Oakland’s soft-story law covers buildings designed or built before 1991 with five or more units and a weak lower story, and its Rent Adjustment Ordinance covers most multifamily buildings built before 1983. Earthquake is bought separately, and in the hills the fire zone decides which insurers will write the building at all. Send me the retrofit affidavit, the rent roll and the system updates and I will take it to market.
What underwriters look at on an Oakland building
- Soft-story tierOrdinance 13516 put subject buildings into three compliance tiers by unit count and what is in the ground story. Underwriters want the tier and the final affidavit.
- Hayward FaultThe U.S. Geological Survey gives the Hayward and Rodgers Creek faults a 33 percent chance of a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake between 2014 and 2043.
- Hills fire zoneIn June 2025 the city expanded its Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone to cover the entire Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area.
- Rent programRent control applies to most multifamily properties built before January 1, 1983, and just cause eviction rules to most units more than ten years old.
- Older systemsOriginal wiring, galvanized pipe, old roofs and wood stairs and decks are behind most of the fire, water and injury claims.
The policy itself is built the same way everywhere (how apartment coverage is put together). These are the Oakland parts. Berkeley, Alameda and other East Bay cities have their own retrofit and rent rules, so tell me which city the building is in.
Oakland’s mandatory soft-story retrofit
The City Council adopted Ordinance 13516, effective January 22, 2019. By the city’s definition a soft-story building was designed or built before 1991, has five or more dwelling units, and has a vulnerable lower story or crawl space, typically tuck-under parking, rows of garage doors or storefront windows. The city keeps a list of subject properties, last posted as of May 2026.
- Tier 1Buildings with 20 or more units, and buildings whose owners did not comply with the city’s 2009 soft-story screening program.
- Tier 2Buildings with 5 to 19 units.
- Tier 3Buildings where the soft story itself contains residential or commercial space.
The ordinance gave Tier 1 four years, Tier 2 five and Tier 3 six to finish the retrofit and file a final affidavit of compliance, and owners could apply for a one-year extension. The initial affidavit dates the city posted were February 21 of 2020, 2022 and 2023, so as of November 2026 an underwriter expects a subject building to be finished or to have a written reason why not. Send me the final affidavit and the finaled permit. If work is still under way, the job itself may need builder’s risk.
Two cost points from the city’s program FAQ: retrofit costs are treated as a capital improvement that can be passed through to tenants in part, by petition to the Rent Adjustment Program, and if tenants are temporarily displaced for the work the owner pays their temporary housing costs.
Earthquake on the Hayward Fault
A standard commercial property policy typically excludes earthquake, and the California Earthquake Authority’s policies are for homeowners, condo unit owners, mobilehome owners and renters. An apartment owner buys earthquake on its own, as a stand-alone or difference-in-conditions policy with a separate deductible. How earthquake coverage works in California.
The USGS forecast gives the Bay region a 72 percent chance of at least one magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake between 2014 and 2043, with the Hayward and Rodgers Creek faults the most likely source at 33 percent. The last large earthquake on the Hayward Fault was in 1868, and trenching in Fremont found twelve large earthquakes in about 1,900 years, spaced roughly 100 to 210 years apart. Distance is not the whole story either: the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake badly damaged vulnerable parts of Oakland more than 50 miles from the rupture. The state’s Earthquake Zones of Required Investigation map shows whether a parcel is in a fault, liquefaction or landslide zone, and earthquake underwriters check it. For houses and condos, see the Oakland earthquake page.
Oakland hills buildings and the fire zone
The city’s own wildfire page cites the 1991 Tunnel Fire, which took 25 lives and destroyed 3,469 houses and apartments, as the reason it treats the hills the way it does. When the state’s 2024 maps would have made Oakland’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone smaller, the City Council went the other way and, in Ordinance 13851 on June 17, 2025, expanded the zone to cover the whole Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area. Every parcel in that area gets a vegetation inspection each year.
