Get a building permit for an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)

Your project may require additional analysis and certifications prior to applying for a building permit.

Please review all of these requirements to determine which of them are applicable to your project and complete them prior to submitting your building permit application.

If any required pre-application reviews are not completed, your building permit application will not be accepted.

Historic Resource Review - Planning Department

If you use the Local ADU program, and depending on your property's historic status, you may need a historic preservation review.

Check your property's historic resource status to see if this is required.

Most properties in San Francisco are category B, which means potentially significant and not yet evaluated.

If your property is category B and your project involves major alterations visible from the street, you may choose to file a Historic Resource Review before filing your building permit to determine if your property is historic.

Public Notification – Planning Department

If you are using the Local ADU program you must post on the building a notice that you are adding an ADU and a declaration of ADU construction. Photographs of these posted notices are to be sent to the Rent Board.

You must post this notice and declaration in your building at least 15 days before you apply for your ADU application.

Post a notice for your ADU.

Produce Legal Notices – Planning Department

You may be required to submit any formal restrictions that are part of the project approval.

Complete a Notice of Special Restrictions (NSR).

You may also need to complete a Costa Hawkins agreement.

If required, these documents must be submitted to the City and recorded before we can issue your permit.

More information is available on the Planning Department’s Complete legal notices for your ADU webpage.

Fire Flow – SF Fire

To ensure an adequate water supply in the event of a fire, a fire flow study is needed for new construction projects and for projects that add new floor area to existing buildings and the findings of the study must be included in the plans for the building permit. For the building permit to be approved, you must provide sufficient water to a site to protect it in the event of a fire.

See the requirements for your fire flow study

Water Flow – SF Fire

Most fire sprinkler permit applications need current hydrant water flow data.

Submit a request for water flow information to get this data from SF Fire's records. If the records are out of date, SF Fire will perform a new field flow test to make sure the water pressure and flow information used for your fire sprinkler design is accurate.

Submit a request for water flow information

Construction Waste Tracking - Environment Department

Construction waste must be tracked for the following projects:

• New construction
• Commercial additions 1.000 square feet or greater
• Commercial remodels or alterations that cost $200,000 or more
• Full building demolitions
• Residential additions or alterations that increase the building's conditioned area, volume or size

Register to track your construction waste.

Public Right of Way Permits - Public Works

Projects including work within the public right of way, such as construction and/or occupancy of the street or sidewalks, including installation of utilities, require separate permit(s) from the Department of Public Works.

The project scope determines the types of Public Right of Way permits required based on this criteria.

Contact BSMPermitDivision@sfdpw.org with specific questions about Public Works permitting requirements.

Apply for public right of way permits.

Site Assessment and Mitigation - Public Health

Projects that disturb 50 cubic yards of soil and are located in the Maher Ordinance area may be required to perform site assessment and mitigation.

Maher Ordinance areas are considered by the Department of Public Health to have known or suspected contamination, including sites with historical industrial uses, areas near freeways, and current or historical underground storage tanks.

Review the Maher Ordinance Frequently Asked Questions and submit an application to Public Health

Asbestos Remediation - Building Inspection

An asbestos report is required prior to applying for a demolition permit.

Any necessary remediation needs to be completed prior to applying for a demolition permit.

Determine if your project requires an asbestos survey and licensed asbestos contractor.

Expanded Compliance Control - Building Inspection

Projects associated with someone featured on the Expanded Compliance Control list must obtain pre-authorization from DBI Inspection Services prior to applying for a building permit.

Contact Inspection Services at bid.planreview@sfgov.org to schedule a site inspection to confirm the accuracy of the plans to be submitted with the permit application.

Valid address - Building Inspection

Go to the San Francisco Property Information Map to confirm your property has a valid address. If your property does not have a valid address email, contact dbi.addressing@sfgov.org to get one assigned.

Selecting whether to apply for a Full or Site permit is an important decision as it determines the process for reviewing a project. It cannot be changed without resubmitting the permit application.

Most ADU applicants apply for a full permit which uses a more condensed process. But if your project requires a more iterative design and engineering process, a site permit may help you save money during design and review.

