Quick Answer: Burbank’s mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit ordinance, effective January 10, 2025, requires owners of qualifying pre-1978 wood-frame apartment buildings with tuck-under parking or an open, weak first story to screen their property, hire an engineer, pull permits, and complete construction on a staged schedule running through January 2030. Because deadlines, incentive dates, and grant funding change, property owners and buyers should always confirm current requirements directly with Burbank’s Building & Safety Division before making decisions. This article reflects information verified as of September 2026.
What Is a Soft-Story Building, and Why Does It Matter?
If you’ve spent any time looking at apartment buildings in Burbank, you’ve probably seen the classic 1960s and 1970s design: a row of carports or open garage bays tucked underneath two or three stories of living space. Engineers call this a “soft story” or “weak story” condition. The open parking level has far less wall bracing than the floors above it, so in a strong earthquake the heavier upper floors can sway while the flimsy ground floor can’t keep up. The result, as we saw repeatedly in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, is that the first level can rack sideways and partially or fully collapse, sometimes with people still living above.
Because that failure pattern shows up so consistently in older wood-frame apartment buildings, cities across California, including Burbank, have adopted mandatory retrofit ordinances aimed specifically at this type of construction. Burbank’s program is not optional, and it is not a suggestion for a future remodel — it’s a legal requirement with real deadlines attached to the property.
Does This Ordinance Apply to Your Burbank Building?
Burbank’s mandatory seismic retrofit program targets a fairly specific category of building. Based on the city’s own published criteria, a property is generally in scope if it is a wood-frame, multi-family residential building that was built or permitted before January 1, 1978, and it has either tuck-under parking on the ground floor supporting three or more residential units above, or a weak, open first story with two or more stories built on top of it.
Burbank’s Building & Safety Division compiled its list of potentially affected properties using old permit records combined with a street-by-street visual survey of the city’s apartment stock. Owners of buildings that were flagged typically receive an official written notice and order to comply, and the ordinance also requires a notice sign to be posted at the property itself. If you own, or are considering buying, an older Burbank apartment or condo-over-parking building and you haven’t seen anything official either way, the safest move is to call the Building Division directly rather than assume you’re in the clear.
What Are the Compliance Deadlines?
Burbank’s program moves owners through a defined sequence of milestones rather than a single all-at-once deadline. As of this writing, the published schedule looks like this:
| Milestone | Target Date | What’s Required |
|---|---|---|
| Screening submittal | January 12, 2026 | File the city’s screening form and post the required notice sign on the building |
| Early compliance incentive | July 10, 2026 | Full completion by this date qualifies for a 100% refund of plan check, permit, and inspection fees |
| Engineered drawings | January 11, 2027 | Submit engineer-prepared retrofit plans to Building & Safety for review |
| Plan approval / reduced incentive | January 10, 2028 | Resolve plan check comments and secure approval; completion by this date still qualifies for a 50% fee refund |
| Permit issuance | January 10, 2029 | Obtain the building permit and begin construction |
| Final completion | January 10, 2030 | Finish construction and close out the permit with a final inspection |
The ordinance itself took effect on January 10, 2025. I want to flag something important here: cities amend ordinance timelines and incentive windows more often than people expect, especially on a program this new. Treat the dates above as a solid planning framework, but always verify current compliance deadlines with Burbank Community Development before you sign a contract, negotiate a sale, or budget for construction.
What Does the Retrofit Process Actually Involve?
The good news for owners is that the ordinance targets a fix, not a full rebuild. A licensed California structural engineer evaluates the specific soft-story condition and designs a targeted retrofit — commonly steel moment frames, new shear walls, or reinforced connections at the vulnerable first level. The rest of the building generally does not need to be brought up to full current code; the scope is limited to correcting the identified structural weakness.
Construction timelines vary with building size. Smaller properties with a straightforward retrofit design have reportedly been completed in a few weeks, while larger multi-unit buildings with more complex parking configurations can take a couple of months. Either way, tenants typically remain in place during construction, though owners should plan for some disruption to parking and building access.
What Happens If a Deadline Is Missed?
Burbank’s ordinance has real teeth. An owner who misses a required milestone can expect the city to record a notice of noncompliance against the property with the Los Angeles County Recorder, which means the issue becomes part of the public record tied to the property itself. Administrative citations and fines can follow, and in a worst-case scenario involving an imminent life-safety concern, the city can order a building vacated until the work is done. None of that is the kind of surprise you want to discover mid-escrow, which is exactly why this matters for real estate transactions and not just for the owners currently holding the property.
Is There Financial Help Available for Owners?
Retrofitting a soft-story building is not cheap, and for a long time California cities with these ordinances offered little beyond permit fee waivers. That’s changed somewhat. The Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) grant program, administered by the California Residential Mitigation Program — a joint effort of the California Earthquake Authority and Cal OES — now offers funding specifically for this situation. Eligible buildings are wood-frame properties with five to ten units, built before January 1, 1991, with a soft-story deficiency, located in one of a defined list of participating cities that includes Burbank, and whose owner has already received a city retrofit notice or order.
Under the program as currently structured, eligible owners can receive up to 70% of retrofit construction costs (capped around $4,260 per unit) and up to 70% of engineering and permit costs (capped around $7,000), with total assistance capped near $49,600 per building. Registration for the current round opened August 19, 2026 and is scheduled to run through September 30, 2026, and the program itself notes that registering does not guarantee funding. Because grant windows and caps can shift between rounds, confirm current availability and figures directly at the program’s official site before counting on a specific dollar amount.
