A little over half of the city’s housing was built before 1980, and close to four units in ten are in buildings of five or more. The city’s tenant ordinance sets relocation at two or three months of rent, double or triple the state figure. Wildfire, earthquake and flood are each bought or underwritten separately here, and each has a mapped zone you can check before I go to market.
What underwriters see in a San Diego building
- Building stockThe Census Bureau’s 2019–2023 American Community Survey counts about 560,000 housing units in the city. About 38 percent are in buildings of five or more units, and the 1970s and 1980s are the two largest decades of construction.
- Tenant Protection OrdinanceIn effect since June 24, 2023. It requires just cause to end a tenancy and sets relocation assistance above the state amount.
- CanyonsThe city maps its own very high fire hazard severity zones, and the State Fire Marshal issued updated local maps in 2025.
- Rose Canyon faultState fault zone maps were revised in 2021 for the stretch from Coronado through the city to La Jolla.
- WaterCreek and river flooding inland, bluff erosion on the coast.
The coverage parts are the same ones used everywhere (how apartment programs are structured). The sections below are about what is specific to San Diego.
The Tenant Protection Ordinance, relocation and loss of rents
The city’s Residential Tenant Protections (Municipal Code Chapter 9, Article 8, Division 7) cover tenancies of more than 30 days. State law waits 12 months before just cause applies and sets relocation at one month of rent; the city ordinance is stricter on both.
- Relocation amount. On a no-fault termination the landlord pays two months of the tenant’s actual rent, or three months if the tenant is 62 or older or disabled, or waives rent in the same amount.
- Orders to vacate. A government or court order that requires the unit to be empty for at least 30 days is a no-fault cause. The ordinance takes relocation away when an agency or court finds the tenant at fault for the condition; ask counsel how it applies to your loss.
- Major repairs. A substantial remodel counts only if it replaces or substantially modifies a structural, electrical, plumbing or mechanical system under a permit, or abates hazardous materials, and cannot be done safely with the tenant in place for at least 30 continuous days.
- Newer buildings. Housing with a certificate of occupancy issued in the previous 15 years is exempt.
The ordinance is about ending tenancies. The rent cap most older buildings work under is the state one in Civil Code 1947.12: 5 percent plus the change in the cost of living, never more than 10 percent, in any 12 months. Loss of rents coverage should be set to the rent roll you have and a realistic repair period, and you should read whether your extra expense wording would respond to a relocation payment, because many forms do not. How income coverage works.
The Rose Canyon fault and retrofit rules
In September 2021 the California Geological Survey issued revised Alquist-Priolo fault zone maps for the Rose Canyon fault, which it describes as coming onshore at Coronado, crossing the San Diego area to the northwest and going back offshore near La Jolla. Inside a zone, new construction for human occupancy generally has to sit 50 feet back from an active trace. Existing buildings are not affected unless extensive additions or remodeling are proposed, and the zone has to be disclosed in a sale. The city’s Seismic Safety Study maps separate hazard categories for fault zones and for liquefaction.
- Unreinforced masonry. The city’s ordinance covers buildings permitted before March 24, 1939. The city identified 884 of them in 2001 and reported in March 2020 that all but 14 owners had complied.
- Soft-story wood frame. The city’s fact sheet on its 2025 building code adoption describes the soft-story mitigation standards (Appendix Chapter A4 of the state building code) as non-mandatory. I have not found a city order-to-comply program like the one in Los Angeles; confirm your building’s status with Development Services.
So a tuck-under building here usually has no compliance certificate to show. An engineer’s evaluation or voluntary retrofit drawings do that job with an earthquake underwriter. Standard property policies typically exclude earthquake, and the California Earthquake Authority’s policy types are for homeowners, condo unit owners, mobilehome owners and renters, so the building’s coverage is placed in the commercial market. How earthquake coverage works in California.
Wildfire zones and the 2003 and 2007 fires
San Diego County’s two reference fires are in CAL FIRE’s records: the Cedar Fire, which started October 25, 2003, burned 273,246 acres and destroyed 2,820 structures, and the Witch Fire, which started October 21, 2007 east of Ramona, burned 197,990 acres and destroyed 1,711. Underwriters still price canyon-rim and inland buildings with those in mind.
