Torrance

The city of Torrance Ordinance #3916 is effective as of April 11, 2023. The Torrance wood-frame soft-story ordinance can be found here: Mandatory Seismic Strengthening Provisions for Existing Wood Frame Buildings with Soft, Weak, or Open-front Walls.

Scope

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

• The existing building is determined by the Building Official to have been built under building code standards enacted before the 1976 Uniform Building Code with local amendments adopted on August 1, 1978.
• 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, or the majority of the ground floor or basement portion of the structure contains an open floor space, and there exists one or more stories above.
• The structure is a residential building containing four or more dwelling units.

Priority Designations

The Torrance wood-frame soft-story ordinance will be carried out in phases. The timeline for compliance for each unique structure began following service distribution of the order. Orders were issued according to the priority levels outlined below.

Timeline

The city of Torrance requires that wood-frame soft-story building retrofits adhere to the timeline shown below. An official Order will be issued to owners of buildings that fall within the scope of the ordinance. Once the Order is received, the subsequent deadlines are initiated. Orders will be delivered according to the priority level of the structure, as listed above.