The ordinance grew out of the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety, which SPA’s Charlie Scawthorn helped to lead, and the soft story portion of the study, for which Keith Porter performed the risk analyses. The ordinance requires the evaluation and strengthening of soft-story, high-occupancy wood frame dwellings like the kind that collapsed in the Marina District in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Mayor Ed Lee signed it into law on April 18, 2013, the 107th Anniversary of the 1906 Great San Francisco Earthquake. This ordinance will almost certainly save lives and homes, and we could not be more proud to have been involved. Contact us to explore whether your buildings are at risk in the Big One.