Full Permit requirements

• Initial submittal includes: Architectural, Structural and Mechanical/Electrical plans, and Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency information.
• Two payments: initial filing fee and issuance fee.
• Full permits for a State program ADU with no additional construction work are eligible for the Permit Review Roundtable, which generally has a shorter review and issuance timeline than the Local program.

Site Permit requirements

• Initial submittal limited to Architectural plans.
• Minimum of four payments: filing fee, issuance fee, addendum submittal fee, addendum issuance fee.
• This process generally has a longer review and issuance time than the State program.
• Submission of addenda after approval of:
  • Site permit issuance
  • Addendum schedule by the plan check supervisor

See more details in Administrative Bulletin 032.

Fill out the appropriate building permit application form for your project. Depending on the scope of work, multiple forms may be necessary.

• Form 1/2: New construction (residential or commercial)
• Form 3/8: Alterations to an existing structure
• Form 5: Grading, excavation, fill or quarry
• Form 6: Demolition of an entire building or structure
  • A Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Job Number is required for issuance of demolition permit. Please see Information Sheet S-04 for requirements and processing details.

You will be required to include project information with your application including:

• Street address
• Existing and proposed dwelling units
• Present and proposed use
• Estimated construction cost
• Front facade changes
• Horizontal extensions
• Adding height
• Extending beyond the property line
• Excavation or repairing or replacing the building's foundation
• Proposed ADUS unit type and square footage
• What space you are converting into an ADU

Complete the Permit Applicant and Authorized Agent form to document the people authorized to work on the project. The form must be completed and signed by the property owner for your permit application to be accepted and reviewed by the City.

Fill out the Permit Applicant and Authorized Agent form

Agree to the requirements associated with the legally-mandated 60-day review period for ADUs.

Complete the Permit Application Processing Time Tolling Declaration form.

Select whether you are using the State/Hybrid or Local ADU program and sign the Rent Ordinance affidavit.

Complete the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) screening form.

All new construction must include Title 24 Energy and Green Building Special Inspection forms per Information Sheets M-03, M-04, and M-08; exceptions are detailed in Information Sheet M-06.

Go to the California Energy Commission Title 24 webpage for additional information and the associated form for your project type.

Fill out the San Francisco Green Building Form.

Submit your Department of Public Health program routing checklist with every application.

Projects featuring any new faucets, toilets or other plumbing fixtures, or applying for a new water service must complete a fixture count form.

ADU plans must follow City codes for neighborhood development and building safety.

Homeowners usually hire an architect or designer to create the plans.

Design an ADU that meets City codes.

See specific building code requirements in the ADU Intake Screening Checklist. This checklist is meant to assist your design professional and does not need to be submitted with your building permit application.

The ADU Design and Permitting Resource Sheet also contains useful information to get you started.

Formatting your ADU plans

Your licensed architect, engineer or designer should produce construction plans based on the review being conducted.

Full Permit:

• Plan set requirements

Site Permit:

• Application requirements
• Addenda requirements

ADU plan sets must also contain specific details about the project.

Applications, plans and addenda must be submitted electronically.

The City conducts plan review and provides comments using Bluebeam Revu software but applicants can also access comments via emailed pdf files. All plan sets must include a Back Check page.

• Bluebeam users should follow these formatting instructions.
• Non-Bluebeam users and Mac users should follow these formatting instructions.

Additional electronic plan review resources are available here.

Projects featuring structural work must provide structural calculations to support the project design. Your architect, engineer or design professional will identify and provide the required calculations.

Structural work often requires independent, third-party tests called special inspections conducted by an outside firm or the project engineer.

Your architect, engineer or design professional will identify the necessary special inspections for your project on a special inspection and structural observation form to be submitted with your permit application.

All new residential buildings require an acoustical report to be submitted with the permit application (for those filed as Full Permits) or the architectural addenda (for those filed as Site Permits).

For more information, see San Francisco Building Code Section 1207.7.

Your project may require additional documentation when applying for a building permit. Please review all of these requirements to determine which of them are applicable to your project.

Geotechnical report - Building Inspection

A geotechnical report is required for new construction, additions of 50% more floor area to a building, or any other condition listed in Information Sheet S-05.

Slope protection - Building Inspection

Projects meeting these criteria must submit a slope and seismic hazard mitigation checklist.

