Dive Brief:

• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti wants to require the owners of multi-story wood buildings and concrete structures to retrofit them with earthquake safety features.

• The sweeping proposal, which includes what the Los Angeles Times called the “most ambitious seismic safety regulations in California history,” would affect thousands of buildings constructed before 1980, mostly concrete office towers and wood apartment buildings with weak first-floor supports, the newspaper explained.

• If the plan becomes law, owners of wood buildings would have to reinforce their structures within five years and concrete buildings would have to comply within 30 years. The Times estimated the cost at up to $1 million for a large office or multifamily building and $60,000 to $130,000 for a “modest” wood apartment building.

Dive Insight:

Although several City Council members expressed qualified support for the mayor’s plan this week, the panel is unlikely to approve it before city number-crunchers can work out a slew of details.

Opponents ranging from building owners to tenants’ rights advocates have said the financial burden is too great. But Garcetti said the cost of a catastrophic earthquake would be greater, as more than 280,000 homes and 50 of the city’s 1,000-plus at-risk concrete buildings could be lost.