Protect Your Property and Ensure Compliance

To retrofit means to add elements to a building that weren’t part of its original construction. In the case of soft story retrofitting, the focus is on buildings with tuck-under parking or rigid upper stories with fewer windows — a combination that makes the ground floor significantly weaker and more prone to collapse during an earthquake.

Soft story buildings are common throughout Los Angeles and Orange County. They typically feature open parking or large ground-floor openings beneath residential units, making them especially vulnerable in seismic events and a liability for property owners.

At Miko Development, we specialize in strengthening these structures to meet current seismic codes, protect residents, and ensure full compliance with local ordinances.

Soft Story Seismic Retrofitting

What is a Soft Story Building?

Built prior to 1978.

Building codes changed in 1978 to include lateral resisting elements in construction.

Upper floors that are significantly more rigid than the ground floor.

A ground floor with large openings (e.g., parking garages) and minimal structural support.

Our Process

Initial Assessment

We begin with a thorough evaluation of your building, collecting field measurements for a stiffness check on each elevation. This helps us identify structural vulnerabilities and determine the appropriate retrofit solutions.

Straightforward Proposal

You'll receive a clear breakdown of engineering and construction costs, along with estimated fees for third-party items such as deputy inspectors, engineering observations, and seismic gas shut-off valves. These are excluded from the contract price, but we include them upfront to avoid surprises.

Engineering & Design

Michelle works closely with structural engineers to design the most cost-effective retrofit solution. Depending on your building’s needs, we may utilize steel moment frames, Simpson Strong-Walls, cantilever columns, or shear walls.

Permitting & Compliance

We manage the entire permitting process and ensure your retrofit complies with all local ordinances. We track compliance deadlines and keep property owners informed so they stay in good standing with city requirements.

Housing Requirements

Our team handles all required housing clearances and tenant servicing notices. If tenants file an appeal, a hearing is scheduled with the Housing Department. We attend the hearing with the property owner to provide support, documentation, and help ensure the retrofit work can proceed without delays

Construction

Our in-house construction crew performs all retrofit work — no subcontractors. This gives us full control of the schedule and quality. We move quickly and cleanly to minimize disruption for tenants while maintaining safety and compliance.

Final Inspection + Certification

Once permits are finaled, we provide you with a spiral-bound project record containing all inspection sign-offs, plans, and documentation. We also offer assistance with any applicable cost recovery programs through the Housing Department.

Additional Requirements During Construction

Deputy Inspectors

Certain phases of your project require third-party Deputy Inspectors to be on site to verify key elements are installed per your plans. These inspections are required by the city and must be completed before continuing to the next phase.

Must be hired and paid by the owner — to verify work complies with your approved plans. These inspections are required by the city and must be completed before you can move on to the next stage.

Typical inspections include:

Epoxy dowels – hole cleanliness, cure time, and embedment checked
Rebar placement – size, spacing, and count per plan
High-strength concrete – mix verification and slump testing (usually 3,000 PSI+)
Field welding – continuous inspection during all on-site welding
Shear wall nailing – nailing pattern and hold-downs checked during installation
High-strength bolting
Dry pack grout or base plate setting
Ultrasonic Testing (UT) – non-destructive testing of welds

We’ll coordinate the schedule and inspector assignments, and ensure their reports are submitted to the city inspector at each milestone.

Structural Observations

In addition to city and deputy inspections, your engineer of record must complete and submit structural observations at defined phases of work. These are separate from deputy inspections and must be completed before final approval.

The engineer of record is required to visit the site and submit structural observation reports at key phases of construction.

These are usually:

Pads & footings
Framing (Steel & Drag System)
Shear wall - (2nd Framing Inspection)
Final walkthrough
Any required checks for existing structural elements

These inspections are separate from deputy inspections and are paid directly to the engineer. Miko Development will coordinate these visits and help collect all required paperwork for city inspection requirments.

Seismic Gas Shut Off Valves

To close out your retrofit permit, the city requires that seismic gas shut-off valves be installed and finaled on each gas meter.

If not already installed:

We can coordinate a licensed plumber to handle it
We will give an estimated cost during initial proposal and estimate
Each valve must be permitted and finaled before your retrofit permit can be closed

We’ll make sure this step is not overlooked and schedule it at the right point in your project to avoid delays.

Miko Development handles inspector scheduling, engineer coordination, and permit close-out support — so you don’t have to. We’ll make sure nothing gets missed and your building gets signed off cleanly.

Mandatory Soft Story Ordinances

Whether your soft story retrofit project is voluntary or mandatory, we can provide a solution that meets all code requirements and protects your assets.