Let Berkeley Help Pay For Your Seismic If You Are a New Home Buyer.
The Berkeley Seismic Retrofit program will give you 1/2% of the purchase price of your house if you retrofit it. Before looking at the retrofit, it is a good idea to look at your permit record. You may even discover that your house has already been retrofitted
A lot of additions and even entire living units were built without permits and are not legal. This can have a big impact on resale value and the City can refuse to qualify you for the rebate if you don’t do something about this.
It is always best to make sure any additions or structures were permitted and if they were not permitted, you should think very seriously about getting permits retroactively and legalize them. That way you know the additions or structures are safe and to code.
First, check your permit history for permits issued after 1993.
Permits issued before 1993 are available on microfiche. You can view microfiche records on the computers in the lobby of the Permit Service Center, You can also request copies of the records to take home. Fill out a Microfiche Request for Permit Records Form to request the records in digital or printed format and give the form to office staff.
The microfiche files generally do not contain drawings, only the supporting documentation. The Records Retrieval Request form is the appropriate approach if you are seeking to view or obtain a copy of the construction drawings. Berkeley is required by law to request the document author’s permission before reproducing the drawings, but the archive documents can be viewed without this consent.
Historical property cards are available at the City of Berkeley Finance Department. The notes on the card may identify the date of original construction and any additions. As they were recorded by hand, the location and amount of information provided can vary. You will find a site plan which shows the lot dimensions and the location of any structures as of the date of the mapping.
If you want a copy of the plans that were part of the permit application you must fill out the form Requirements to Obtain Copies of Plans
Once you have all this information give it to your contractor and see what he can do to legalize your structure or addition.
1) To qualify for the grant, you must use use Standard Plan A, Appendix Chapter A3 of the California Existing Building Code, or a custom retrofit designed by an engineer.
Once you retrofit your house according to one of these City approved standards you must file a City of Berkeley retrofit verification form.
If your house was already retrofitted using Berkeley grant money, Berkeley is not going to pay for you to retrofit it again. You need to do a search on your home’s permit record to find out.
All the seismic work must be completed within one year of date of purchase or Berkeley will not give you the transfer tax money back. If for some reason you cannot do the seismic retrofit within this one time period, you can apply for an extension for up to one year by sending the Berkeley finance department a letter explaining why you could not do the seismic retrofit work in the time allowed. There is no special form for this, just a personal letter sent to the Berkeley finance office (2180 Milvia St. Attn: Finance Office, Berkeley, CA, 94704) (510-961-7300) telling them why you could not get your house retrofitted is all you need. Here are two sample letters depending on where you are in the process: Extension letter 1 or Extension letter 2. Reasons such as your seismic retrofit contractor has been delayed is a valid reason. We have never seen an extension request denied. From what we have seen, any good reason will do.
2) To procure a permit for the Berkeley Seismic Retrofit Program, get an application from the Berkeley building department website. You will need to present this along with a set of plans using either Standard Plan A, Appendix Chapter A3 of the California Existing Building Code, or an engineered design. The application must state that the work qualifies for the grant. Use language such as “This work qualifies for a rebate based on the Transfer Tax Reduction provision found in BMC 7.52.000” so it is absolutely clear.
3) Once your retrofit is approved by the, they will send you a check. We will help you through the entire process.
