Oakland County, Michigan does not have a soft-story seismic retrofit ordinance. Michigan is in a low seismic-hazard zone and the Michigan Building Code (based on the 2015 IBC, MCL 125.1501 et seq.) does not require seismic retrofit of existing wood-frame structures with weak first stories (parking, garages, retail). Soft-story retrofit programs exist in high-seismic regions of California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley) but have no analog in southeast Michigan suburbs such as Royal Oak, Troy, or Farmington Hills.
The Michigan Building Code and Stille-DeRossett-Hale Single State Construction Code Act (MCL 125.1501 et seq.) govern building construction statewide and do not impose retrofit obligations on existing soft-story buildings. The U.S. Geological Survey classifies Oakland County as a low seismic-hazard area with a peak ground acceleration well under 10% g for a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years. Neither Oakland County's general ordinances (Oakland County Code, available via the County Clerk) nor the building departments of constituent cities such as Royal Oak, Troy, Pontiac, Farmington Hills, Southfield, Auburn Hills, Birmingham, or Rochester Hills enforce a soft-story retrofit program. Property owners renovating older multi-story wood-frame buildings should comply with the Michigan Building Code in effect at the time of permit issuance, but no special seismic upgrade is mandated.
Not applicable — no soft-story retrofit ordinance exists. New construction and substantial alterations must comply with the Michigan Building Code, which adopts the seismic provisions of the IBC at Site Class D defaults for low-seismic regions. Permits are issued by individual municipal building departments under MCL 125.1508.
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