Property Records
Soft story retrofit status, and what it does to a deal
San Francisco's mandatory retrofit program covered thousands of wood-frame apartment buildings, every deadline has passed, and non-compliance is recorded against title. Here is how to check a building and what the status actually means.
By Paulo Serna, San Francisco Real Estate Agent, Compass | Level Up Group · CA DRE# 02150409 · SF resident since 1995 · Updated August 2026
The short version: if a building is on the City's soft story list and has not complied, that is not a future problem. Every compliance deadline in the program has passed, the violation gets an "Earthquake Warning" placard posted on the building, and the notice is recorded against title. Title transfer does not reset anything. A buyer inherits the obligation and the expired deadline together.
Which buildings the program covers
The program began with Ordinance 66-13 in April 2013, which added Chapter 34B to the San Francisco Building Code. It applies to existing buildings, including mixed-occupancy buildings, that are Type V wood-frame construction of three or more stories, or two stories over a basement or underfloor area with any portion extending above grade, containing five or more dwelling units, permitted for construction before January 1, 1978.
Read that unit threshold carefully, because it answers the question I get most: a single-family home is not covered. Neither is a duplex, a triplex, or a fourplex. The mandatory program starts at five dwelling units. A small building can still have a soft story condition in the engineering sense, and that is worth an engineer's eye, but it carries no obligation under this chapter.
Two exceptions exist for covered buildings: one for a building seismically strengthened to a qualifying standard within fifteen years before the chapter took effect, and one for a building that completed voluntary strengthening under Administrative Bulletin AB-094, in both cases on documentation approved by the Department of Building Inspection.
The tiers, and why the deadlines no longer matter the way people think
Covered buildings were sorted into four compliance tiers by occupancy, unit count, and liquefaction zone, and the code set deadlines in years rather than calendar dates: one year for the screening form for every tier, then permit application and completion windows running from two to five and four to seven years, all measured from ninety days after the chapter became operative on June 17, 2013. The screening deadline landed on September 15, 2014, which DBI states directly. The code also set a hard backstop: all work completed by December 31, 2020.
So there is no open runway. A non-compliant building in 2026 is a building that missed a deadline by five years or more, and the City's own program documents now describe the program in the past tense.
What non-compliance actually does
Two mechanisms, and the second is the one that reaches a transaction. First, DBI posts a notice on the building reading "Earthquake Warning. This building is in violation of the requirements of the San Francisco Building Code regarding earthquake safety," and that notice stays up until the building complies. Second, the code states that notice "shall also be recorded against the title of the building," with a release filed with the Assessor-Recorder once the building conforms.
Separately, on the general code enforcement track, an unappealed Director's Order of Abatement is recorded at the Recorder's Office and placed on the property's land records, and the City states plainly that a lien "can make it very hard to refinance or sell." Ask your title officer to look for both.
One more provision worth quoting, because sellers and buyers both get it wrong: "No transfer of title shall alter the time limits for compliance." Selling does not hand the problem to someone with a fresh clock. It hands them an overdue one.
How to check a specific address
The City publishes the list. DBI's Soft-Story Properties dataset on DataSF gives block, lot, address, tier, and current status for every affected parcel, and the code requires DBI to keep that list public. When I last pulled it, the file held 4,945 records: 4,678 marked work complete with a Certificate of Final Completion, and 262 marked non-compliant, concentrated in Tiers III and IV.
Use the file to find a building, then confirm with DBI before you rely on it. The dataset is labeled as publishing weekly, but the most recent refresh stamped inside it was July 31, 2025. DBI is the authority on current status; the public file is a starting point.
The 3R report is the other route. The code that created the retrofit program also amended the Report of Residential Building Record to ask whether the building is in the program and whether the required work is complete. Verify the answer rather than assume the field is populated.
What the work costs
The City's Earthquake Safety Implementation Program page estimates $60,000 to $130,000 per building in direct construction costs, taking two to four months, with construction generally limited to the ground floor where the vulnerability sits. That page carries a revision date of August 9, 2016. Treat it as a program-era planning figure and not as current pricing. For a real number you need an engineer's plan and a contractor's bid on the specific building.
What I do with this in a transaction
On any wood-frame building of five or more units built before 1978, status gets checked before we talk about price, not after. If the building is compliant, the Certificate of Final Completion is a document I want in the disclosure package. If it is not compliant, the cost, the timeline, and the recorded notice are all price conversations, and they belong in the open rather than in a surprise during the buyer's title review.
Who to ask, and what I am not
Whether a building genuinely has a soft story condition, and whether a completed retrofit was adequate, is a question for a California-licensed structural engineer; the program itself requires a licensed design professional for the screening and evaluation forms. Cost and schedule go to a licensed general contractor bidding off those plans. Official program status, open violations, and placards go to DBI's soft story program. Recorded notices go to your title company and the Assessor-Recorder. I am a real estate agent, not an engineer, contractor, or building official.
Sources
- SF.gov, Check earthquake safety rules, for the program overview and DBI contact.
- DataSF, Soft-Story Properties, the City's published list by address, tier, and status.
- San Francisco Building Code Chapter 34B, added by Ordinance 66-13, for scope, tiers, the deadline table, the recorded notice, and the no-reset-on-transfer provision. The chapter was later recodified and renumbered, so current section numbers may differ.
Figures verified against the sources above on August 1, 2026. The compliance counts carry the dataset's own as-of date of July 31, 2025.
- The mandatory program starts at five dwelling units. Single-family homes and small buildings are not covered.
- Every compliance deadline has passed. The code's backstop was December 31, 2020.
- Non-compliance is posted on the building and recorded against title, and transfer does not reset the clock.
- Check the DataSF Soft-Story Properties list, then confirm current status with DBI.
- The City's $60,000 to $130,000 estimate dates from 2016. Get a bid, not a memory.
Related reading
Want help thinking this through?
That's exactly the kind of decision I help with. No pressure, just a clear read.