Soft Story Ordinance Guidance

A large, soft-story apartment building with parking garage spaces on the first floor.

The Bay Area faces a high likelihood of a major earthquake in the coming decades, with its housing stock representing a critical vulnerability. Soft story buildings—common in older multifamily housing—are especially at risk but can be identified and retrofitted using proven, cost-effective solutions, making them a key focus for improving community resilience. ABAG has developed a series of complementary resources to support jurisdictions in designing and implementing soft story retrofit ordinances and programs. These documents are intended to be used together. 

Resources 

ABAG has developed complementary resources to support jurisdictions in scoping and developing soft story ordinances. The resources below are presented in the recommended order of use and are intended to be used together.

Soft Story Retrofit Program Development Guidance Document (2016)

Start with this document which provides a comprehensive framework for identifying vulnerable buildings, assessing local risk, and evaluating policy and program options. This document is most useful for scoping a program and understanding key design considerations. It is organized into four sections:

  • Fragile Apartment Buildings: The Soft Story Problem
  • Preparing a Retrofit Program
  • Developing Retrofit Policy and Program Elements
  • Implementing a Retrofit Program
View the handbook.
Soft Story Model Ordinance (2017)

Use the model ordinance as a starting point when developing a local ordinance. It offers adaptable approaches to screening, engineering evaluation, and compliance pathways that jurisdictions can tailor to local conditions. This report also provides background, commentary, and step-by-step guidance for customizing the model provisions for a specific jurisdiction, along with notes on program implementation.
 

View the model ordinance.
Bay Area Jurisdiction Soft Story Policies & Programs

ABAG tracks when jurisdictions in the Bay Area adopt a soft story ordinance. This resource organizes the known policies in a dozen jurisdictions and includes links to relevant documents.

Explore the policies and programs.
Update

Program

Type

Codes & Standards, Model Ordinance, Template

Related:

Housing, Resilience, Hazard, Earthquake, Seismic, Policy, Ordinance, Model Ordinance, Mitigation, Soft Story, Retrofit, Building
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