[Added 7-17-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
a. 
Supplemental definitions. In addition to or in place of definitions given elsewhere in this Code, the following definitions shall apply for purposes of this section.
BUILDING OFFICIAL
The designated staff person authorized and responsible for implementing the California Building Code.
DWELLING UNIT
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation; or any individual residential unit in a building with R-1 or R-2 occupancy, including short-term rental units; or any guestroom, with or without a kitchen, in either a tourist or residential hotel or motel. Any unit occupied as a dwelling unit, whether approved or not approved for such use, shall be counted as a dwelling unit.
OWNER
The owner of record as shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the county. For purposes of providing notice to an owner of any action or proceeding under this section, the term owner includes the actual owner of record, or part owner, or such owner's agent, employee or other legal representative.
TARGET STORY
Either (1) a basement story or underfloor area that extends above grade at any point, or (2) any story above grade, where the wall configuration of such basement, underfloor area, or story is substantially more vulnerable to earthquake damage than the wall configuration of the story above; except that a story is not a target story if it is the topmost story or if the difference in vulnerability is primarily due to the story above being a penthouse or an attic with a pitched roof.
WOOD FRAME TARGET STORY
A target story in which a significant portion of lateral or torsional story strength or story stiffness is provided by wood frame walls.
[Added 7-17-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
a. 
Title. Section 12-15 shall be known as "Mandatory Seismic Retrofit of Certain Residential Buildings," may be cited as such, and will be referred to herein as "this section."
b. 
Intent. This section is intended to promote public safety and welfare through a program of mandatory seismic retrofit of certain residential buildings vulnerable to earthquake damage and collapse. The program is intended to do some or all of the following: reduce earthquake-related deaths and injuries, improve the durability of the existing housing stock, facilitate post-earthquake emergency response, improve community stability, minimize displacement during retrofits and after an earthquake, and reduce the economic impacts of a damaging earthquake.
c. 
Subject Buildings. This section shall apply to buildings constructed or permitted for construction before January 1, 1981 or designed based on an adopted version of the 1976 or earlier edition of the Uniform Building Code, that contain three or more dwelling units, and have a wood frame target story. This section refers to any such building as a subject building.
d. 
Notification. Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this section, the Building Official shall send a written notice to the owner of each known subject building informing the owner of the requirement to comply with this section. Failure of the Building Official to send or provide a written notice to unidentified owners of subject buildings or to owners of buildings not known to be subject buildings shall not relieve the owner of a subject building from the requirement to comply with this section. Failure of an owner to receive a written notice shall not relieve the owner of a subject building from the requirement to comply with this section.
e. 
Exemption or extension. The owner of a subject building may apply for an exemption from the requirements of this section or for the extension of one or more deadlines. Exemption or extension may be granted for the following conditions applies:
1. 
A significant financial hardship related to the cost of the required work that will make it infeasible to complete construction in the required time.
2. 
An extension would prevent or minimize the displacement of a tenant.
3. 
A temporary, extreme shortage of, or price increase for, construction materials or labor.
To request an exemption or extension, the owner shall submit an application to the Building Official with supporting documentation. The burden is on the building owner to show that at least one of the listed conditions applies. The Building Official shall have discretion to grant or deny an exemption or extension. The Building Official may also refer the application to the Planning and Zoning Commission. If the application is referred to the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Building Official may establish procedures and application requirements. The Commission shall review the information supplied by the owner and shall make a recommendation to the Building Official.
f. 
Design Professionals. Unless specifically noted, all work intended to comply with this section shall be performed by appropriately licensed individuals, and all documents submitted for compliance shall be sealed by a California-licensed architect or civil engineer.
g. 
Submittals. In addition to submittals required by other provisions of this Code, the Building Official is authorized to develop, distribute, and require the use of certain forms, templates, and other tools as needed to facilitate compliance, review, approval, and records maintenance contemplated by this section. The Building Official is authorized to require separate submittals and permit applications for work required for compliance with this section and for voluntary work to be performed simultaneously.
h. 
Technical bulletins and administrative regulations. The Building Official is responsible for the administration of this section and is authorized to develop and require compliance with one or more technical bulletins and/or administrative regulations containing interpretations, clarifications, and commentary to facilitate implementation of the engineering criteria and other requirements set forth in this section.
i. 
Retention of plans. The Building Official shall retain an official copy of any approved target story evaluation reports and retrofit design plans submitted to comply with this section.
j. 
Public record keeping. The Building Official shall maintain a list of subject buildings and shall make the list readily accessible to the public. The Building Official shall convey the list with a summary of the compliance status of each subject building and its parcel number to the County Clerk-Recorder once every six (6) months.
k. 
Conformance Period. No subject building for which permitted retrofit work is completed in compliance with this section shall be required by the City to undergo additional seismic retrofit of its seismic force-resisting system within a period of fifteen (15) years after the effective date of this section, except that any provisions in this Code related to addition, alteration, repair, or change of occupancy shall still apply. Any such additional seismic retrofit requirements shall apply at the end of the conformance period, with schedule adjustments to be determined by the Building Official.
l. 
