San Diego, CA Earthquake Safety: Unreinforced Masonry (2026)

San Diego's URM ordinance, administered by the Development Services Department, identified 884 unreinforced masonry buildings constructed before 1939 within the city in 2001. California's URM Law (Government Code Section 8875 et seq.) required all cities and counties to inventory their URM buildings and establish loss-reduction programs. San Diego's program requires owners of identified URM buildings to either retrofit the structure to meet minimum seismic safety standards or demolish it. The city has worked with building owners over more than two decades to reduce seismic hazards from URMs. As of the most recent enforcement update, all property owners have complied except for 14 buildings that are being inspected and may be referred to the Office of the City Attorney, Nuisance Abatement Unit (NAU) for further enforcement if the structures remain unretrofitted. Retrofit standards follow the California Existing Building Code Appendix A and ASCE 41 (Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings). Common URM retrofit techniques include adding steel frames, reinforcing walls with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), and installing diaphragm-to-wall connections.