San Francisco leaders announce legislation to improve seismic safety of concrete buildings ahead of 1906 Earthquake anniversary

SAN FRANCISCO, CA---This week, Supervisor Melgar announced new legislation with City Administrator Carmen Chu and Department of Building Inspection Director Patrick O’Riordan to improve the seismic safety of San Francisco’s concrete buildings. The legislation would help City officials better understand which buildings may be vulnerable in major earthquakes and would provide clear retrofit standards to support those ready to retrofit their buildings. The legislation was unanimously approved by the Building Inspection Commission today and is expected to be heard at the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the Board of Supervisors later this month.

The announcement comes as the City commemorates the 119th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, which destroyed over 80% of San Francisco and prompted a years-long period of rebirth and recovery.

“Ensuring that San Franciscans and visitors can trust in the safety of our built environment is crucial for our City,” said Supervisor Melgar. “This legislation will give us the information we need to better prepare for when the “Big One” comes.”

“Over the last year we have been working steadily to engage stakeholders and technical engineers to advance safety for concrete buildings in our City. Earthquakes are a known risk in the Bay Area and reinforcement programs we have pursued in the past, including our soft story building retrofit program, will saves lives and speed recovery after a major disaster,” said City Administrator Carmen Chu. “This legislation takes the logical next step for another critical class of buildings in our City.  Specifically, this legislation helps us understand the actual risk to our building stock and provides concrete building owners with clear voluntary guidance and options for retrofits.  I want to thank Supervisor Melgar for her leadership and commitment to working with us on this important issue.”

"The only chance we have to prepare for an earthquake is before it happens,” said Department of Building Inspection Director Patrick O’Riordan, C.B.O. “This legislation will give us a clear indication of which buildings are at seismic risk and lays out retrofit standards to address those vulnerabilities. This isn’t just the smart thing to do, it’s the right thing to do.”

If approved, the legislation would require owners of potentially concrete buildings to complete a building assessment checklist with a licensed civil or structural engineer. The information gathered on the checklist would help determine whether the building was made with concrete or tilt-up construction that could make it at risk during a large earthquake, like the one that struck Myanmar last month.

To identify which buildings need to complete the checklist, the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning and the Department of Building Inspection analyzed publicly available records and street level images to create a list of buildings that could potentially have concrete or tilt-up construction. However, available information is insufficient to accurately identify concrete buildings. To definitively determine a building’s composition, a licensed engineer needs to review building drawings or conduct a site visit.

The legislation would additionally publish clear retrofit standards for existing concrete buildings to support building owners who want to retrofit now. The voluntary retrofit standards would provide a new efficient and reliable retrofit solution that eliminates critical deficiencies, with the intent of minimizing the need for tenant relocation.

The legislation is part of the City’s Concrete Building Safety Program, which aims to improve the seismic safety of concrete buildings, protect lives and property, and safeguard the local economy in the event of a major earthquake. Last year, the City Administrator’s Office published a stakeholder engagement report which summarized recommendations and findings developed over the course of a year-long concrete building stakeholder working group. The working group, which included building owners, tenant representatives, builders, developers, structural engineers, and policy experts, highlighted the need to screen potentially at-risk buildings, provide clear technical guidelines for retrofits, and continue dialoguing about financial options. San Francisco received a FEMA grant to develop a financing guide for concrete building retrofits, and that work is currently underway.

“San Francisco has already made big strides to improve the resilience of our communities through programs like the Soft Story Retrofit Program, Tall Buildings Study, Private School Earthquake Evaluation Program, Facade Inspection and Maintenance Program, and more,” said Brian Strong, Chief Resilience Officer and Director of the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning. “Concrete buildings are the next phase of the Earthquake Safety Implementation Plan (ESIP), the City’s 30-year plan for seismic safety. Now, we are using the recommendations of the stakeholder working group to develop a well-informed program that will improve the safety of concrete buildings and the neighborhoods where they exist.”