Standard Plan Set for Residential Seismic Retrofitting
What Is the Plan Set?

This plan set is a "blueprint" version of a prescriptive ("cookbook") standard for strengthening homes to better withstand earthquake shaking. When approved by the local building official, the plan set may be used to strengthen older homes without the need for costly site-specific plans and design calculations. This plan set provides a low-cost method to help improve an older home's chances of surviving an earthquake.

Why Is the Plan Set Needed?
ABAG concluded that most homeowners are not retrofitting - and those that retrofit are not doing all the work needed to significantly change the likelihood that their homes will be habitable following future earthquakes. One of the problems that homeowners mentioned in an ABAG survey was that they did not know what to do. This plan set is a tool to help homeowners know what needs to be done. They can use the plan set to get bids from contractors, or, if experienced, can do the work themselves.
DOWNLOAD Standard Plan Set A - Large Sheets
for Seismic Retrofit of Single-Family Wood-Frame Homes

NOTE - ABAG's Executive Board adopted the 2008 version of this plan set on Sept. 18, 2008. Therefore, the files on this page have been updated.

These sheets are difficult to view on a computer screen, but are suitable for providing to your city or county building department to obtain a building permit.

Standard Plan A - Page 1 - an Adobe Acrobat PDF file - 24'' x 36" - but legible on 11" x 18" paper
Standard Plan A - Page 2 - an Adobe Acrobat PDF file - 24" x 36" - but legible on 11" x 18" paper
MORE Frequently Asked Questions
Why 24" x 36" and how do I print these large sheets?

The plan set is two sheets, each of which is 24" x 36." This size is standard for plans required by city and county building departments for permits. You can view the plan set on your computer. However, most people don't have the capability of printing these large sheets. You can email them to your local copy shop or download them to a CD and take them to your local copy shop to make copies. However, they are legible when printed on 11" x 18" paper.

In addition, we are working with city and county building departments to make the plans available at their counters. El Cerrito, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, and San Leandro have these plan sets available at the counters of their building departments.

Who developed the plan set? The plan set was developed by a committee representing the East Bay, Peninsula, and Monterey Bay chapters of the International Code Council (ICC), along with representatives from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Earthquake Program, the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) Existing Buildings, Seismology and Structural Standards Committees, the California Building Officials (CALBO) Seismic Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committees, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Northern California Chapter, and building contractors specializing in home retrofit.

Has ABAG itself acted in support of the plan set?

 

 Yes, ABAG's Executive Board passed a resolution at its December 2004 meeting in support of the original version of this plan set. A second resolution, adopted at its September 2008 meeting in support of the 2008 version of the revised plan set, was passed in support of the revised verson of this plan set.
ABAG, the Association of Bay Area Governments, is the regional planning and services agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

This page was last updated 9/29/08 by jbp.