If you own a soft-story apartment building or a wood-frame multifamily property in Los Angeles, Burbank, Torrance, Culver City, Pasadena, or Glendale, you've likely already heard from the city. Mandatory seismic retrofit deadlines are active, enforcement is escalating, and the clock is running. What most property owners don't realize is that not all retrofit contractors operate with the same level of transparency, engineering rigor, or long-term accountability.

At SKS Construction, we've been completing structural retrofits across the greater Los Angeles metro area since 1987. With over 800 soft-story seismic retrofit projects completed, an in-house licensed structural engineer on every job, and 80% of our business coming from repeat clients and referrals — we've earned the right to tell you what others won't.

This guide is for multifamily property owners, HOA boards, and property managers who want straight answers about the seismic retrofit process, the real costs of cutting corners, and how to choose a general contractor who will protect your investment — not just collect a check.

1. THE 2026 RETROFIT DEADLINES ARE REAL — AND NON-COMPLIANCE IS EXPENSIVE

Multiple cities in the LA metro area have active seismic retrofit compliance deadlines in 2025 and 2026. Burbank, Torrance, Culver City, Pasadena, and Glendale have all issued mandatory retrofit ordinances under California's soft-story building retrofit program. Missing these deadlines doesn't just expose your tenants to unnecessary seismic risk — it exposes you to escalating fines, loss of rental income, forced vacancies, and potential liability.

Many retrofit contractors will downplay urgency to avoid pressure on their own scheduling. The truth is, permit timelines, city plan check queues, and structural engineering backlogs mean the window to complete compliant work before deadlines is shrinking. Starting the process now — not after a notice of violation — is the only responsible course of action.

What SKS does: We handle the full process under one contract — structural assessment, engineering drawings, permit applications, city plan check, construction, and final city sign-off. Our in-house structural engineer, with a master's degree in Structural Engineering and direct experience as a former City of LA Plan Checker, knows exactly what the city requires. That institutional knowledge compresses your timeline and eliminates costly resubmittals.

2. NOT ALL SEISMIC RETROFITS ARE CREATED EQUAL

The phrase "seismic retrofit" covers a wide range of structural interventions — from basic cripple wall bolting to full open-front soft-story moment frame systems. The scope of work required depends on your building's age, construction type, number of stories, occupancy load, foundation condition, soil classification, and prior modifications.

Some contractors specialize in volume. They push a standardized approach to every building because it's faster to bid and faster to build. That might work on a textbook soft-story apartment from the 1960s — but it fails on anything with irregular geometry, prior seismic damage, mixed materials, or unusual load paths. A retrofit that's structurally inadequate is worse than no retrofit at all, because it creates a false sense of safety and still leaves you exposed.

What SKS does: Every building we assess gets a site-specific structural evaluation. We don't bid off floor plans alone. Our licensed structural engineer reviews the actual existing conditions — including any unpermitted work, deferred maintenance, and soil reports — before recommending a scope. Fixed-price bids mean you see the full cost upfront, not after surprises emerge mid-construction.

3. THE CHEAPEST BID IS RARELY THE LOWEST TOTAL COST

This is the single most important thing property owners get wrong when evaluating retrofit proposals. The lowest initial bid rarely represents the lowest total project cost. Budget bids frequently rely on one or more of the following: thinner steel member sizing, unlicensed subcontractors, imported hardware that doesn't meet ICC or AISC standards, deferred permit costs pushed back to the owner, change orders triggered by undisclosed site conditions, or incomplete structural drawings that fail plan check and require paid revisions.

A soft-story retrofit for a 10-unit wood-frame building in Los Angeles typically ranges from $60,000 to over $150,000, depending on scope. If a bid comes in at 30–40% below the market median, it warrants hard questions. Ask specifically: What steel specification are you using? Who is the structural engineer of record? Is the permit fee included? What are the change order terms?

What SKS does: We provide guaranteed maximum pricing with no subject-to-change clauses. Our bids include engineering, permits, labor, materials, and city sign-off. If something changes on our end, it's our problem — not yours.

