If you own a soft-story apartment building in Los Angeles County, this is the announcement you've been waiting for. The If you own a soft-story apartment building in Los Angeles County, this is the announcement you've been waiting for. The state just opened registration for the Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) grant program — and it could put up to $49,600 toward a retrofit you're already required to do.

Here's what you need to know, in depth, so you can move fast and register before the window closes.

What Is the EMR Grant Program?

The Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) program is a state-funded grant administered by the California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP), a joint powers authority created by the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). It exists for one purpose: to help owners of older wood-frame apartment buildings retrofit soft, weak, or open front (SWOF) conditions — the exact seismic weakness responsible for the building collapses seen in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

A soft-story building is typically a multi-story, wood-framed structure with a weak or open ground floor — most commonly created by tuck-under parking or a large garage opening beneath the living units above. That open ground floor lacks the wall bracing needed to resist lateral earthquake forces, which means the entire structure above it can shift, buckle, or pancake during a major quake.

Registration opened August 19, 2026, and closes September 30, 2026 — a fixed, six-week window. Once it closes, this round of funding is gone.

How the Grant Money Is Calculated

EMR funding isn't a flat number — it's structured as a reimbursement covering 70% of two separate cost categories, each with its own cap:

• Engineering and permit fees — 70% covered, up to $7,000
• Retrofit construction costs — 70% covered, up to $4,260 per unit

That per-unit construction cap is what makes the grant scale with your building size. Add the two categories together and here's what that looks like in practice:

• A 10-unit building can qualify for the full $49,600
• A 5-unit building tops out around $28,300
• Buildings with 6, 7, 8, or 9 units fall proportionally in between, based on unit count

This is incentive money, not a loan — there's no repayment. It's designed specifically to offset a retrofit cost you're already on the hook for under your city's mandatory ordinance, not to fund optional upgrades.

Who Qualifies for EMR Funding — The Full Eligibility Breakdown

Eligibility comes down to five criteria, and your building needs to meet all of them:

1. Building size. Your property must have between 5 and 10 units. Buildings outside that range — smaller fourplexes or larger complexes — fall under different retrofit funding categories, not EMR.

2. Construction type and age. The structure must be wood-frame and built before January 1, 1991. This cutoff matters because building codes adopted after that date already addressed soft-story vulnerabilities in most new construction.

3. Seismic deficiency. Your building needs a documented soft, weak, or open front (SWOF) condition — tuck-under parking, a street-level commercial opening, or another ground-floor configuration that leaves the structure under-braced at its base.

4. City participation. Your property must sit in one of the 14 California cities that have adopted a mandatory multi-unit soft-story retrofit ordinance and are participating in the EMR program. In the LA metro area, that list includes Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Torrance, and Culver City, among others. If your city isn't currently listed, it's worth checking back — CRMP has stated additional cities may be added as more ordinances go into effect.

5. Compliance order status. You need to have already received a notice and order from your city requiring the retrofit under that city's mandatory ordinance. This grant is built for owners who are already in the compliance pipeline — not a general seismic upgrade fund.

One More Requirement That Trips Owners Up: Retrofit Scope

EMR funding requires a full ground-story retrofit, engineered to FEMA P-807, IEBC Chapter A4 (latest edition), or ASCE 41 (latest edition) standards. A partial or "line-only" retrofit — addressing just one wall line instead of the full ground floor — does not qualify for grant funding, even if it satisfies your city's minimum ordinance requirement.

This is exactly the kind of detail that can disqualify an otherwise-eligible building if the engineering scope isn't set up correctly from day one. It's also why having a licensed structural engineer involved before you finalize your retrofit plan matters — the wrong scope on paper can cost you tens of thousands of dollars in grant eligibility.

Why Timing Matters More Than People Realize

Soft-story retrofits aren't optional for owners under a city mandate — your ordinance deadline is moving forward whether or not you tap into grant funding. The only real decision left on the table is whether you retrofit at full out-of-pocket cost, or with up to $49,600 of state money covering a significant share of the bill.

Because EMR registration runs on a fixed six-week calendar through September 30, 2026, waiting isn't a neutral choice — it's a decision to potentially pay full price. Grant rounds like this one are allocated on a limited basis, and once the registration period closes, that funding round is closed with it.

We Handle the Whole Process — Design, Engineering, Permits, and Construction

This is exactly where having an in-house licensed structural engineer under one roof pays off. At SKS Construction, we've completed 850+ soft-story retrofits since 2017, and we manage every part of the process under a single fixed-price contract — engineering, permit submission, city sign-off, and construction — so you're not coordinating between five different vendors while a grant deadline closes in.

We can evaluate your building against every EMR eligibility criterion, walk you through registration, and make sure your retrofit is engineered to full-scope standards that qualify for maximum grant funding — all without surprise costs added mid-project.

Ready to Find Out What Your Building Qualifies For?

Soft-story retrofit deadlines and EMR grant funding don't wait. Schedule your complimentary consultation with SKS Construction today, and we'll walk you through eligibility, funding potential, and a fixed-price retrofit plan built for your building.