Do You Need an Architect for Your San Francisco Project?

Chapter 1 of 12Part I: Before You Hire

The first decision in any building project is who will design it. In San Francisco the answer is usually an architect, but not always, and the difference matters for your budget, your schedule and who carries responsibility for the drawings. This chapter explains what California law actually requires, where it leaves the choice to you, and why so many owners in the city end up hiring an architect even when the law would let them use someone else.

What the law says

California’s Architects Practice Act reserves the title “architect” for people licensed by the California Architects Board, and it reserves most building design for licensed architects and registered engineers. It then carves out a list of buildings that anyone may design. According to Business and Professions Code section 5537, an unlicensed person may prepare plans for:

• single-family dwellings of wood-frame construction not more than two stories and a basement in height;
• multiple dwellings of no more than four units, wood-frame, not more than two stories and a basement, with no more than four units on a lawfully divided lot;
• garages and similar structures that go with those buildings, under the same size limits;
• agricultural and ranch buildings of wood-frame construction, unless the building official sees an undue risk.

The Board’s consumer guide adds that unlicensed designers may also handle nonstructural interior alterations, storefronts, fixtures and cabinetwork, but may not design anything that changes or affects the safety of the building, including structural and seismic components.

The part owners miss: conventional framing

The exemption has a condition attached. If any portion of an exempt building departs from the conventional wood-framing rules in the California building code, the building official must require the plans for that portion to be prepared by, or under the responsible control of, a licensed architect or registered engineer, and those sheets carry that person’s stamp and signature.

In practice this touches many San Francisco houses. Large openings in bearing walls, steel beams, raised foundations, work on steep lots and changes to how a building resists earthquakes often fall outside conventional framing. So even a project a designer could draw may need an engineer for part of it. The Board recommends asking your local building department whether your project needs a licensed professional before you hire anyone.

Common San Francisco projects and who usually draws them

Project	Can an unlicensed designer prepare plans?	What owners often choose
Kitchen or bath remodel, no walls moved	Often yes, if nonstructural	Designer or contractor; architect for historic or complex homes
Opening up bearing walls	Only for the nonstructural parts	Architect with a structural engineer
Rear or vertical addition to a single-family house	Possibly, within the size and framing limits	Architect, because Planning review and often neighbor notice follow
Accessory dwelling unit	Depends on size, framing and building type	Architect or designer who knows the ADU programs
Building with five or more units	No	Architect
New house on a steep or tight lot	Rarely in practice	Architect with engineer and soils report

The table is a starting point, not a ruling. Only the building official can say what your specific drawings need.

Why owners hire an architect even when they do not have to

The law sets a floor. Many San Francisco owners go above it for reasons that have little to do with licensing.

The city review process

Expansions in residential districts often go through San Francisco Planning’s neighborhood notice, and Planning reviews projects against the Residential Design Guidelines. An architect who has taken projects through that process knows what planners tend to ask for and how to present a design to neighbors. We cover the steps in San Francisco Planning Review and the 30-Day Neighborhood Notice.

Old buildings

A large share of the city’s housing is decades old. Properties 45 years or older that have not been reviewed are treated by Planning as potential historic resources, which can add review to exterior work. Architects who work with older buildings tend to anticipate that review in the design.

Coordination

A project with a structural engineer, a surveyor, a soils engineer and several city agencies needs someone to hold the drawings together. That coordination is a large part of what an architect’s fee buys.

If this, then that

• If your work is cosmetic or entirely inside the existing walls, a designer or a design-build contractor may be enough. Check with the Department of Building Inspection whether plans are needed at all.
• If you are moving structure, adding floor area or changing the number of units, plan on a licensed professional for at least part of the drawings.
• If your house is older and the work shows from the street, favor someone with historic review experience.
• If you are unsure, a short paid consultation with an architect is usually cheaper than redesigning later.

The next chapter compares the people who can design your project, from architects to engineers to design-build firms: Architect, Designer, Engineer or Design-Build: Who Does What.