Soft Story Requirements

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On Jan. 17, 1994, a magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck the Los Angeles neighborhood of Reseda. As it came to be known, the Northridge Earthquake brought national attention to a fundamental structural flaw that plagued thousands of buildings in some of America's most earthquake-prone cities. As the temblor rattled the city, the bottom floor of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex collapsed beneath the two floors above it. Sixteen residents, all on the first floor, died as a result. Why did the complex collapse when so many other buildings remained standing? Because Northridge Meadows was a soft-story building.

Soft-story buildings, so called for having first stories much less rigid than the stories above, are particularly susceptible to earthquake damage because of large, unreinforced openings on their ground floors and in their typically wood-frame construction. These openings often accommodate parking spaces, large windows, and expansive lobbies in residential and retail buildings. Without proper design, such structures can much less withstand the lateral forces (forces that push a structure side to side) that earthquakes generate. Once the first-floor folds, the upper floors pancake down on top of it, crushing anything underneath.

As a courtesy to our customers, we have compiled Soft Story Requirements for your convenience. The information below is not meant as legal advice or to supersede each city's information. Please use this information as a starting point to conducting your own research.

Adopted May 20, 2019

Soft Story Requirements 

Ordinance No. 7345

Pasadena Municipal Code Title 14, Chapter 14.08 - Mandatory Seismic Strengthening Provisions For Existing Wood-Frame Buildings With Soft, Weak Or Open-Front Walls.

The ordinance applies to all existing buildings of wood-frame built prior to November 12, 1976, and 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. 

Exceptions: 

1. Single-family residences 
2. Muttiple-family residential parcels containing four or fewer units. 
3. Ground floor or basement concrete podium levels where a rigid concrete diaphragm exists. However, the first wood frame story above the podium shall be subject to the ordinance where soft, weak, or open front walls exist. 

Compliance Requirements. 

The Owner of each building is required to obtain a structural analysis by a Registered Civil or Structural Engineer. If the building does not meet the minimum standards, the Owner is required to retrofit the building to conform to such standards. 

Time Period for Compliance

• One Year to submit Screening Form (Optional) 
• 3 years to submit Retrofit Plans & Obtain Permit 
• 7 Years to Complete Construction from Notice to Owner

Resources

Seismic Design Guidelines for Soft-Story Retrofits 

Screening Form (optional) 

Adopted April  17, 2017

Soft Story Requirements 

Ordinance 17-1004 

West Hollywood Municipal Code, Chapter 13.28 - Mandatory Seismic Strengthening Provisions For Existing Wood-Frame Buildings With Soft, Weak Or Open-Front Walls.

The ordinance applies to all existing buildings of wood-frame built prior to January 1, 1978, and 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, and there exist one or more stories above.  

Compliance Requirements. 

The Owner of each building is required to obtain a structural analysis by a Registered Civil or Structural Engineer. If the building does not meet the minimum standards, the Owner is required to retrofit the building to conform to such standards. 

Time Period for Compliance

• One Year to submit Screening Form (Optional) 
• 2 years to submit Retrofit Plans
• 4 years to Obtain Permits and Commence Construction
• 5 Years to Complete Construction

Resources

Roadmap to Compliance 

SWOF Screening Report

SWOF Retrofit Design Guidelines