Fire Hazard Severity Zones are rated Moderate, High or Very High and measure hazard, not what you have done about it. The city publishes its very high zones by map grid and points owners to the State Fire Marshal’s 2025 local map. I send brush management records, roof type and vent details with the submission, because insurers apply their own wildfire scores. When the standard market says no, the California FAIR Plan writes habitational buildings of five or more units on a named-peril form, with limits raised in 2025 to twenty million dollars per building, and it is normally paired with a second policy for what it leaves out. How the FAIR Plan and DIC fit together.
Flood and coastal bluffs
On January 22, 2024 the city recorded 2.72 inches of rain at the airport, which the National Weather Service ranked as the fourth wettest day in its history. Hundreds of people were rescued in Mountain View and Southcrest, the city later described significant flooding along Chollas Creek, and it said many stormwater pump stations reached capacity. Property policies generally exclude flood, so ground-floor units near a creek, the San Diego River or the Tijuana River Valley need a separate policy. How flood insurance works.
On the coast the issue is the bluff. The city’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands rules (Municipal Code 143.0143) require development on a sensitive coastal bluff, including additions to existing structures, to be set back at least 40 feet from the bluff edge, or 25 to 40 feet where a geology report supports it. If an older bluff-top building sits closer than that, ask before a loss how much of it could be rebuilt in place, and carry ordinance or law coverage sized for the answer. Erosion and earth movement themselves are typically excluded.
Balcony inspections and liability
Health and Safety Code 17973, from SB 721, applies to buildings with three or more multifamily units. Wood-supported balconies, decks, stairways and walkways more than six feet above ground had to be inspected by January 1, 2026, and every six years after. The inspector samples at least 15 percent of each type. Anything called an immediate threat must be closed or repaired at once; for other repairs the owner has 120 days from the report to apply for a permit.
Salt air is hard on deck framing and waterproofing near the coast, and liability underwriters ask for the report with the repair sign-offs. Put a commercial umbrella over the primary limit.
What to send me
- Address, year built, stories, unit count and construction type, and whether parking sits under the units.
- The current rent roll and a recent operating statement.
- Structural paperwork: any engineer’s seismic evaluation, retrofit permits, or the unreinforced masonry compliance record for a pre-1939 building.
- The balcony inspection report and repair sign-offs.
- System updates with years: roof, plumbing, electrical, water heaters.
- Hazard notes: fire hazard zone and brush management records, flood zone, fault zone disclosure, and distance to the bluff edge if there is one.
- Current declarations pages and five years of loss runs.
Common questions
Who insures apartment buildings in San Diego?
Standard and surplus lines insurers write most San Diego apartment buildings, and the California FAIR Plan writes buildings of five or more units that the regular market turns down. I am an independent broker, so one submission goes to the markets that fit the building.
Why did my apartment building insurance go up in San Diego?
Common local reasons are a wildfire score on a canyon-side or inland building, an older roof or original plumbing, and water claims. Brush management records, documented updates and a clean balcony report are the things that move an underwriter.
Do I need earthquake insurance on a San Diego apartment building?
It is not required by law, though a lender can require it. Standard property policies typically exclude earthquake, and the Rose Canyon fault runs through the city, so I quote it as a separate policy and let you decide.
Does San Diego require soft-story retrofits for apartment buildings?
As of November 2026 the city’s 2025 building code fact sheet describes its soft-story standards as non-mandatory. Unreinforced masonry buildings permitted before March 24, 1939 are covered by a separate city ordinance.
How much relocation do I owe tenants in the City of San Diego?
For a no-fault termination the Tenant Protection Ordinance sets it at two months of actual rent, or three months for a tenant who is 62 or older or disabled. Check your policy wording, because many property forms do not pay relocation.
Does my apartment policy cover flood or bluff erosion in San Diego?
Usually neither. Flood is a separate policy, and erosion and earth movement are typically excluded, which is why bluff-top buildings need a close read of ordinance or law coverage.
General information about insuring apartment buildings in the City and County of San Diego as of November 2026, not legal advice. The Tenant Protection Ordinance applies inside city limits; other cities and the unincorporated county follow state law and their own rules. Hazard maps, building codes and tenant rules change; confirm your building’s status with the city and your obligations to tenants with counsel. Coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.