Journal ·
Burbank Soft-Story Retrofit: Deadlines, Grants, and What Buyers Should Check
Short answer: if you own a pre-1978 Burbank apartment building with tuck-under parking or a weak first story, the city has already ordered you into a compliance schedule that runs from a screening form due January 12, 2026 to finished construction by January 10, 2030. A state grant program covering up to 70 percent of eligible retrofit costs, capped at $49,600 per building, opens registration on August 19, 2026 and closes September 30, 2026.
What is Burbank's mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit ordinance?
A soft-story building has weak or open first-floor walls on one or more sides. In practice that usually means tuck-under parking, where cars park underneath living units and the ground floor is mostly posts and openings instead of solid shear wall. The City of Burbank adopted its Mandatory Soft-Story Seismic Retrofit Ordinance at the City Council meeting on December 10, 2024, and the compliance order date is January 10, 2025, per the city's soft-story program page.
The ordinance does not require rebuilding the whole structure. The city states that only the soft-story condition has to be corrected, and the scope comes from a licensed engineer's assessment.
Worth separating two Burbank rules that get confused constantly. The Retrofit Upon Resale Ordinance is about water, requiring toilets at or under 1.28 gallons per flush and showerheads at or under 1.8 gallons per minute, certified with Burbank Water and Power before ownership transfers, and it is covered in the August 2026 Burbank market piece. The soft-story ordinance is structural and applies only to certain multi-family buildings. Clearing one has nothing to do with clearing the other.
Which Burbank buildings are subject to the soft-story ordinance?
Per the city's FAQ, the ordinance reaches multi-family residential buildings permitted under building code standards enacted before 1978 that have either of these conditions:
- Tuck-under parking on the first story, with one or more stories above containing three or more units.
- A weak front first story, with two or more stories above.
Buildings permitted under standards adopted after 1978 are not covered. The city built its list from permit records plus a visual inspection from the street, which means the list is a starting point rather than a structural finding. Notices went out by certified mail to the owner of record on the last equalized assessment roll.
One detail that rarely shows up in summaries: the ordinance also requires the owner to post a Notice of Order sign on the building, and the city cites Burbank Municipal Code Section 9-1-16-400.7.1 as the authority for that posting.
What are the Burbank soft-story compliance deadlines?
Seven dated milestones, in order:
| Milestone | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Compliance order date | January 10, 2025 |
| Submit screening form and post Notice of Order | January 12, 2026 |
| 100 percent permit-fee refund if fully compliant | July 10, 2026 |
| Submit engineered retrofit plans | January 11, 2027 |
| Secure approval of plans (and 50 percent refund tier) | January 10, 2028 |
| Obtain building permit and begin construction | January 10, 2029 |
| Complete construction and finalize permit | January 10, 2030 |
Source: City of Burbank soft-story program page and FAQ, retrieved August 19, 2026.
The July 10, 2026 full-refund tier has already passed. Owners still inside the schedule can reach the 50 percent building permit-fee refund by fully complying by January 10, 2028.
How much does the Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit grant cover?
The California Residential Mitigation Program runs an Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit program for soft-story multi-unit housing. For eligible Burbank buildings the city lists the award as up to $49,600 per building, covering up to 70 percent of eligible retrofit costs. Eligibility as posted covers 5 to 10 unit apartment buildings that are subject to Burbank's soft-story ordinance.
Registration runs August 19 through September 30, 2026, and the city notes that funding is limited. Program details and the application sit at CRMP.ORG/EMR.
Two things worth reading closely before assuming a building qualifies. The unit-count band is narrow, so an 11-unit building subject to the ordinance falls outside this particular grant. And the grant covers eligible costs, not the whole job, so an owner still needs a cost estimate from an engineer before the number means anything.
How do you register for the EMR grant and start compliance in Burbank?
A workable order of operations for an owner who is behind:
- Pull the building's permit history through the City of Burbank property information portal and confirm the original permit year against the 1978 line.
- Download and complete the screening form. The city accepts it by email to the Building Division or by certified mail to 150 N Third St, Burbank, CA 91502.
- Confirm the Notice of Order sign is posted as required.
- Hire a California-licensed structural engineer. The city cannot recommend one, and points owners to the SEAOSC member directory.
- Register with CRMP during the August 19 to September 30, 2026 window if the building is in the 5 to 10 unit band.
- Get the engineered plans on a calendar that lands well before January 11, 2027, since plan check and corrections take cycles.
The Building Division public counter sits on the first floor of the Community Services Building at 150 N. Third Street. Counter hours run Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., closed for lunch from noon to 1:00 p.m. The queue closes 15 minutes before lunch and before closing.
What happens if a Burbank owner misses a soft-story deadline?
The city's stated consequence is recordation. If the work is not completed by the specified deadlines, the building gets recorded with the Los Angeles County Recorder as subject to and in violation of the ordinance. That recording is the part that shows up later in a title search and in a lender's file.
Beyond recordation, the city cites penalties under Burbank Municipal Code sections 1-1-105 and 1-1-108, including administrative citations, and states that the Building Official may order the building vacated until it complies.
How does a soft-story order affect buying or selling a Burbank building?
It changes the arithmetic on both sides. A seller carrying an open compliance order is selling a building with a dated obligation attached to it. A buyer is buying that obligation along with the rent roll.
Construction time is not the long pole. The city estimates three to four weeks for a small project and two to three months for a larger building. The long pole is engineering, plan check, and permit sequencing, which the milestone table spreads across three years for a reason.
For context on the wider Burbank market, Redfin recorded a median sale price of $1,255,817 for the three months ending June 2026, up 4.7 percent year over year, with median days on market at 35 (Redfin Burbank housing market, retrieved August 19, 2026). Those figures cover all home types and are not a proxy for small apartment building values, which trade on income rather than comparable sales.
What should a buyer check before writing an offer on a pre-1978 Burbank building?
Four items, in this order:
- Original permit year, from city records rather than the listing.
- Whether a Notice of Order was issued and whether the screening form was filed by January 12, 2026.
- Whether an engineer's assessment exists, and what scope it names.
- Whether anything has been recorded against the property with the Los Angeles County Recorder.
Items two through four are the ones that move price. A building with plans already approved is in a different position than one that has not filed a screening form.
Q: Does the Burbank soft-story ordinance apply to single-family homes?
No. The ordinance covers multi-family residential buildings permitted under pre-1978 code standards that meet the tuck-under or weak-front conditions described by the city.
Q: How do I find out if my Burbank building is on the soft-story list?
Start with the city's property information portal and the Building Division. Notices were mailed by certified mail to the owner of record, so a recently purchased building may have had its notice delivered to a prior owner's address.
Q: Is the CRMP grant available to every Burbank soft-story building?
Not as posted. The eligibility listed by the city is 5 to 10 unit apartment buildings subject to Burbank's ordinance, with registration open August 19 through September 30, 2026 and limited funding.
Q: Can I still get a permit-fee refund from Burbank?
The 100 percent refund tier required full compliance by July 10, 2026. The 50 percent tier requires full compliance by January 10, 2028.
Q: Do I need an engineer, or can a contractor handle the retrofit?
The city requires an engineer licensed in California to submit the assessment report or the designed plans with calculations. A contractor performs the work after plans are approved and a permit is issued.
This article is general information about a city program and is not legal, engineering, or tax advice. Verify every deadline against the City of Burbank before you act on it. Call Alla at (818) 699-5367 or use the enquiry form.
More on the neighborhoods, permits, and price bands in this city in the Burbank area guide.