Phone: 503-823-4375
Fax: 503-823-3903
TDD: 503-823-3947
Unreinforced Masonry (URM) Seismic Retrofit Project
Information about the City of Portland project to improve the earthquake safety of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings.
UPDATE: Portland City Council passed a resolution on June 13, 2018 providing guidance to City staff on developing a mandatory seismic retrofit policy for unreinforced masonry buildings.
- Click here to read the final resolution adopted by Council.
- Click here to watch the full Council meeting. The URM discussion begins at the 03:03:30 mark.
Click here for a list and searchable map of URM buildings.
Click here for a memo with seismic retrofit cost estimates for Class 3 URM buildings.
Click here for the URM Policy Committee's final report; click here for the URM Seismic Retrofit Support Committee's final report; and click here for the URM Retrofit Standards Committee's final report.
Click here to view public comments received in 2016 and click here to view public comments received in 2017.
Questions about the Council meeting? Email urms@portlandoregon.gov or contact 503-823-3739.
Project Information
- URM Resolution (June 13, 2018)
- VIDEO: Mayor Lianne Dalziel message to Portland City Council
- VIDEO: URM Building Earthquake Simulation
- VIDEO: Wood Building Earthquake Simulation
- May 9, 2018 Presentation to Portland City Council
- Class 3 - URM Retrofit Cost Estimates
- Cover Memo for Updated Cost Estimates
- General Public Comments - 2017
- General Public Comments - 2016
- Searchable map of Portland's URM buildings
- April 4, 2017 URM Project Summary
- April 4, 2017 URM Council Work Session Presentation
- URM Project Description
- URM Workplan
- URM Overview Video
- Public Forum Documents
- April 4, 2016 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Portland's Mandatory URM Retrofit Policy Presentation
- December 15, 2015 URM Council Work Session Presentation
- May 20, 2015 Joint Retrofit Standards-Seismic Retrofit Support Committee Documents
- December 10, 2014 Kickoff Meeting Documents
Committee Resources
Resources for the Portland URM Seismic Retrofit Project.
- 2003 Report to the California Legilature: Status of the URM Building Law
- DOGAMI Maps and Building Damage Counts
- Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission (OSSPAC)
- Oregon Seismic Rehabilitation Task Force: Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings in Oregon (1996)
- Oregon Seismic Rehabilitation Task Force: Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Building in Oregon (1996) - Excerpt
- Oregon Resilience Plan (2013)
- URM Overview Video
- Oregon Resilience Plan - Business and Workforce Community Excerpts
- Oregon - Restore Oregon: Resilient Masonry Buildings (2012)
- California - Historic Buildings Committee: URM Buildings Fact Sheet (2004)
- Portland - Earthquake Risk Analysis Report, Vol. One (1995)
- Portland - North and Eastside Portland Unreinforced Masonry Building Survey Project Report (2013)
- Portland - URM Mandatory Seismic Strengthening (2013)
- Seattle - Community Impacts of Mitigation Policy (1992)
- Seattle - Final Report From URM Technical Committee & Proposed Retrofit Standard (2011)
- Seattle - Unreinforced Masonry Retrofit Policy: Benefit Cost Analysis (2014)
- Seattle - City of Seattle Recommendations for an Unreinforced Masonry Policy (2013)
- Seattle - Summary Report of URM Retrofit Laws
- Seattle - URM Project Documents
- Best Practices - An Overview of URM Retrofit Laws
- Seismic Regulations in Chapter 24.85 for URMs
BDS URM Database
Click to be redirected to a searchable database of Portland URM buildings.