Building Inspection Commission approves ordinance to inventory concrete and tilt‑up buildings, adopt voluntary retrofit standards

The Building Inspection Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve Board of Supervisors file 250,211, a measure to screen San Francisco’s inventory of potentially seismically vulnerable concrete and tilt‑up buildings and to add voluntary seismic retrofit standards to the building code.

The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Myrna Melgar, requires owners of roughly 4,000 buildings identified by city screening to hire a licensed engineer to complete and submit a screening checklist to the Department of Building Inspection (DBI). The checklist is intended to identify which structures are actually constructed of reinforced concrete or tilt‑up panels and therefore warrant further evaluation. Laurel Matthews of the Office of Resilience and Capital Planning told the commission the checklist “would cost about 300 to $3,200 per building in engineering fees.”

Why it matters: Many San Francisco buildings were constructed before modern seismic standards were established. Supporters say a clearer inventory and a voluntary retrofit option will give building owners better…