Chapter 11 of 12Part IV: Approvals and Permits
Every building permit in San Francisco goes through the Department of Building Inspection, but not every permit follows the same path. DBI describes three main ways it reviews applications, and which one your project takes shapes the schedule more than almost anything else. This chapter lays out the paths, the forms and the kinds of work that push a project into the longer route.
Who reviews your permit
DBI coordinates the review, but the application goes to every agency whose rules the work touches. The city lists five permitting agencies: the Department of Building Inspection, San Francisco Planning, the Fire Department, the Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Public Works. A house addition may be reviewed by several of them.
Path 1: Over-the-counter
If each department can review an application in less than one hour, DBI may accept it for over-the-counter review. Most permits that do not need plans can go this way. DBI notes that in-kind replacement of windows, doors and siding, meaning the same size and location, is applied for through its online portal, PermitSF.
Path 2: In-house review
Applications that cannot be reviewed in under an hour are submitted and reviewed electronically as in-house projects. DBI uses Bluebeam for electronic plan review, and revised drawings, called resubmissions, can be uploaded in the same session. If a review needs three rounds of comments and resubmissions, DBI says it escalates the project to a supervisor to help resolve the comments.
Work that requires in-house Planning review
DBI publishes a list of work that cannot go over the counter because Planning must review it in detail, with a Planning Project Application filed. For residential owners the most relevant items are:
- new construction and additions;
- any scope that requires Section 311 neighborhood notice, such as vertical and horizontal expansions and changes of use, including reducing the number of units;
- exterior work on historic resource buildings, including adding or replacing windows and doors, with a narrow exception for some in-kind replacements;
- roof decks at the rear of the lot or above certain heights, windscreens over 42 inches, and new stairs, decks or firewalls over 10 feet high;
- adding or removing a dwelling unit in RH or RM districts;
- interior remodels that demolish more than 75 percent of the interior walls.
The last item surprises owners: a large interior remodel can end up in in-house Planning review without adding a single square foot.
Path 3: Site permit
For larger projects, the owner can apply for a site permit first. It covers the general architectural plans for Planning and basic fire and life safety, together with an addenda schedule. The detailed drawings, such as structure and systems, follow as addenda. This lets design and review overlap on complex projects; it also means the permit is issued in pieces.
Which form?
| Form | Used for |
|---|---|
| Form 1 | New buildings of Type I, II, III or IV construction |
| Form 2 | New wood-frame buildings, Type V construction |
| Form 3 | Additions, alterations and repairs to existing buildings that need other agencies to review plans or may need neighborhood notice |
| Form 8 | Small projects reviewed over the counter or not needing plans |
| Form 5 and Form 6 | Grading and excavation; demolition |
Most San Francisco home remodels and additions use Form 3 or Form 8. Your architect will know which one applies, and this is a good question to ask in the interview as a quick check of local experience.
A typical addition, step by step
To see how the pieces fit, follow a rear addition to a single-family house. Because it adds floor area, it cannot go over the counter. The architect first files a Planning Project Application. Planning reviews it, and if the scope triggers neighborhood notice, the 30-day notice runs once Planning finds the project compliant. Planning’s handout says the Planning Approval Letter that follows is required when the building permit application is submitted, so the Form 3 application and full drawings come next, reviewed electronically by DBI and the other agencies. The architect and engineer answer each round until the permit is approved, fees are paid and the permit is issued. Inspections by DBI follow during construction.
Every project differs, but that sequence explains why owners are often surprised by how much of the schedule sits between the end of design and the first day of construction.
Changes after the permit is issued
DBI says that if you need to revise an issued permit, you must apply for a new permit and note the original permit number. That is one more reason to settle the design before the construction documents, as described in From Sketch to Permit Set: The Design Phases.
Questions to put to your architect
- Which review path do you expect, and why?
- Which agencies will review our drawings?
- Does anything in our scope trigger in-house Planning review that we could avoid?
- Would a site permit help on this project?
- Who responds to plan check comments, and is that in the basic fee?
Tip: Priority processing exists for some project types. DBI publishes its Priority Permit Processing Guidelines; ask your architect whether your project could qualify.
The final chapter covers two situations with their own rules on top of all this: accessory dwelling units and older buildings. Read it in ADUs and Older Buildings: Two San Francisco Special Cases.