San Jose

The City approved a mandatory soft-story retrofit ordinance and program in September 2024, following an inventory and engineering study by a consulting engineering firm. The ordinance, number 31123, titled Mandatory Seismic Retrofit of Wood-Frame Target Story Residential Buildings, is effective April 1, 2025.

Scope

The ordinance applies to existing buildings with the following characteristics:

1. Constructed or permitted for construction prior to January 1, 1990 or designed based on the 1985 or earlier edition of the Uniform Building Code,
2. Contains two or more stories,
3. Contains three or more dwelling units, and
4. Contains a Wood-Frame Target Story (“target story” generally includes any above grade or partially above grade story that is more vulnerable to damage than the level directly above and is defined in the ordinance)

Owners receiving a notification or screening instructions for their buildings who believe their buildings are not a subject to the ordinance based on the characteristics above must still submit a screening form prior to October 1, 2026.

For buildings that are subject to the ordinance, the subject buildings are categorized into groups based on these characteristics.

• Group 1: Subject buildings constructed before January 1, 1978 and contain five or more dwelling units. 
• Group 2: Subject buildings constructed between January 1, 1978 and January 1, 1990 and contain five or more dwelling units.
• Group 3: Subject buildings constructed before January 1, 1990 and contain three or more dwelling units that are not assigned to Groups 1 or 2.

Timeline

The ordinance has the following compliance deadlines, depending on the group assigned to the subject building.