The two grants
| Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) | Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) | |
|---|---|---|
| The house | Wood-framed, built before 1980, raised foundation or crawl space | Built before 2000, living space over the garage, no more than two stories |
| Common to both | In an eligible ZIP code; on level ground or a slight slope; wood framed; not already retrofitted | |
| Owner | Owner-occupied; non-owner-occupied homes now eligible for EBB | Own and live in the house |
| Grant | Up to $3,000, plus a supplemental grant for household income of $94,480 or less, as funding permits | Up to $13,000 |
| The work | Bolt the frame to the foundation, brace cripple walls with plywood or OSB, strap the water heater | Strengthen the garage walls, including the walls either side of the garage door |
| San Francisco ZIP codes in the program (checked 23 Oct 2026) | 28 | 21 |
From CRMP's Brace + Bolt and See If You Qualify pages. Supplemental-grant applicants must have every earner in the household complete the income form within 30 days of acceptance or lose it. Registration was closed when we checked; the ZIP search on the qualify page tells you whether yours is in, and the program takes email sign-ups for the next round.
Is it brace and bolt, or bolt only?
Look in the crawl space. Short walls of 4 feet or less between the floor framing and the foundation are cripple walls, and the house needs bracing and bolting. If the framing sits straight on the concrete stem wall, it is bolt-only. CRMP puts a typical contractor retrofit at $3,000 to $7,000, so the base grant covers a large share of a bolt-only job.
What it means when you hire
- Pick from the directory. To use the grant with a contractor, CRMP says you "must choose from the Contractor Directory": California-licensed general contractors trained by FEMA in seismic retrofitting. Check the license yourself at the CSLB; see our San Francisco contractor license lookup.
- Code and permit. The retrofit must follow the California Existing Building Code, Chapter A3, for light wood-frame houses. In San Francisco a voluntary seismic upgrade is an over-the-counter permit with plans (San Francisco remodel permit).
- Owner-builder is allowed, but your own labor is not a recoverable cost and tools should be rented.
What 781 San Francisco foundation and seismic permits show
| Measure | SF foundation & seismic |
|---|---|
| Permits on homes, October 2023 to September 2026 | 781 |
| Firms / active in the last year of data | 401 / 149 |
| Usual filed value | $17,848 |
| Middle half of firms' usual value (44 firms) | $10,000 to $36,000 |
| Usual days from issue to completion | 191 |
| Completed (permits a year or more old) | 82.8% |
| Firms matched to an active CSLB license | 92.3% |
| Busiest / quietest month | May (114) / February (81) |
This category mixes foundation replacement with seismic bolting, which is why the usual filed value ($17,848) sits well above CRMP's $3,000 to $7,000 retrofit range. A brace-and-bolt quote near that range is normal; one near $36,000 is a different job and should say so. Most of these permits finish (82.8%), and 92.3% of firms match an active license. Values by firm are on SF foundation cost.
Compare San Francisco foundation and seismic contractors →
Related
Choosing the firm: hiring a foundation repair contractor. Permits in general: do I need a permit for foundation repair. License checks statewide: checking a contractor license in California.
What this does not tell you
We cannot see which permits used a CRMP grant, and our foundation category does not separate retrofits from full foundation work. Grant amounts, income limits and ZIP codes are set each round; check the program before you sign. This covers single-family houses, not the City's mandatory soft-story program for larger apartment buildings.
How we know this
Program rules, grant amounts, the income limit and the cost range are from the California Residential Mitigation Program's Brace + Bolt and See If You Qualify pages, read 23 October 2026; the San Francisco ZIP counts and closed registration are from the program's ZIP Code search on the same date. Permit counts are City and County of San Francisco building permits on homes classified as foundation or seismic work, October 2023 to September 2026; completion uses permits a year or more old.
Numbers come from San Francisco DBI building permits on one- and two-family homes, with the contractor from the city's permit contacts file, data through October 16, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Is San Francisco eligible for Earthquake Brace + Bolt?
Yes. When we checked the program's ZIP Code search on 23 October 2026, 28 San Francisco ZIP codes, including 94110, 94112, 94116, 94122 and 94134, were in the Earthquake Brace + Bolt area, and 21 were in the Earthquake Soft-Story area. Registration was closed at the time; it opens in rounds.
- How much is the Brace + Bolt grant?
Up to $3,000 toward a code-compliant retrofit, plus a supplemental grant for households with income of $94,480 or less, as funding permits. The program says a typical retrofit by a licensed contractor costs $3,000 to $7,000.
- What homes qualify for Brace + Bolt?
Wood-framed houses built before 1980 with a raised foundation or crawl space, on level ground or a slight slope, in an eligible ZIP code, that have not already been retrofitted. Non-owner-occupied homes are now eligible for EBB.
- Is there a grant for a house with rooms over the garage in San Francisco?
The Earthquake Soft-Story program grants up to $13,000 for houses built before 2000 with living space over the garage and no more than two stories. Most San Francisco ZIP codes are in its area.
- Who can do a Brace + Bolt retrofit in San Francisco?
A contractor from the program's Contractor Directory, all California-licensed general contractors trained in seismic retrofitting by FEMA, or the owner as an owner-builder. Either way the work must follow the California Existing Building Code, Chapter A3.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Foundation repair cost in 2026: what foundation permits were filed at in 12 cities
- Hiring a foundation repair contractor: 5 red flags and 8 questions, checked against 15 cities' permits
- San Francisco building permit search: DBI tracking, records and job cards
- San Francisco contractor license lookup: which license, where to search, and what the permits show
For one city
- Home improvement costs in San Francisco, CA (2026): what 10 kinds of jobs were filed at
- Hiring a remodeling contractor in San Francisco: the CSLB license, the DBI permit, and what 5,000 remodel permits show
- Hiring a roofer in San Francisco: the C-39 license, the reroofing permit, and what 9,500 roofing permits show
- The Earthquake Brace + Bolt Retrofit — California Residential Mitigation Program (accessed 2026-10-23)
- See If You Qualify — California Residential Mitigation Program (accessed 2026-10-23, including its ZIP Code search)