Residential Structural Retrofit Program
– A Collaborative Opportunity –
California Earthquake Authority
July 2010
Challenge
1

California is home to 65% of the nation’s earthquake risk

The majority of Californians live within 20 miles of a major fault

USGS is forecasting a 99% chance for a major earthquake (M6.7)
within next 30 years

About 1.5 million houses were built in California before 1960
when (some) jurisdictions began to require adequately braced
walls and bolted foundations
Local efforts to-date...
2

Few jurisdictions have succeeded in positioning residential
structural retrofit programs in their building departments

Building codes that cover residential structural retrofitting
(where available) differ across active programs

Local programs are not positioned to succeed statewide
Solution
3

The CEA is a publicly managed, yet privately funded statewide
organization that provides residential earthquake insurance
and mitigation programs

By law, the CEA sets aside 5 percent of its annual investment
income up to $5 million for mitigation

Total CEA funds available for statewide mitigation currently
exceed $20 million

The high number of houses built before 1960, combined with
the leveraged value of post-disaster benefits from each
mitigation dollar, has led the CEA recently to tighten its focus
on residential structural retrofitting
Hosting scoping sessions
4

Collected input in Sacramento (discussion facilitated by former
FEMA Director James Lee Witt), Los Angeles and Oakland

Requested guidance in defining, advancing and sustaining a
common sense approach to a first-ever statewide residential
structural retrofitting program

Heard from structural engineers; building officials; residential
retrofitting contractors; earth scientists; trade associations; as
well as local, state and federal government officials
Scoping session input…
5

Provide financial incentives to help offset consumers’
structural retrofitting costs

Align programming with (local) building codes and
standardized plan sets

Emphasize contractor training

Implement effective marketing to engage consumer
participation

Be sustainable into the future
Incorporating State Hazard Mitigation Plan
6

CEA mitigation programming successfully incorporated into
2010 State Hazard Mitigation Plan (SHMP)

SHMP is official statement of state’s hazard identification,
vulnerability analysis and hazard mitigation strategy

SHMP is the result of a collaborative, multi-agency planning
process with multiple opportunities for public participation

CEA incorporation in the SHMP likely will qualify its
residential structural retrofitting program for additional
federal assistance funds
Adopting statewide building code
7

Without a statewide building code for residential structural retrofitting, just a
few jurisdictions in California previously inspected and approved these projects

Statewide standardized plan set not feasible due to variations in regional
requirements

CEA strategized with state departments / commissions to address challenges

CEA garnered a gubernatorial Finding of Emergency to fast-track adoption of
first-ever California Building Code for residential structural retrofitting

California Department of Housing and Community Development is managing
code-adoption process

California Seismic Safety Commission co-funded the code-adoption process

California Building Standards Commission will adopt code on August 16, 2010
Issuing industry partner RFQ
8

Seeking a program partner to co-administer financial
incentives and contractor training; released RFQ July 1, 2010

Future partner currently must:
 Oversee and existing home-building constituency
 Be savvy on related building codes
 Operate within statewide infrastructure
 Demonstrate awareness for residential structural
retrofitting needs
 Have experiences with consumer incentives and
contractor training
Forming Joint Powers Authority
9

Working with the California Emergency Management Agency
(CalEMA) to form a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) to oversee a
“California Earthquake Loss Mitigation Authority”

JPA designed to manage residential structural retrofitting
program and related activities
• Creates legal entity separate from its members
• Separates JPA’S debts, liabilities, obligations from members
• Allows contracting with private-sector firms to do JPA’s work

Seeking CEA Governing Board approval on August 26, 2010
Delivering sustainable funding
10

Funding currently available ($20 million) would enable the CEA to offer
($1,000) financial incentives to seismically retrofit 20,000 of the
approximately 1.5 million houses especially vulnerable to structural
earthquake damage – reaching just over 1 percent of the houses built
before sufficient (local) building codes were in place

The CEA’s $20 million pre-disaster investment to help finance the “bracing
and bolting” of single-family houses (averaging $3,000 to $5,000 per house)
will generate an estimated $60 million to $100 million in near-term
economic activity

The CEA’s $20 million investment in pre-disaster dollars will leverage a
minimum of $80 million in post-disaster benefits

Under existing law, the CEA Governing Board will continue to set aside up to
$5 million of the CEA’s investment income annually – enough to structurally
retrofit an additional 5,000 single-family houses
11
How the National Mitigation
Collaborative Alliance can help

Guide the CEA’s mitigation programming results into
a national repository
•
•

Vulnerable housing inventories
Residential building code challenges / opportunities
Educate the CEA about related programs
•
•
•
Consumer incentives and contractor training
Building inspectors
Federal assistance