft, weak, open-front wall lines.

Priority Designations

Pasadena has established building-tier classifications to prioritize retrofit efforts in order of the apparent risk associated with damage to the structure. Orders were issued according to the priority levels outlined below.

PRIORITY	BUILDING TYPE	DATE OF NOTICE
Priority I	3 or more stories, 25 or more dwelling units, or qualified historic buildings (any size or number of units)	December 5, 2019
Priority II	10 to 24 dwelling units	December 2, 2020
Priority III	2-story buildings with 5 to 9 units	March 3, 2021

Timeline

Pasadena requires that wood-frame soft-story building retrofits adhere to the timeline shown below. The deadline to submit retrofit plans and obtain a building permit was extended from 3 to 4 years after Notice by Resolution 9774 as a COVID-related time limit extension.

MILESTONE	REQUIREMENT
BEGIN PROCESS	Notice issued to Owner
1 YEAR AFTER NOTICE	Deadline to submit screening form completed by a licensed civil or structural engineer if building owner believes the building is exempt from the ordinance (optional)
4 YEARS AFTER NOTICE	Deadline to submit retrofit plans and obtain permit
7 YEARS AFTER NOTICE	Deadline to complete construction

CONTACTS

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Phone: (626) 696-4650
E-mail: seismicordinances@wje.com

Pasadena Planning and Community Development
Phone: (626) 744-4200
Email: softstoryretrofit@cityofpasadena.net