Earthquakes pose a major risk for the residents of and visitors to San Francisco.  A significant earthquake will likely damage many of the buildings in our city, destroying lives, homes and businesses.
 
The resulting devastation and recovery efforts will affect every resident, business owner and visitor for years.
 
The Department of Building Inspection initiated the Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) to prepare our community and reduce structural and economic damage following a major earthquake.  Work on the plan, which began in 2001, resumed in April 2008.
 
On July 7, 2008 Mayor Newsom issued an executive order to expedite the CAPSS’ analysis and recommendations of ways to improve the seismic safety of wood-frame buildings with ‘soft’ or open first stories.  Several buildings of this type collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.  We know that thousands of similar buildings exist throughout the city and could be damaged by a larger or closer earthquake.
 
At the end of January 2009, the CAPSS project will release its first report to the Mayor and the DBI – an analysis of the risks facing ‘soft-story’ buildings and options for the community to reduce these risks.  By June 2010, CAPSS will produce several additional reports looking at the entire range of buildings in the city.
 
We are committed to continuing to make San Francisco safer through these efforts.  It is our hope that through this process we can provide the city with tangible ways to make sure San Francisco not only survives the next major earthquake, but thrives again after it.

Sincerely,

Vivian L. Day
Acting Director
Department of Building Inspection