Eviction Protection. All provisions of California Civil Code section 1946.2 shall apply to each subject building that is required to undergo seismic retrofitting under this section. However, the following additional protections shall apply as well:
1. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of California Civil Code Section 1946.2, and as permitted by California Civil Code Section 1946.2(g), the need to vacate any unit of a subject building in order to comply with this section shall not be considered a just cause for eviction of a tenant. Moreover, if a tenant is required to temporarily vacate in order to comply with this section, the building owner shall either provide temporary housing to the tenant of comparable size and quality or reimburse the tenant a portion of their previously paid rent in an amount equal to the rent for the number of days that the tenant is required to vacate.
[Added 7-17-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
a. 
Scope of work for each subject building. The owner of each subject building shall, in accordance with the schedule given in Subsection 12-15.3c, complete the following compliance scope.
1. 
Complete the screening. The owner shall submit a screening document following procedures to be prescribed by the Building Official. Where required, the screening document shall be sealed by a California-licensed architect or civil engineer. The document shall either show that the building is not a subject building per Subsection 12-15.2c or shall confirm that the building is a subject building assigned to a certain compliance tier.
2. 
Complete the structural retrofit. The owner shall:
(a) 
Obtain a building permit to retrofit the subject building in compliance with the criteria given in Subsection 12-15.4; and
(b) 
Complete or cause to be completed all permitted construction, and obtain a certificate of completion.
Alternatively, the owner may submit to the Building Official a seismic evaluation report demonstrating compliance of each wood frame target story with the criteria given in Subsection 12-15.4.
3. 
Submit affidavits of compliance. The owner shall submit one or more affidavits prescribed by the Building Official confirming compliance with the required scope and with other administrative regulations.
b. 
Compliance tiers. Each subject building shall be assigned to a compliance tier as follows.
1. 
Tier 1. Subject buildings with five (5) or more dwelling units shall be assigned to Tier 1, unless eligible for Tier 3.
2. 
Tier 2. Subject buildings with three (3) or four (4) dwelling units shall be assigned to Tier 2, unless eligible for Tier 4.
3. 
Tier 3. Subject buildings with five (5) or more dwelling units, with at least one legally permitted dwelling unit or business, mercantile, or assembly occupancy in a wood frame target story, shall be assigned to Tier 3.
4. 
Tier 4. Subject buildings with three (3) or four (4) dwelling units, with at least one legally permitted dwelling unit or business, mercantile, or assembly occupancy in a wood frame target story, shall be assigned to Tier 4.
c. 
Schedule. The owner of a subject building shall comply with each of this section's requirements in accordance with the deadlines given in Table 12-15.3c unless extended in accordance with Subsection 12-15.2e. Failure to fully comply with any deadline or to receive approval of submitted materials shall not alter other applicable deadlines. In no case shall transfer of title cause any deadline to be extended.
TABLE 12-15.3c. Compliance deadlines in years after the effective date of this section
Compliance Tier
1. Screening
2.1. Retrofit Permit
2.2. Retrofit Construction
3. Affidavits
Tier 1
1 year
2 years
3 years
3 years
Tier 2
1 year
3 years
4 years
4 years
Tier 3
1 year
4 years
5 years
5 years
Tier 4
1 year
5 years
6 years
6 years
[Added 7-17-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
a. 
Engineering intent. The structural criteria provided in this section have been selected as appropriate to the intent of this section. The structural retrofit criteria are expected to significantly reduce the collapse risk of subject buildings and to increase the likelihood that a subject building will be structurally safe to repair and occupy shortly after an earthquake. The structural criteria are intended to apply to existing wood frame target stories in order to improve building performance while limiting retrofit costs and impacts. It is not the intent of this section to require mitigation of all structural deficiencies, seismic or non-seismic, that might exist within or adjacent to the building. The structural criteria might not achieve the same performance as design requirements for new buildings or any full-building retrofit objective for existing buildings.
b. 
Structural seismic evaluation. Where performed, seismic evaluation of each wood frame target story shall comply with the latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings [ASCE/SEI 41] with a performance objective of Structural Life Safety with the BSE-1E hazard or Structural Collapse Prevention with the BSE-2E hazard, as interpreted by the Building Official.
c. 
Structural seismic retrofit. Seismic retrofit of each wood frame target story shall comply with one of the following criteria.
1. 
Chapter A4 of the latest edition of the California Existing Building Code, as interpreted by the Building Official.
2. 
The latest edition of Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings [ASCE/SEI 41] with a performance objective of Structural Life Safety with the BSE-1E hazard or Structural Collapse Prevention with the BSE-2E hazard, as interpreted by the Building Official.
3. 
For subject buildings qualified as historic, alternate building regulations of the 2022 California Historical Building Code.
[Added 7-17-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-04]
a. 
Approval. Except for unsafe conditions, work triggered by the required scope of work, or as specifically noted in this section, the Building Official shall not withhold approval of submitted materials for reasons unrelated to the required scope and the engineering criteria.
b. 
Green Building Measures. Work required by this section is exempt from compliance with Green Building Measures otherwise required by City of Albany Resolution 2022-135. This exemption applies only to work expressly required for compliance with this section.
c. 
Alteration provisions. Prior to compliance with this section, each subject building shall be considered a substandard building per California Health and Safety Code Section 17920.3(o). When considering the work required by this section as an alteration, the Building Official is authorized to waive any of 2022 California Existing Building Code Sections 503.4 through 503.12 and their successor provisions, as adopted and amended by the City of Albany.
d. 
Existing building requirements. Unless specified otherwise, work on subject buildings that is neither required by this section nor triggered by compliance with this section shall comply with all applicable provisions of this Code.