Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft-Story Multi-Unit Housing
The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) is currently developing a new earthquake retrofit grant program—the Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit program, or “EMR.” EMR will be available in select cities that have a mandatory multi-unit residential soft-story retrofit ordinance. Building owners will be able to apply for EMR grants to retrofit their multi-unit residential buildings if the building:
- Is in a city included in the EMR program
- Has five to ten units
- Has “tuck-under” parking or a similar open space on the ground floor beneath the living area
Note: Additional requirements may apply.
What is a Seismic Retrofit?
An earthquake, or "seismic," retrofit strengthens an existing building, making it more resistant to earthquake activity (such as ground shaking and soil failure) to lessen the potential for damage to these buildings during an earthquake. The seismic retrofit generally involves adding bracing to the ground floor of the building to prevent side-to-side movement and collapse.
Soft-Story Vulnerability
A building with tuck-under parking or similar open space on the ground floor, beneath the living area, is also called a “soft-story” building. Soft-story buildings are vulnerable to earthquakes because the parking area is an open space with few supports, which can collapse during an earthquake, causing the upper floors to pancake down on top of the parking area. This can result in widespread damage and loss of life, as was the case with the Northridge Meadows apartment collapse in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake (M6.7).
The good news is that these soft-story buildings can be retrofitted to strengthen the ground-floor parking or open area, making the building better able to withstand earthquake shaking. The EMR program will provide grant funding to help qualified building owners retrofit their buildings and address this vulnerability.
Latest Program Development Updates
We will update this page with new information as it becomes available. Please Sign Up to receive email updates about the EMR program.