If you own property in San Jose, an earthquake retrofit may be a legal requirement, a voluntary upgrade, or something in between depending on what kind of building you have. The city’s Wood-Frame Soft-Story Retrofit Program forces certain older multi-unit buildings to complete structural work on a set schedule, while owners of single-family homes and other buildings can retrofit on their own timeline. Both paths run through the same San Jose permitting system, meet the same code standards, and qualify for the same state financial incentives.
Who Has to Retrofit and Who Chooses To
San Jose’s mandatory program applies only to buildings that meet three conditions at once: constructed or permitted before January 1, 1990; at least two stories with three or more dwelling units; and a wood-frame “target story” at the ground level that lacks the stiffness to carry the floors above during lateral shaking.1City of San José. Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance and Program In practice, these are the apartment buildings with tuck-under parking or wide storefront openings on the ground floor.
If your property doesn’t match that description, no city ordinance requires you to retrofit. Owners of older single-family homes, particularly pre-1980 houses on raised foundations with short cripple walls, often retrofit voluntarily because the structures face the same forces. Voluntary projects use the same permits, the same engineering standards, and the same inspection process, just without deadlines or enforcement risk.
Soft-Story Compliance Deadlines
The ordinance took effect April 1, 2026. Every building in the program must complete a seismic screening report by October 1, 2027. Full retrofit deadlines then depend on which group your building falls into:1City of San José. Soft Story Retrofit Ordinance and Program
- Group 1: Five or more units, constructed before January 1, 1978. Compliance by April 1, 2031.
- Group 2: Five or more units, constructed between January 1, 1978 and January 1, 1990. Compliance by April 1, 2032.
- Group 3: Three or more units, constructed before January 1, 1990, not in Group 1 or 2. Compliance by April 1, 2033.
Those dates sound distant. They aren’t. Engineering design, plan review, permit issuance, and construction each take months, and owners who wait until the compliance year will miss the deadline. If the city has notified you that your building is a subject property, your clock has already started.
What the Work Actually Involves
At its core, a residential retrofit ties the wooden frame of the building to the concrete foundation so the two stay connected during shaking. For a typical single-family home on a raised foundation, that means anchor bolts drilled through the sill plate into the foundation below, and structural plywood shear panels bracing the cripple walls between the foundation and the first floor.
Soft-story apartment buildings need more extensive work because the ground-floor weakness is larger and carries more weight. Retrofits usually involve steel moment frames or plywood shear walls installed at ground level to stiffen the open parking or commercial space without closing it off. A structural engineer designs the specific solution based on the building’s geometry, soil conditions, and number of stories.
In both cases, metal hardware ties the floors and roof framing together so seismic forces travel down through a continuous load path into the ground rather than tearing the structure apart at its weakest joints.
Permits and Plans You’ll Need
Every retrofit in San Jose, mandatory or voluntary, requires a building permit from the Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement. Start with the city’s Building Permit Application (Form 310), which asks for the project scope and a valuation of the proposed work; the valuation drives your permit fees.2City of San José. Building Bulletins and Forms
If a contractor does the work, the application needs their California license information. The state licensing board requires a Class A (General Engineering) or Class B (General Building) license for seismic retrofit work. If you plan to do the work yourself, you’ll sign an Owner-Builder Acknowledgement (Form 311), which puts you personally on the hook for workers’ compensation insurance and code compliance.2City of San José. Building Bulletins and Forms
The technical documents are the heavy lift. A complete package includes structural engineering plans showing anchor bolt locations, foundation plate details, and shear wall specifications; a site plan showing the building footprint and property line distances; and structural calculations demonstrating that the work meets current code. Your engineer prepares all of this. Without a complete set, the application won’t move into review.
Submitting the Application
Most permit applications go through SJePlans, the city’s online portal, where you upload engineering drawings and supporting documents as PDFs for electronic review.3City of San José. SJePlans – A Portal for Electronic Plan Review You create an account, upload your plans, and track status through SJPermits.org, which also handles fee payment.
In-person submittal is available at the Development Services Permit Center on the first floor of San Jose City Hall at 200 East Santa Clara Street. Permit fees scale with construction valuation and complexity; the city publishes a Building and Structure Permits Fee Schedule and offers a permit cost estimate worksheet you can email to the Building Division for a quote before you submit.4City of San José. Building Permit Fees Plan review typically takes several weeks, and longer if plans come back with correction requests.
