California’s Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) Program: What Bay Area Owners Need to Know
If you own a soft-story multi-unit building in the Bay Area, the Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) program is one of the few ways to get meaningful grant money for a real, engineered seismic retrofit of your ground floor.
It’s also a federal-funded program with rules that will absolutely trip you up if you don’t understand them.
This guide is built from the official EMR retrofit overview and Program Rules, plus what we see weekly in Bay Area soft-story projects.
Why soft-story multi-unit retrofits matter
The 1994 Northridge earthquake (M6.7) caused more than $20 billion in residential damage and displaced around 22,000 people. Many of the hardest-hit structures were older wood-frame, weak-first-story buildings with tuck-under parking – the same configuration EMR targets.
If you want a detailed look at potential losses for Bay Area soft-story owners, read our article:
Bay Area Soft-Story Homes: Why You Must Retrofit Now to Avoid $150,000+ in Earthquake Losses
Soft-story buildings concentrate the weight of upper floors on a very weak, open ground floor. In strong shaking, that first story can rack or collapse, dropping the homes above into the parking area. EMR funds retrofits that strengthen that weak level so the building has a much better chance of staying up when it counts.
What the EMR program is (in plain English)
EMR is a grant program, run by the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) and funded by FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance plus CEA mitigation funds. It pays a portion of:
- Pre-retrofit engineering and permit costs
- The actual soft-story seismic retrofit construction
To qualify, your building must (high level):
- Be in an EMR-eligible city that has a mandatory multi-unit soft-story retrofit ordinance
- Be wood-frame, multi-story, built before 1991
- Have 5–10 residential units
- Have a soft, weak, or open front (SWOF) condition – e.g., tuck-under parking on the ground floor
- Have received a Notice and Order to Retrofit from the city
- Get a full ground-floor retrofit, designed to FEMA P-807, IEBC Chapter A4, or ASCE 41 (no “line-only” retrofits)
Full official overview:
CRMP’s EMR retrofit page (EMR Retrofit)
For building-by-building details on the San Jose requirements that drive a lot of these projects, see:
San Jose Soft-Story Retrofit Ordinance: What Owners Need to Know (and How to Prepare)
EMR-Eligible Cities in California
From the current CRMP materials, EMR-eligible cities are:
Northern California (our primary focus)
- Berkeley
- Oakland
- San Francisco
- San Jose
Southern California
- Beverly Hills
- Burbank
- Los Angeles
- Pasadena
- Santa Monica
- West Hollywood
- Culver City
- Torrance
Note: Additional cities may be added as mandatory ordinances are adopted.
At Avant-Garde Construction we are currently concentrating on the Northern California cities above. That said, we’re available as a technical resource for owners, engineers, and contractors on EMR-type soft-story projects in Southern California as well.
Our core evaluation and retrofit work is in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, but we regularly answer questions and review scopes for projects in Southern California EMR cities too.
How much money is on the table?
Per the EMR Program Rules, a qualifying project can receive:
- 70% of engineering and permit fees, up to $7,000, and
- 70% of retrofit construction cost, up to $4,260 per unit
For a 10-unit building, that’s up to $49,600 in construction incentives plus engineering support.
Anything above that is on the owner, and EMR is not a loan – it’s a grant, paid after the job is completed and all documentation is accepted.
If you want a broader decision framework around cost, insurance, and risk, our article:
covers many of the money and timing objections we hear from multi-unit owners.
Key rules that trip people up
1. You cannot start construction early
- No EMR-funded retrofit work can start until:
- FEMA Phase Two approval is in place and
- CRMP has issued written approval to proceed via the owner dashboard.
- Acceptance into EMR is not permission to begin.
- If you start retrofit construction early, the project becomes ineligible for EMR funding.
2. The entire first story must be designed and retrofitted
- EMR prohibits “line-only” retrofits.
- The entire ground floor must be evaluated and designed per FEMA P-807, IEBC A4, or ASCE 41 – often more stringent than the local minimum ordinance.
3. Permits must be “clean”
The EMR-qualifying building permit must:
- Cover only the seismic retrofit work required by the ordinance
- Include any additional requirements imposed by the building official
- Not include: ADUs, other buildings, or unrelated improvements elsewhere on the property
Bundling work is a common, expensive mistake; see:
Common Seismic Building Code Violations in the Bay Area
for more ways owners get burned when people start mixing scopes.
4. You must use an EMR Participating Contractor
- California A or B license, in good standing with CSLB
- Completed the EMR orientation & quiz
- Listed in the EMR Contractor Directory
Low-bid outfits that skip workers’ comp, proper insurance, or permitting are particularly dangerous here – they can also create EMR compliance nightmares. We break some of this down in:
Contractor Tax & Insurance Fraud in Bay Area Construction
5. Documentation is strict
Before retrofit:
- Proof of ownership
- City Notice and Order
- Approved, stamped engineering documents and building permit
- Engineering bid(s), and at least two construction bids
- Date-stamped pre-retrofit photos:
- Four exterior corners
- Ground-floor interior at key locations
- Locations where new frames/walls will go
During construction:
- Upload signed inspection checklists at key stages:
- Foundation
- Steel frame installation
- Plywood sheathing and nailing
- Final inspection
After retrofit:
- Date-stamped post-retrofit photos before finishes cover the new work
- Copy of the final, signed job card
- Final engineer and contractor invoices that:
- Clearly describe EMR-eligible work
- Separate it from any other construction at the property
Full technical requirements are in the official rulebook:
EMR Rules for Participation (PDF)
How Avant-Garde fits in (Northern California)
We are a Bay Area–based engineering-centric contractor focused on:
- Soft-story seismic retrofits
- Foundation and drainage corrections
- Seismic Truth Audits™ of past work (for owners who want to verify what’s really under the building)
We’re not CRMP and we don’t administer EMR, but we do:
- Evaluate existing soft-story buildings in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, including soils and drainage context
- Work with structural engineers to produce EMR-compatible designs under FEMA P-807 / IEBC A4 / ASCE 41
- Install retrofits with the documentation rigor EMR requires (photos, inspection checklists, clear scopes and invoices)
- Audit and correct past “approved on paper” retrofits when owners want a second opinion
If you’re exploring EMR or a city-mandated retrofit, it’s worth reading:
-
Bay Area Soft-Story Homes: Why You Must Retrofit Now to Avoid $150,000+ in Earthquake Losses
-
San Jose Soft-Story Retrofit Ordinance: What Owners Need to Know (and How to Prepare)
-
Common Seismic Building Code Violations in the Bay Area
-
Contractor Tax & Insurance Fraud in Bay Area Construction
-
Frequently Asked Questions
Full blog index here.
Next step if you’re an EMR-eligible owner
If you own a 5–10 unit soft-story building in:
- Berkeley
- Oakland
- San Francisco
- San Jose
and you’ve received a Notice and Order to Retrofit, your window to use EMR is tied to both FEMA funding and your local ordinance deadlines.
Your practical sequence:
- Verify EMR eligibility (city, unit count, wood-frame, pre-1991, SWOF condition).
- Decide whether EMR’s rules, timing, and grant amounts make sense for your situation.
- Get a proper structural evaluation and drainage review.
- Coordinate with an engineer and an EMR Participating Contractor to design a compliant, performance-oriented scope.
- Use EMR funding as a subsidy on work you’d want done correctly anyway.
We can help you with steps 3–5 in Northern California, and we’re happy to be a technical sounding board for engineers and contractors working EMR projects anywhere in the state.
If you’re ready to move from “wondering about EMR” to “building a real plan,” start by scheduling a seismic evaluation by Contacting Us Today.