4. PERMITS AND CODE COMPLIANCE ARE NOT OPTIONAL — THEY'RE YOUR PROTECTION

It happens more often than it should: a contractor offers to "work around" the permit process to save time or money. This is not a favor. Unpermitted structural work in California creates serious legal and financial exposure. It can trigger stop-work orders, mandatory demolition of non-compliant work, fines under the Los Angeles Municipal Code, and title issues when you go to sell or refinance the property.

More critically, unpermitted structural work voids any seismic safety benefit the retrofit was meant to provide. If a building sustains damage in an earthquake and the retrofit was unpermitted, your insurance carrier will scrutinize every aspect of the claim. Litigation risk is real.

Compliant seismic retrofitting under the City of LA's Mandatory Retrofit Program, or under equivalent ordinances in Burbank, Torrance, Culver City, Pasadena, or Glendale, requires engineered drawings, plan check approval, inspection at key milestones, and a final sign-off from the building department. Shortcuts in this process don't save money — they transfer risk to you.

What SKS does: Our founder, Sol Shaolian, is a former City of LA Plan Checker with a master's in Structural Engineering. We file all permits in-house, manage plan check directly with city departments, and handle all inspections through to final sign-off. You don't need to navigate city bureaucracy — we do it for you.

5. TIMELINE PROMISES WITHOUT ENGINEERING BACKING ARE MEANINGLESS

"We can be done in three weeks" is a sales line. Whether it's true depends entirely on the complexity of your building, the current permit queue at your city, material lead times for structural steel, and the contractor's existing project load. A contractor who hasn't pulled the structural drawings, hasn't submitted for permits, and hasn't assessed existing conditions has no honest basis for giving you a firm completion date.

Rushed work creates problems — improperly torqued anchor bolts, poorly welded moment connections, and insufficiently inspected hold-down hardware are all seismic failure points. Seismic retrofits that look complete on the surface can still fail to perform when the ground moves.

What SKS does: We provide timeline estimates only after completing a structural assessment and confirming permit timelines with the relevant city. We communicate regularly throughout the project and flag issues as they arise — not after they've compounded.

6. SB 326 AND SB 721 BALCONY COMPLIANCE IS A SEPARATE OBLIGATION — AND MANY OWNERS DON'T KNOW IT

Seismic retrofit compliance and balcony inspection compliance are two entirely different legal obligations in California. SB 721 applies to apartment buildings with three or more units. SB 326 applies to condominiums and common interest developments managed by an HOA. Both laws require inspection of exterior elevated elements — including balconies, decks, stairways, and walkways — by a licensed structural engineer.

SB 721 requires initial inspections to be completed by January 1, 2025, with a subsequent six-year inspection cycle. SB 326 requires inspections before the end of each six-year reserve period, with the first deadline having passed in 2025. Non-compliance carries civil penalties and, more importantly, leaves property owners exposed to liability for any structural failure.

Many retrofit contractors don't offer balcony inspection services, which means property owners dealing with both a seismic retrofit and an SB 326 or SB 721 obligation are forced to manage two separate contractors, two separate timelines, and two separate city interactions.

What SKS does: We handle both. Our licensed structural engineers perform non-destructive borescope inspections for SB 326 and SB 721 compliance. When repairs are required, we complete them under the same contract. One firm, one point of contact, one process.

7. WHO ACTUALLY SIGNS THE STRUCTURAL DRAWINGS MATTERS

In California, structural drawings submitted for permit must be stamped by a licensed structural engineer (SE) or civil engineer (CE) with a structural endorsement. What many property owners don't realize is that some retrofit firms outsource their engineering to third-party stamp mills — firms that sign drawings in volume with minimal site-specific review.

A structural engineer of record should understand the specific building they're signing off on. They should have reviewed existing drawings, conducted a site assessment, and made independent engineering judgments about the retrofit scope. When that relationship is transactional and remote, the result is drawings that are technically stamped but not necessarily fit for purpose.

