CostolioSeismic retrofit (foundation) cost in San Diego
In San Diego, the median declared value on 339 seismic retrofit (foundation) permits issued to was $9,700, according to Development Permits - approvals issued (set 1) permit data (checked ).
Seismic retrofit (foundation) cost in San Diego: permit figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Median | $9,700 |
| 25th percentile | $7,898 |
| 75th percentile | $25,000 |
How this was counted
339 permits · 2022-02-10 to 2026-10-02 · Source: Development Permits - approvals issued (set 1) · Filter: stream https://seshat.datasd.org/development_permits/approvals_issued_datasd.csv; APPROVAL_ISSUE_DATE >= 2022-01-01 ; rule: keyword /SEISMIC|SOFT[- ]STORY|CRIPPLE WALL|BRACE (AND|&) BOLT|EARTHQUAKE BRAC|FOUNDATION (BOLT|ANCHOR|RETROFIT|REPAIR|REPLACE|UPGRADE)|ANCHOR BOLT|SILL PLATE ANCHOR|\bEBB\b/ AND NOT /EARTHQUAKE (SHUT|VALVE)|SEISMIC (GAS|VALVE|SHUT)|STRAP|WATER HEATER|SOLAR|NEW (SFD|S\.?F\.?D|SINGLE[- ]FAMILY|DWELLING|HOUSE|HOME|BUILDING|\d+[- ]STORY|DUPLEX|CONDO|APARTMENT)|ADDITION|\bADU\b|REMODEL|TENANT|SIGN/ ; cost>0 ; approvals deduped to PROJECT_ID (max valuation) · Pulled: 2026-11-02T14:19:22-08:00 · Checked on: 2026-11-02
What a seismic retrofit (foundation) permit usually covers
Bolting the house to its foundation and bracing cripple walls. Usually anchor bolts, cripple wall bracing and hardware the inspector checks. Engineering reports, foundation replacement and finish work are often separate.
Seismic retrofit (foundation) in San Diego compared with other places
Among the 5 places where we have seismic retrofit (foundation) figures, San Diego has the median at position 3 from lowest. Lower medians: Los Angeles, Marin County. Higher medians: Santa Monica, Elk Grove.
Other San Diego projects with figures: ADU (accessory dwelling unit).
Read this first. Permit values are self-reported by the applicant to set permit fees. They often leave out materials or labor, and they are not what the contractor actually charged. A quote above or below this range can be reasonable.
About this San Diego sample
- 339 permits after dropping $0 or blank values (16% of keyword matches had no cost)
- cost field
APPROVAL_VALUATIONin Development Permits - approvals issued (set 1) - permits issued 2022-02-10 to 2026-10-02
Seismic retrofit (foundation) permits in San Diego by year
123 of these permits were issued in 2025, the busiest year in this sample. Counting only full years, the number of permits went up in 2024, then up in 2025. The median declared value went down in 2024, then down in 2025. 2022 and 2026 are partial years here, so their counts are lower.
| Year issued | Permits | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 35 | $30,000 |
| 2023 | 37 | $23,000 |
| 2024 | 91 | $9,516 |
| 2025 | 123 | $9,000 |
| 2026 | 53 | $9,000 |
By month issued, the busiest months were March, October, January, and the quietest were September, July, August.
What the San Diego seismic retrofit (foundation) permits describe
We read the description each applicant wrote, leave out the standard wording the city adds to every permit, and sort the permit by the words it uses. The permit type the city chose is not used here. Where the description does not say, we count it as not stated. The most common kind here is foundation work.
- Foundation work: 245 permits (72%), median $16,000
- Seismic, scope not given: 73 permits (22%), median $9,000
- Brace and bolt or cripple wall: 20 permits (6%)
- Not stated in the description: 1 permits (0%)
Other work listed on the same San Diego permits
Out of 338 San Diego seismic retrofit (foundation) permits with a description of their own, 3 (0.9%) also mention electrical work; 3 (0.9%) also mention plumbing; 2 (0.6%) also mention mechanical or HVAC; 1 (0.3%) also mention windows or doors.
How we matched seismic retrofit (foundation) permits in San Diego
San Diego has no permit type for this work, so we count a permit when its description mentions seismic, soft-story, cripple wall, brace and bolt or foundation bolting and repair. We leave out permits whose description mentions earthquake gas shut-off valves, seismic gas shut-off valves, water heater straps, water heaters, solar, new homes and buildings, additions, ADUs, remodels, tenant work or signs. We keep only permits with a declared value above $0. San Diego lists several approvals for one project, so we keep one row per project.
Seismic retrofit (foundation) across Southern California
Putting together every seismic retrofit (foundation) permit on a published page in Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica) gives 13,454 permits with a combined median of $4,000. San Diego supplies 3% of them, and its own median is 142% higher than the combined one. Each place covers its own dates, so treat this as a rough guide.
Counted from the same 339 permits as the figures above (2022-02-10 to 2026-10-02). Source: Development Permits - approvals issued (set 1).
Related
Contains data from Marin County (all jurisdictions in dataset), under the Open Data Commons ODbL (share-alike).
Updated