The Project Impact program was originally funded by FEMA to retrofit homes to better withstand a major earthquake in high seismicity areas. The program has been continually supported by the City of Seattle since 1998 to improve the City’s disaster preparedness and response capabilities to major earthquakes in the Puget Sound region. The goal of jurisdictional involvement in this program has been to create a simple and cost-effective process to encourage homeowners to retrofit their houses.

Originally, the Project Impact process consisted of three booklets and two sheets of standard plans. There have been several revisions since then in an attempt to improve the process and to encourage more Puget Sound homeowners to participate in the program.

Current revisions consist of upgrading the standard plans to the new 2006 IBC code standard, creating consistency with surrounding jurisdictions, and providing additional standard details to reduce costly engineering involvement. The plans were reformatted from a large size, 30 inches by 42 inches, to 11 inches by 17 inches, a standard used in neighboring cities. New standard details and a table were added for narrow pony walls (less than 2:1 aspect ratio).

The new plans are available on DPD’s Home Retrofit website. Additionally, training classes are offered to homeowners and contractors through neighborhood organizations such as the Phinney Ridge Community Center.