Unauthorized Dwelling Unit - Building Inspection

Projects to legalize an existing dwelling unit that was constructed without a permit are required to submit an unauthorized dwelling unit screening form; additional information is available in Information Sheet G-17.

Disabled Access

Plan sets for projects in existing commercial buildings or publicly-financed or managed residential buildings must include a completed disabled access checklist and the design must meet the checklist requirements for the project.

Residential water sub-metering - SF Public Utilities Commission

New multi-family developments must document that sub- meters will be installed. Guidelines and exemption details are available here.

Water, Power, Sewer checklist - SF Public Utilities Commission

New construction or alternation projects must submit this form if answering "yes' to any question on the checklist.

Tree planting and protection – Public Works

New construction or addition of a garage, dwelling unit, curb cut or 500 square feet or more to a building are required to submit a tree planting and protection checklist.

If planting new street trees is necessary, you must submit a tree planting application.

School facility fees - SF Unified School District

DBI staff, based on the information provided on your building permit application, calculate San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) fees.

For questions about school impact fees, you can:

• Visit the Real Estate and Permit Office at 135 Van Ness Avenue, Room 116, San Francisco, CA 94102
• Call 415-241-6090
• Email: schoolimpactfee@sfusd.edu

For more information, visit SFUSD’s School Fees webpage.

Street Improvement Permit - Public Works

If you are changing curb cuts, apply for your Street Improvement Permit after you receive your building permit application number.

Apply for your Street Improvement permit.

Once you have completed everything above and gathered your documents, click the link below to submit your building permit application and supporting documents using our online portal.

To help ensure you are including all the necessary information and documentation, here's a checklist Building Inspection staff use when evaluating your application for completeness. Please note that this is just DBI's checklist and other City departments may have additional requirements. Also, this checklist is only a guide as the required information and documentation may vary depending on the scope of the project.

Projects located on properties with an active notice of violation will be routed to the relevant DBI Inspections Services division for review and processing. DBI staff will work with you to either identify what needs to be done to address the code violation and/or authorize the permit application to be processed.

Go here for additional information on how to fix your building and housing code violation.

If you have questions or need assistance in submitting your application, please contact: SFplanreview@sfgov.org.

Apply for a building permit

Upon submission, you will receive a confirmation email indicating that your permit application was successfully transmitted.

You will receive a second confirmation email with a permit application number so you can check your application status in real time using the online Permit Tracking System.

After your project has been assigned a permit application number, we will review your submission to confirm that it is complete and all the requisite materials have been included.

Once that review is complete, we will email you a letter indicating that your application is complete and accepted, or that additional information is required before the application will be accepted for review.

See sample letters:

• Sample In-House Review Permit Application Completeness Letter
• Sample In-House Review Permit Incomplete Application Letter

You will also receive an email with a link to pay your permit filing fee. We will not begin to review your permit application and supporting documents until the permit filing fee is paid.

Once you have received your completeness letter and paid the filing fee, the City will review your building permit application, design, and supporting documents for code compliance and provide comments or approve the application.

ADU projects submitted under the State program will be identified as eligible for a Permit Review Roundtable session, a virtual plan review meeting with the project's design professional, and City representatives from the Department of Building Inspection, the Planning Department, Public Works, SF Fire and the Public Utilities Commission. There is no additional fee for this service.

After receiving a Completeness Letter and paying their permit fees, project sponsors will receive an email with the time, date and a link to their virtual Permit Review Roundtable. The project's design professional is required to attend the virtual meeting. The property owner or project sponsor are welcome, but not required, to attend.

During the meeting, a comprehensive set of all the City's plan review comments will be provided to the design professional so they can make revisions, ask and answer questions, and get additional clarification on code compliance and requirements.

Once you respond to the comments, the relevant City departments will review your responses and provide additional comments or approve the application. If you are eligible for the Permit Review Roundtable, this will all be done at a second meeting scheduled by DBI.

During plan review, it may be determined that you are required to get a California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal OSHA) Industrial Safety Permit for excavation if your project meets the following criteria:

• Construction or demolition of any building, structure, falsework or scaffolding more than 36 feet or three stories high.
• Construction of trenches or excavations which are five feet or deeper and into which a person is required to descend.

Go here for more information or visit your local Cal OSHA district office to obtain your Industrial Safety Permit.