building retrofits

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Monday that he is directing staff to step up its efforts to dentify and help retrofit so-called "soft-story" buildings that could collapse during the next significant earthquake to hit the region.

The directive and municipal legislation will expedite development of retrofit guidelines for soft-story, wood-frame buildings and the processing and review of permits for seismic retrofit upgrades of these buildings.

"Although there is no such thing as an earthquake-proof building, engineers agree that proper seismic retrofitting can give buildings a fighting chance against a sizeable earthquake," Newsom said in a statement. "We must take the same measures to insure the safety of our homes and workplaces as we do our families and selves."