One quick but important clarification: the well-known Earthquake Brace + Bolt program, which offers grants for foundation bolting and cripple-wall bracing, is built for single-family homes with raised foundations. It is not the right program for a Burbank soft-story apartment building — the EMR program above is the one that applies to multi-unit properties under a mandatory retrofit order.
Don’t Confuse This With Burbank’s Retrofit Upon Resale Program
Here’s where a lot of buyers, sellers, and even some agents get tripped up. Burbank also has a completely separate program called Retrofit Upon Resale, run through Burbank Water and Power. That program has nothing to do with structural safety — it requires sellers to certify that a property’s toilets, showerheads, faucet aerators, and urinals meet water-efficiency standards before a sale can close in escrow, and it’s been in effect for sales since December 2022. It’s a water-conservation requirement, not a seismic one. If your escrow officer or title company mentions a “retrofit certificate,” make sure everyone is clear on which retrofit program they mean, because the paperwork, the trigger point, and the underlying purpose are entirely different from the soft-story seismic program described in this article.
What This Means If You’re Buying or Selling a Qualifying Property
If you’re selling an older Burbank multi-family building, get ahead of this. Find out early whether your property received a notice and order, where you stand in the compliance timeline, and whether a completed or in-progress retrofit could actually become a selling point that reassures buyers and lenders. Waiting until a buyer’s inspector or lender asks the question puts you in a weaker negotiating position.
If you’re buying, ask directly whether the seller has received any notice from Burbank’s Building & Safety Division, and ask to see documentation of the building’s current compliance stage. A qualifying building with retrofit work still pending represents a real future cost, and it’s worth having a structural engineer weigh in during your inspection period so you understand what’s ahead before you remove contingencies. Some owners are also able to pass a portion of retrofit costs through to tenants under applicable state or local rules, which is worth understanding if you’re evaluating the property as an income investment. As always, loop in your lender early too, since soft-story status and pending retrofit obligations can factor into financing and appraisal conversations on multi-family properties.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a building a “soft-story” building?
A soft-story building is typically a wood-frame apartment building with an open, weakly braced first floor — often tuck-under parking or garage bays — supporting one or more heavier residential floors above. That imbalance makes the ground floor prone to collapsing sideways during a strong earthquake.
Which Burbank buildings are covered by the soft-story ordinance?
The ordinance generally applies to wood-frame, multi-family buildings permitted before January 1, 1978, that have tuck-under parking supporting three or more units above, or a weak, open first story beneath two or more stories. Owners who are unsure should contact Burbank’s Building & Safety Division directly to confirm status.
When did Burbank’s mandatory retrofit program take effect?
Burbank’s mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit ordinance became effective on January 10, 2025. It replaced a more informal, voluntary approach with a defined, staged compliance schedule for qualifying buildings.
What is the first deadline owners need to meet?
Based on the city’s published roadmap, the initial step is submitting a screening form to Building & Safety and posting a required notice sign on the property, targeted for January 12, 2026. Always verify this and later dates directly with the city, since program timelines can be updated.
What happens if a property owner misses a compliance deadline?
Consequences can include a recorded notice of noncompliance with the Los Angeles County Recorder tied to the property, administrative citations, and in serious cases an order to vacate the building until the deficiency is corrected.
Is grant money available to help pay for a Burbank soft-story retrofit?
Yes, potentially. The Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) grant program, run through the California Residential Mitigation Program, has offered funding toward eligible retrofit and engineering costs for qualifying 5–10 unit buildings under a city retrofit order, including in Burbank. Funding availability and registration windows change, so confirm current terms before relying on a specific amount.
Does the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program cover my Burbank apartment building?
Generally, no. Earthquake Brace + Bolt is built for single-family homes with raised, cripple-wall foundations. Multi-unit soft-story apartment buildings under a mandatory retrofit order should instead look at the Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) grant program.
Is this the same as Burbank’s Retrofit Upon Resale program?
No, and this is a common point of confusion. Retrofit Upon Resale, administered by Burbank Water and Power, requires water-efficient plumbing fixtures at the time of a property sale. It is unrelated to the structural, seismic soft-story retrofit program covered here.
How can I find out if my building is on Burbank’s soft-story list?
The most reliable way is to contact Burbank’s Building & Safety Division directly by phone or email and ask about your property’s status. Owners of identified buildings are generally sent an official notice and order, and affected properties are required to post a notice sign.
Should this affect how I approach buying an older Burbank apartment building?
It’s worth building into your due diligence. Ask the seller whether the property has received a retrofit notice, where it stands in the compliance timeline, and consider having a structural engineer review the building during your inspection period so any remaining retrofit cost is factored into your decision.
This article is general information about a City of Burbank ordinance and is not legal or engineering advice. Requirements and deadlines can be updated by the city, so always confirm current standards with Burbank Community Development before relying on them.
About Will Flannigan
Will Flannigan is a California licensed real estate agent (DRE #01951292) and Certified Trust & Probate Specialist (CTPS) with The Nell Team at Equity Union Real Estate. A former attorney, Will brings a background in property management and over a dozen home flips to every transaction, and has been licensed since 2014. A 20+ year resident of Burbank Rancho, Will specializes in Burbank, Altadena, Pasadena, Glendale, and the greater San Gabriel Valley, with fluency in Mandarin serving clients in San Marino and beyond.
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