For an apartment building in the zone, send the latest inspection result, photos of the clearance around the building and the roof type. If standard and surplus lines insurers decline, the California FAIR Plan writes habitational buildings of five or more units on a named-peril basis, and the gaps are filled with a difference-in-conditions policy and separate liability. How the FAIR Plan and DIC fit together.
Loss of rents under the Rent Adjustment Program
Loss of rents coverage pays the rent you were collecting while units are being repaired after a covered loss. Three Oakland rules shape how much to buy:
- The rent comes back the same. In a rent-controlled unit the owner can raise rent once in twelve months by the CPI amount; anything else needs a petition.
- Uninsured repair costs need a petition. The Rent Adjustment Program lists uninsured repair costs among the increases an owner must petition for, so a gap in coverage is not quickly recovered from rents.
- Code-compliance displacement has a price. Under Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 15.60, tenants displaced by code compliance repairs or a city order are owed relocation payments; for a temporary move the owner pays temporary housing and moving costs, and the tenant may move back when the unit is ready.
The city’s relocation page does not address displacement caused purely by an accidental fire, so ask the program before assuming either way, and read the extra expense wording in your policy. Covered units must also be registered with the city’s rent registry each year. How income coverage works.
Older systems, decks and liability
Underwriters ask for update years on wiring (any knob-and-tube or fuse panels), plumbing (galvanized supply, cast-iron drains), roof and water heaters. Undocumented updates count for little. Because an older building must be rebuilt to current code, I also look at ordinance or law coverage on every Oakland building.
On the liability side, state law (SB 721) requires buildings with three or more units to have wood balconies, decks, stairways and walkways more than six feet above ground inspected, first by January 1, 2026 and every six years after. Oakland asks owners to submit the inspection form and written report through its Online Permit Center, and the inspector cannot be a current city employee. A clean report helps; an open repair item is something to fix before renewal. A commercial umbrella sits over the primary liability limit, and ground-floor shops are handled as mixed-use.
What to send me
- Address, year built, stories, units and construction type, with any commercial space.
- Soft-story status: tier, engineer’s evaluation, permit and final affidavit of compliance, or the exemption.
- Rent roll, showing which units are under rent control, and a recent operating statement.
- Current declarations pages for property, earthquake, liability and umbrella.
- Five years of loss runs, with what was repaired.
- System updates with years: wiring, plumbing, roof, water heaters.
- Hills buildings: the latest vegetation inspection result and photos of clearance and roof.
- Balcony inspection report and any open code enforcement notices.
Common questions
Who insures apartment buildings in Oakland?
Standard and surplus lines insurers both write them, and which will offer terms depends on retrofit status, age of systems, losses and whether the building is in the hills fire zone. As an independent broker I show the building to several at once.
Do I need earthquake insurance on an Oakland apartment building?
No law requires it, though a lender may. The Hayward Fault runs through the East Bay and earthquake is typically excluded from the property policy, so it is a separate purchase with its own deductible.
Is my Oakland building subject to the soft-story retrofit ordinance?
The city’s test is a building designed or built before 1991 with five or more units and a vulnerable lower story. Oakland publishes a list of subject properties, last posted as of May 2026.
Does finishing the soft-story retrofit help with insurance in Oakland?
Yes. The final affidavit of compliance is the first thing an earthquake underwriter asks for on a tuck-under building, and an unfinished subject building has fewer options.
Why did my apartment insurance go up in the Oakland hills?
The city expanded its Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone in June 2025 to cover the whole Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Area, and insurers price or decline by fire zone. Vegetation inspection results and roof type are what I send to argue for the building.
Will loss of rents pay market rent while a rent-controlled Oakland building is repaired?
It replaces the rent you were actually collecting. Rent-controlled units come back at the controlled rent, so set the limit from the real rent roll and a realistic repair time.
General information about insuring apartment buildings in the City of Oakland as of November 2026, not legal advice. Retrofit deadlines, rent and eviction rules, relocation payments and fire zone maps are set by city ordinance and state law and change, and other East Bay cities have their own rules; confirm your building’s status with Oakland’s Planning and Building Department and the Rent Adjustment Program, and your obligations to tenants with counsel. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.