Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program Registration in Now Open

Published on August 26, 2025

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Registration is open August 20 through October 1, 2025

Earthquakes in California are inevitable, but the damage they cause is preventable. While older houses in California are charming, many are also vulnerable to shake damage.  While seismic retrofitting a house does not guarantee against damage, it can help to improve its performance in an earthquake by making it stronger and more resilient. This can help make your house safer for you and your family.

The type of home you live in will determine what kind of retrofit you may need.  This Retrofit resource page provides more information to inform your decision. 

There are two housing considerations to this program.  

  • In an Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) seismic retrofit, the foundation is "bolted" to the frame of the house, and when there are walls called "cripple walls" in the crawl space under the house, they are "braced" with plywood. This helps prevent the house from sliding or toppling off of its foundation during an earthquake.  The California Residential Mitigation Program offers retrofit grants of up to $3,000 to qualified homeowners with eligible houses.
  • An Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) earthquake retrofit strengthens older houses (pre-2000) that have a living space above the garage, also called a "soft story." This makes these houses more resistant to earthquake damage caused by ground shaking.  CRMP created ESS to provide California homeowners with grants of up to $13,000 to seismically retrofit their soft-story house to better withstand earthquakes.

For qualifying homes with a completed and verified brace and bolt retrofit, the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) offers an earthquake insurance premium discount to our policyholders of up to 25%.  

If you are interested in exploring how to register for the Brace and Bolt program you can do so here: https://www.crmp.org/our-seismic-retrofit-programs/how-to-register

Program Rules for Homeowners

  • The house must be located within one of EBB's designated program ZIP Codes.
  • The house must meet all the qualifications for the EBB program. It is the homeowner's responsibility to accurately answer all qualifying question on the registration form.
  • House must be built before 1980.
  • Participant must be the legal owner of record.
  • Only one EBB registration per household is allowed.
    • For the August 20-October 1 EBB registration period, non-owner-occupied residences are now eligible for an EBB retrofit. (Limit up to five properties).
  • You have not already completed a "brace and bolt" earthquake retrofit.
  • The building permit must be received and dated after your acceptance into EBB.
  • The building permit must state the retrofit is in accordance with CEBC Chapter A3 or an accepted Standard Plan Set.
  • In addition to the brace and bolt retrofit, the work must include strapping and bracing the water heater.
  • The homeowner must meet all program deadlines and submit the required documentation.
  • If a homeowner chooses to hire a contractor to do the EBB retrofit, the contractor must be listed on the EBB Contractor Directory.
  • If a homeowner receives a contractor bid for the retrofit that is more than $10,000, the homeowner must get at least one additional bid from a contractor on the EBB Contractor Directory. If the higher bid is chosen, the homeowner must state the reason.
  • If a homeowner chooses to do the project as an owner/builder, labor will not be reimbursed.

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