Seismic Ordinances

There are multiple cities across the west coast that are being proactive about reducing their seismic risk. Below are summary tables of cities that have recently enacted or are developing seismic ordinances for multi-family and/or commercial buildings. A report on the status of the 1986 URM state mandate that affected many cities in California can be found in the following link. For additional information regarding this subject please contact Daniel Zepeda.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Jurisdiction	No. of Affected Buildings	Ordinance	Ordinance Status
Beverly Hills	300 Reported	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect
Burbank	No. of Buildings Unknown	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Voluntary
	No. of Buildings Unknown	Reinforced Concrete and Masonry Buildings with Flexible Diaphragms	Approved and in effect
	No. of Buildings Unknown	Pre-Northridge Steel Moment Frames built prior to 1995	Approved and in effect
Culver City	393 Reported	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	In Development
Los Angeles	13,500 Reported	Wood Soft-Story 4 units or more built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect
Los Angeles	1,500 Reported	Non-Ductile Concrete built prior to 1977	Approved and in effect
Long Beach	No. of Buildings Unknown	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Voluntary
	No. of Buildings Unknown	Non-Ductile Concrete built prior to 1977	Voluntary
	No. of Buildings Unknown	Reinforced Concrete and Masonry Buildings with Flexible Diaphragms	Voluntary
Pasadena	500 Reported	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect
Santa Monica	209 Reported	URM built prior to 1975	Approved and in effect
	34 Reported	Conc/CMU with Flex Diaph. Built prior to 1994	Approved and in effect
	1,573 Reported	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect
	66 Reported	Non-Ductile Concrete built prior to 1977	Approved and in effect
	80 Reported	Pre-Northridge Steel Moment Frames built prior to 1995	Approved and in effect
Torrance	Inventory in Progress	Ordinance Scope in Progress	In Development
West Hollywood	780 Reported	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect
	55 + (60 potential steel or concrete) Reported	Non-Ductile Concrete built prior to 1977	Approved and in effect
	31 + (60 potential steel or concrete) Reported	Pre-Northridge Steel Moment Frames built prior to 1995	Approved and in effect

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Jurisdiction	No. of Affected Buildings	Ordinance	Ordinance Status
Alameda	64 Reported	Wood Soft-Story 5 units or more built prior to 1985	Approved and in effect
Berkeley	327 Reported	Wood Soft-Story 5 units or more built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect
Fremont	No. of Buildings Unknown	Wood Soft-Story built prior to 1978	Voluntary
Fremont	No. of Buildings Unknown	Tilt-Up and Reinforced Masonry Buildings with Flexible Diaphragms build prior to 1976 UBC	Approved and in effect
Oakland	1,380 Reported	Wood Soft-Story 5 units or more built prior to 1991	Screening Only
Palo Alto	294 Reported	Wood Soft-Story	In Development
Richmond	Inventory in Progress	Ordinance Scope in Progress	In Development
San Francisco	4,956 Reported	Wood Soft-Story 5 units or more built prior to 1978	Approved and in effect

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Jurisdiction	No. of Affected Buildings	Ordinance	Ordinance Status
Portland	1,670 Reported	URM Buildings	Building Inventory Complete. Notification Ordinance in Effect.
Seattle	1,150 Reported	URM Buildings	Building Inventory Complete. Ordinance in Development.

*Last updated July 16, 2021

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