Bakersfield has NO mandatory soft-story retrofit ordinance for multi-family wood-frame buildings. Unlike Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Santa Monica, Burbank, and Pasadena — which have adopted mandatory soft-story programs — Bakersfield has not enacted one. The city's only mandatory seismic retrofit program targets unreinforced masonry bearing-wall buildings under BMC Chapter 15.40.
A soft-story building is typically a multi-family wood-frame structure with a weak ground-floor opening (most often tuck-under parking) that is vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake. California cities are not required by state law to enact soft-story ordinances; each must adopt one locally. As of the most recent review of the BMC table of contents, Bakersfield's building and construction title (BMC Title 15) contains chapters on URM buildings (15.40 / 15.41) but does not contain a soft-story chapter. There is no city retrofit grant program, no inventory order, and no compliance deadline for soft-story buildings in Bakersfield. Owners voluntarily retrofitting follow the California Existing Building Code, Appendix Chapter A4 (Prescriptive Provisions for Seismic Retrofit of Wood-Frame Soft Story Buildings), which is adopted by reference under BMC Title 15.
Not applicable — there is no local ordinance to violate. New multi-family construction must still meet the seismic provisions of the current California Building Code as adopted in BMC Title 15.
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See how Bakersfield's soft-story retrofit rules stack up against other locations.
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