Inspections During Construction
Once the permit is issued, inspections happen at specific construction milestones. You schedule them through SJPermits.org or by calling the Building Division at 408-535-3555.5City of San José. Inspections
An early inspection covers foundation work and anchor bolt placement before concrete is poured or framing is closed up. A later inspection verifies shear wall panels, hold-down hardware, and framing connections after they’re installed but before drywall covers them. The staging matters: once walls are closed, the structural work can’t be visually verified.
Final inspection confirms the completed work matches the approved plans. When the inspector signs off, the permit record updates in the city’s database to show the building is in compliance. That record stays with the property and appears in title searches, which carries weight when you sell or shop for insurance.
What a Retrofit Costs in San Jose
Costs vary with building type, foundation condition, and the scope of work. A standard cripple-wall-and-bolt retrofit on a single-family home with a raised foundation generally runs $3,000 to $7,000, the range the Earthquake Brace + Bolt grant program was designed around. Homes with complex foundation problems, hillside construction, or significant sill plate rot can push past $10,000.
Soft-story apartment buildings cost substantially more because the engineering is more involved and the ground-floor modifications are larger. Expect $15,000 to $25,000 or higher, depending on building size and configuration. Permit fees, plan check fees, and engineering design sit on top of construction cost.
Grants, Tax Breaks, and Insurance Discounts
California offers three incentives that stack, and together they can meaningfully reduce the net cost of a retrofit.
Earthquake Brace + Bolt Grants
The Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) program, run by the California Residential Mitigation Program, provides grants of up to $3,000 for qualifying retrofits. Homeowners with household income of $94,480 or less can apply for an additional supplemental grant of up to $7,000, for a potential total of $10,000.6California Residential Mitigation Program. EBB Retrofit Eligible homes are wood-framed, built before 1980, and sit on a raised foundation. Registration opens periodically rather than year-round, so sign up for notifications on the CRMP website if it’s currently closed.
Property Tax Exclusion
California Revenue and Taxation Code Section 74.5 excludes seismic retrofit work from triggering a property tax reassessment. The improvements don’t count as “new construction” for tax purposes, so your assessment stays the same even though you’ve added structural value.7California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 74.5 To claim the exclusion, notify the county assessor before or within 30 days of project completion. Your contractor, engineer, or architect certifies to the building department which portions of the work qualify, and the building department passes those figures to the assessor.
Two limits worth knowing. The exclusion covers only the seismic work itself, not unrelated upgrades like new plumbing or electrical done at the same time. And it expires when the property changes ownership, so a future buyer’s assessment will reflect the improvements.
Earthquake Insurance Premium Discounts
Policyholders with the California Earthquake Authority can earn premium discounts after a qualifying retrofit. The discount depends on the home’s age and foundation type:8California Earthquake Authority. Earthquake Insurance Policy Premium Discounts
- Built 1939 or earlier, raised foundation: 25% discount
- Built 1939 or earlier, other non-slab foundation: 15% discount
- Built 1940–1979, raised foundation: 20% discount
- Built 1940–1979, other non-slab foundation: 10% discount
On a typical CEA policy, a 20% or 25% discount is worth hundreds of dollars a year. Over the life of the policy, premium savings alone can recover a meaningful share of the retrofit cost.
Rent-Stabilized Landlords: Cost Recovery Has a Cap
Owners of rent-stabilized apartments face a specific tension. The city mandates the retrofit, but the Apartment Rent Ordinance limits how fast you can pass the expense through to tenants. Landlords may petition for a capital improvement pass-through, but the monthly amount cannot exceed three percent of the tenant’s current monthly rent.9City of San José. Learn About Rent Stabilization The improvement must have been completed within 12 months before the petition is filed, and the pass-through isn’t treated as rent for purposes of future annual increases.
At the three percent cap, a tenant paying $2,000 per month can be assessed $60 per month. On a $20,000 retrofit spread across ten units, that $60 per unit takes years to recoup. Owners who start early and spread costs over a longer planning window will feel less pressure than those who rush to meet the deadline.