What SKS does: Our structural engineer is in-house, not outsourced. He reviews every project, conducts site assessments personally on complex jobs, and is the engineer of record on the permit drawings we submit. That accountability is not available from firms that use contract stamping services.

8. POST-CONSTRUCTION MAINTENANCE IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY — BUT MOST CONTRACTORS WON'T TELL YOU WHAT IT INVOLVES

A completed seismic retrofit is not maintenance-free. Structural hardware — anchor bolts, hold-downs, shear panels, moment frame connections — should be inspected periodically, particularly after a seismic event. Corrosion in coastal environments, moisture intrusion in wood-frame systems, and settlement over time can all affect retrofit performance.

Most retrofit contractors deliver a certificate of occupancy and move on. They don't provide documented guidance on what to inspect, how often, or what conditions should trigger a professional review.

What SKS does: We provide post-retrofit guidance tailored to your building and its environment. For clients with ongoing property management relationships, we remain accessible. 80% of our clients come back to us for subsequent projects — that ongoing relationship is only possible when the first project is done right, and the communication doesn't stop at final inspection.

9. DESIGN-BUILD MATTERS FOR COMPLEX MULTIFAMILY PROJECTS

Soft-story retrofits on occupied multifamily buildings are not simple projects. They require coordination between structural engineering, permit management, scheduling around tenant occupancy, subcontractor sequencing, material procurement, and city inspections. When the designer, engineer, and builder are separate entities with no unified accountability, coordination failures are common — and costly.

Design-build delivery places responsibility for outcomes — not just deliverables — under one contract. When the same firm that designed the retrofit is also building it, there is no finger-pointing when problems arise. The engineer and the crew are on the same team.

What SKS does: We are a full design-build general contractor. Architecture, structural engineering, permitting, and construction are all in-house. This is not common in the retrofit space, where most firms are either engineering-only or construction-only with outsourced design. Our integrated model means faster timelines, fewer coordination failures, and single-point accountability from assessment through city sign-off.

10. COMMUNICATION AFTER THE CONTRACT IS SIGNED IS WHERE MOST CONTRACTORS FAIL

The sales process at most contractors is polished. The post-contract experience often isn't. Property managers and owners routinely report the same issues: calls that go unreturned, inspection delays that aren't communicated in advance, change orders that appear without prior discussion, and project closeout documentation that takes months to receive.

For multifamily property owners managing occupied buildings, communication failures are not just inconvenient — they directly affect tenant relations, lease renewals, and property value. You cannot manage what you don't know.

What SKS does: Direct owner access is not a marketing line — it's a structural feature of how we operate. Shahab and Sam Shaolian are operationally involved in every project. When you have a question or a concern, you reach someone with authority to answer it, not a project coordinator reading from a script.

WHY TRANSPARENCY IS A STRUCTURAL ADVANTAGE

Seismic retrofitting is a one-time capital investment for most property owners. You are not buying a service you'll evaluate weekly — you're buying protection that needs to perform once, under the worst possible conditions. The contractor you choose determines whether that protection is real or cosmetic.

SKS Construction has completed over 3,000 projects in the greater Los Angeles area since 1987. Our work includes soft-story seismic retrofits, SB 326 and SB 721 balcony inspections and repairs, ADUs and additions, electrical panel upgrades, custom homes, and structural retrofits of all types. We serve multifamily property owners throughout LA, Burbank, Torrance, Culver City, Pasadena, Glendale, Beverly Hills, West LA, and the surrounding metro area.

If you have a 2025 or 2026 seismic retrofit deadline, a pending balcony inspection obligation, or a structural project that needs engineering and construction under one contract — we want to talk.

Get a FREE Structural Assessment from SKS Construction

Call us at (818) 855-1181, email info@sksconstruction.com, or visit sksconstruction.com to schedule your FREE property assessment. No obligation. No pressure. Just straight answers from engineers and builders who've been doing this since 1987.

SKS Construction | Design | Engineer | Build | Since 1987