The City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (DBS) has released its list of wood frame soft-story buildings that may be required to undergo mandatory retrofitting. The list can be obtained by request to DBS, and the LA Times has provided a searchable version of the list here. The publication of the list follows on the heels of the Los Angeles City Council’s enactment of an ordinance requiring mandatory earthquake retrofitting for non-ductile concrete buildings and wood frame soft-first-story buildings in October of 2015.
The list identifies approximately 13,500 buildings that may potentially require earthquake retrofitting. Inclusion on the list does not mandate retrofitting; it requires only that building owners within one year of receipt of formal notice from DBS prepare a structural analysis showing whether their buildings meet the earthquake standards promulgated in the ordinance. Inclusion on this list does not constitute notice; the time periods in the ordinance do not begin until a property owner receives the formal notice from DBS. Notices are expected to be sent in May on a rolling basis, beginning with the largest buildings (those with more than 16 units will be targeted first, then buildings with three or more floors, followed by the remainder of the list).
If the initial structural analysis indicates that the building does not meet the earthquake standards in the ordinance, the owner must submit plans for retrofitting the building and a structural analysis of those plans that demonstrates compliance with the ordinance. All permits for retrofitting must be obtained within two years of receipt of a notice, and retrofitting (or demolition) of the building must be completed within seven years.
This list targets soft-story buildings. It does not identify non-ductile concrete buildings that were also included within the purview of the ordinance and subject to retrofitting requirements. Further detail on the retrofitting requirements imposed on non-ductile concrete and soft-story buildings is located here.