Hundreds of San Francisco buildings left behind after earthquake retrofits, though few show gas leak hazards

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This article is excerpted from an episode of the podcast “Civic”. Click the audio player below to hear the full story.

After revelations in April that poorly implemented seismic retrofits could cause a dangerous gas leak after an earthquake in an unknown number of residences, officials said Wednesday that a subsequent review found that only 75 buildings face that risk.

These are just a few of the 5,000-storey buildings, each with at least five housing units, that the city needs to strengthen because its ground floors are prone to collapse due to an earthquake. Meanwhile, although the majority of the buildings have been modified, work has been delayed on more than 700 properties, potentially putting thousands of residents at risk.

City and PG&E staff said the 75 identified buildings, which may have gas lines covered with sleeveless concrete foundations, are likely to be static or confirmed as not posing a safety risk by the end of 2022. City representatives and PG&E staff explained these requirements at a meeting on Wednesday of the Building Inspection Committee, which oversees the Building Inspection Department. The results have caused quite a stir – in stark contrast to the uproar that led to this moment. Mission Local revealed the story about the gas lines in two reports in April that prompted the Board of Supervisors to publicly question the building’s management staff and request an audit.

Only one commissioner, J.R. Eppler, asked about the overall success of the retrofit program. September 15 was the deadline to finish the retrofits, and Eepler noted that work was not completed on 16% of the soft-storied buildings.

“What steps are being taken to make sure they comply very quickly?” asked Epler, the construction department’s director of policy, Jeff Buckley.

Buckley did not provide specific enforcement steps.

“We can come back to you as a committee and kind of talk about the enforcement process on a basis going forward, if that’s something you want,” Buckley said.

Department spokesman Patrick Hanan said it would take weeks to prepare a list of retrofit issues that the department had subjected to the city’s various enforcement mechanisms. These include notices of infringement, financial penalties, owner summons to a hearing, mitigation orders limiting business activity that can occur on the building, placing a lien on the property and suing the owner.

Retrofit and implementation schedules staggered levels, with buildings that pose the greatest risks come first. All Level 1 buildings, which can contain schools and care facilities, have been upgraded. Eighty-nine percent of the Level 2 buildings, which contain at least 15 housing units, have been modernized. Level 3 includes all buildings other than those with works or in liquefaction areas, which are subject to severe shaking during an earthquake. Retrofits have been completed on 87% of Level 3 buildings, and 72% of the remaining buildings, making up Level 4.

Hanan said the more severe levels have better compliance in part because, with earlier deadlines, the Building Inspection Department spent more time enforcing the authorization.

City figures show that about 90% of Level 4 buildings that passed the program’s retrofit deadline have either requested or obtained permits to do the work. “Because the permits are generally good for a year, they still have time to complete the work,” Hanan said, adding that after 12 months, “we will implement it and expect to see similar results over time” as seen with other levels.

Building management representatives have always been optimistic about getting building owners to do the work. In 2019, when about 1,200 buildings were out of compliance, the public press asked Bill Straw, the department’s then head of public relations, if the problems that led to this deviation were intractable.

“I believe hope always springs forth, and human creativity never ceases to amaze me,” said Straw. “So I think we should be able to figure that out.”

A clip from our radio show and podcast “Civic”. Listen daily at 8am and 6pm on 102.5 FM in San Francisco, and subscribe to Apple, Google, Spotify or Stitcher.

Check back soon – we’ll update this article with a list of all the simple storied buildings that haven’t finished their mandatory retrofits.

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