SECTION 405A – ADMINISTRATION

405A.1  Service of Notice.  The ordinance enacting Chapters 4A and 4B required that the The1 Building Official, not later than February 15, 1993, issue a notice to comply with Section 404A.1 to the owner of each building known by the Department to be within the scope of this chapter accompanied by an informational letter or brochure and a sample inventory form. The enacting ordinance further provided that if, on or before February 15, 1993, an owner of an unreinforced masonry bearing wall building had knowledge that he or she owns such a building, then failure of the Building Official to issue a notice or failure of the owner to receive such a notice would not relieve the owner of the obligation to comply with the provisions of Chapters 4A and 4B within the time limits set forth in Table 4A-A. An owner is presumed to have knowledge that he or she owns an unreinforced masonry bearing wall building if the building is on the inventory list of potential hazardous unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings required by Section 8877(a) of the California Government Code.

   For buildings not known to the Department to be unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings and whose owners had no knowledge that the buildings are unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings, the ordinance provided that the time limits set forth in Table 4A-A shall commence upon the owners having actual or constructive knowledge that their buildings are unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings.

   The time limits for compliance with the provisions of this Chapter 4A and Chapter 4B have passed, however the compliance requirements are still in effect. As provided above, for those buildings within the scope of Chapters 4A and 4B not known to the Department to be unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings, and whose owners did not have actual or constructive knowledge that their buildings are unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings, the time limits set forth in Table 4A-B commences upon the owners having such actual or constructive knowledge. Those owners who had actual knowledge on or before February 15, 1993, or are presumed to have had such knowledge, are in violation of this Code and are subject to enforcement action by the Department pursuant to Section 102A of the Building Code.

(Amended by Ord. 65-19, File No. 190136, App. 4/12/2019, Eff. 5/13/2019)

CODIFICATION NOTE

1.   So in Ord. 65-19.

405A.2  Appeal from Notice.  The owner or the owner’s agent may appeal the Building Official’s notice to the Board of Examiners in accordance with San Francisco Building Code Section 105A.1.

(Amended by Ord. 65-19, File No. 190136, App. 4/12/2019, Eff. 5/13/2019)

405A.3  Processing and Recordation.  Within 30 days of receipt of the inventory form, the Building Official shall review it and either approve it as submitted or reject it and return it for correction. Inventory forms returned for correction shall be revised by the owner’s architect or engineer and returned to the Department within 30 days of the date of the Department’s initial rejection. The Building Official shall cause to be recorded with the Assessor-Recorder’s Office a notice of the requirement for structural alteration or demolition and the inventory form. The Building Official may cause such a notice to be recorded upon expiration of the time limits for submittal of the inventory form as stated in Table 4A-A.

405A.4  Enforcement.  Whenever an inventory form has not been submitted or a notice issued by the Building Official to structurally alter or demolish an unreinforced masonry bearing wall building has not been complied with within the time limits set forth in Table 4A-A, the Building Official shall have the power to abate the building in accordance with San Francisco Building Code Section 102A.

405A.5  Removal from Inventory.  After all of the retrofit work required by this chapter and Chapter 4B has been completed in any building to the satisfaction of the Building Official and a Certificate of Final Completion and Occupancy has been issued in accordance with San Francisco Building Code Section 109, or after a final inspection of building demolition work has been made, or if the Building Official finds that no retrofit work is required, the Building Official shall remove that building from the inventory list of potentially hazardous unreinforced masonry bearing wall buildings required by Section 8877(a) of the California Government Code. The Building Official shall thereupon cause to be filed with the Assessor-Recorder’s Office a release of any notice or Abatement Order recorded under Section 405A.3 or 405A.4. Additionally, the Department shall furnish to each owner upon satisfactory completion of a retrofit a sign, on a standard Department form, of the same size as that required by California Government Code Section 8875.8, stating “This building has been seismically retro-fitted to reduce the risk of death or injury in the event of a major earthquake pursuant to Chapters 4A and 4B of the San Francisco Existing Building Code.” The sign shall also indicate the retrofit procedure used and shall bear the signature of the Building Official. The posting of the sign shall be at the option of the owner.

405A.6  Voluntary Seismic Strengthening.  The owner of a building that is exempt from compliance with this chapter may voluntarily retrofit the building using the procedures for seismic strengthening set forth in Chapter 4B .

405A.7  Application of Future Retrofitting Legislation.  It is the present intent of the Board of Supervisors that, absent a compelling public safety necessity, buildings strengthened pursuant to Chapter 4B will not be subject to future mandatory seismic retrofitting legislation adopted by the Board.

405A.8  Phased Strengthening.  Other provisions of this code notwithstanding, an unreinforced masonry bearing wall building may be strengthened in phases under multiple alteration permits, provided:

   1.   A complete structural analysis accompanied by plans, specifications and calculations for the proposed mitigation solution is submitted to the Department with the first alteration permit application; and

   2.   A phasing program is submitted to and approved by the Department as part of the review of the first alteration permit application; and

   3.   Each subsequent alteration permit application clearly indicates the further work proposed and the work completed to date; and

   4.   The engineer or architect responsible for the structural design for the strengthening program provides structural requirements observation in accordance with San Francisco Building Code Section 1704.6; and

   5.   All of the required strengthening work is completed within the time limits set forth in Table 4A-A.