Oakland’s soft story list is a city-maintained roster of roughly 1,500 residential buildings identified as potential soft story structures under the Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program. The city publishes it as a downloadable PDF on the program’s page at oaklandca.gov, with the current version titled “List of Potential Soft-Story Properties as of August 2025.”1City of Oakland. Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program Each entry shows the property’s address, its assigned compliance tier, and where it stands in the retrofit process. Because every tier’s deadline has now passed, the list is especially useful for spotting buildings whose owners still have not finished the required seismic work.
Where to Find the List
Go to oaklandca.gov and navigate to the Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program page under Planning and Building. The PDF is linked there and is refreshed periodically as buildings complete work and file affidavits.
OpenOakland, a civic tech group, also hosts a searchable map version at softstory.openoakland.org, but it warns that statuses may lag behind the city’s data.2OpenOakland. Soft Story Buildings in Oakland For current compliance status on a specific address, the city PDF is the better source. Buyers running real diligence should check city permit records too, since the list update can trail actual inspection results by several weeks.
What Each Entry Tells You
Three pieces of information travel with every address: the compliance tier the building was assigned, its current status (completed, non-compliant, or exempted), and by implication, which deadline applied to it. A “completed” status means the owner has passed final inspection and filed the affidavit of compliance. “Exempted” means the city has accepted a petition showing the building does not actually fall under the ordinance. “Non-compliant,” at this point in the program’s timeline, means the owner has missed a legal deadline.
Which Buildings Appear on the List
Oakland City Ordinance No. 13516, codified at Chapter 15.27 of the Oakland Municipal Code, applies to wood-frame buildings that were built or permitted before January 1, 1991, contain five or more dwelling units, and have what the code calls a “wood frame target story” — the vulnerable ground floor prone to collapse during shaking.3Oakland, CA. Oakland Code 15.27 – Mandatory Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Certain Multi-Unit Residential Buildings The classic example is an apartment building with ground-level parking tucked under several floors of housing, where the open ground floor can buckle under the weight above during a major earthquake.
A building that doesn’t fit those criteria shouldn’t be on the retrofit list in any binding sense, even if it appears on the initial inventory. Single-family homes, duplexes, and buildings constructed after 1990 fall outside the ordinance and have their own path off the list through the exemption process.
Tiers and Deadlines, All Now Past
The ordinance sorts covered buildings into three tiers, with higher-risk properties facing earlier deadlines. The timing runs from 30 days after the ordinance’s effective date of January 22, 2019, giving a baseline of roughly late February 2019.3Oakland, CA. Oakland Code 15.27 – Mandatory Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Certain Multi-Unit Residential Buildings
- Tier 1 covers buildings with 20 or more dwelling units that don’t qualify for a lower tier, plus any building whose owner failed to comply with the earlier 2009 mandatory screening program by July 2011. Evaluation was due around February 2021 and retrofit work around February 2023.
- Tier 2 covers buildings with 5 to 19 dwelling units that don’t qualify for Tier 3, and buildings with commercial or retail space on the target story floor. Evaluation was due around February 2022 and retrofit completion around February 2024.
- Tier 3 covers buildings where the target story has only residential use and that aren’t assigned to a higher tier. Evaluation was due around February 2023 and retrofit completion around February 2025.
The City Administrator can grant hardship extensions of up to one year when delays result from circumstances beyond an owner’s reasonable control, such as permit backlogs or litigation.3Oakland, CA. Oakland Code 15.27 – Mandatory Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Certain Multi-Unit Residential Buildings Even with those extensions, every tier’s final deadline has now passed. A current non-compliant listing is overdue, full stop.
What Non-Compliance Means If You Own or Want to Buy
Owners who miss their deadlines face administrative penalties of up to $1,000 per day, with each day of continued non-compliance counting as a separate violation.4Oakland, CA. Oakland Ordinance No. 13529 – Administrative Penalties A building that has been non-compliant for months can carry a substantial accumulated balance. The city can also pursue code compliance enforcement, and unpaid penalties can turn into liens that block any sale, refinance, or borrowing against the property until cleared.
A buyer who signs on a non-compliant building inherits the problem. The ordinance explicitly states that transferring title does not change any deadline, so the new owner picks up both the retrofit obligation and any penalties that have accrued.3Oakland, CA. Oakland Code 15.27 – Mandatory Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Certain Multi-Unit Residential Buildings That single fact has caught more than a few buyers off guard. Insurers also take notice: carriers can decline coverage or raise premiums on properties with known structural deficiencies, and a damaging earthquake would bring hard questions from both insurers and lenders about why the mandatory work was never done.
What a Listing Means If You’re a Tenant
If your building appears on the list and work is still ahead, you may face temporary displacement while the retrofit happens. Oakland’s Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance allows a landlord to require temporary vacancy for substantial repairs, but only after all necessary permits are in hand and only when the work genuinely cannot be done with tenants in place. The displacement cannot exceed three months unless the Rent Board grants an extension.
You have a right to return to the same unit at the same rent. The landlord must cover actual moving expenses and temporary housing costs, and must notify you by certified mail at least 30 days before the unit is ready. Keep your landlord informed of your current address during displacement, and respond within seven days of receiving notice that the unit is available.
Oakland’s Uniform Relocation Ordinance also requires owners to provide relocation payments to tenants displaced by code compliance activities, and the soft story retrofit qualifies.5City of Oakland. Uniform Relocation Ordinance A tenant who feels pressured to leave permanently, or who isn’t offered relocation assistance, should contact the Oakland Rent Adjustment Program.
Getting a Building Off the List
There are two ways a property’s status changes. The first is an approved exemption. The city accepts exemption petitions when the building was constructed after 1990, when it has fewer than five dwelling units, when it was already screened exempt under Oakland’s 2009–2010 program, or when a licensed design professional confirms there is no wood frame target story. The first three conditions use a straightforward petition form; the fourth requires the design professional’s review.6City of Oakland. Apply for Exemption Once approved, the public list reflects the exemption.
The second path is finishing the retrofit. The owner hires a licensed structural engineer, completes the seismic evaluation, pulls permits, finishes the construction, passes a final inspection from the Bureau of Building, and submits a final affidavit of compliance confirming the work meets the engineering criteria in Section 15.27.170.3Oakland, CA. Oakland Code 15.27 – Mandatory Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Certain Multi-Unit Residential Buildings The city then updates the building’s status from non-compliant to completed on the next published version of the PDF. That update can take several weeks, so owners should keep copies of all permits, inspection approvals, and the final affidavit. Lenders, insurers, and future buyers will ask for the paperwork directly rather than relying on the list alone.