San Francisco building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
San Francisco's combined city-and-county building department publishes its permits through DataSF under a public-domain (PDDL) license, making it one of the cleaner open-data sources Igni tracks. As a California jurisdiction it operates under the country's most ADU-friendly statewide rules, including ministerial approval and SB-9 lot splits — both flagged in the feed.
Igni is tracking 7,708 residential and building permits in San Francisco, CA — including 130 classified accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) filings. The most active ZIP is 94110. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Oct 30, 2026. All records come from DataSF — data.sfgov.org (Socrata), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
7708
Permits tracked
130
ADU permits
25
Distinct ZIP codes
Oct 30, 2026
Newest permit
Recent permits
A sample of the freshest permits in this jurisdiction — ZIP and city only (no street addresses).
| ZIP | Permit type | ADU type | Valuation | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94122 | Residential | — | $300,000 | Oct 13, 2026 |
| 94118 | Residential | — | $200,000 | Oct 13, 2026 |
| 94122 | Residential | — | $200,000 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 94102 | Commercial | — | $14,000 | Oct 21, 2026 |
| 94110 | Residential | — | $320,000 | Oct 22, 2026 |
| 94123 | Residential | — | $384,863 | Oct 22, 2026 |
| 94114 | Residential | — | $160,008 | Oct 23, 2026 |
| 94122 | Residential | — | $200,000 | Oct 23, 2026 |
| 94110 | Residential | — | $375,000 | Oct 28, 2026 |
| 94114 | Residential | — | $115,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94102 | Residential | — | $1 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94111 | Commercial | — | $17,233 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94112 | Residential | — | $5,500 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94118 | Residential | — | $5,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94109 | Residential | — | $30,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94123 | Residential | — | $75,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94122 | Residential | — | $15,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94114 | Residential | — | $10,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94133 | Residential | — | $50,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
| 94121 | Residential | — | $25,000 | Oct 30, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
ADU types in the recent set
Permit activity in San Francisco
Igni counted 20,247 permits issued in San Francisco over the last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — down 10.3% on the 22,568 in the 12 months before. The forecast expects about 10,122 over the next 6 months.
Forecast: trailing mean, typical error ±15% in backtests one to six months ahead. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 20,247 | Down 10.3% | ≈ 10,122 |
| Residential building | 15,052 | Down 11.9% | ≈ 7,524 |
| Commercial building | 3,778 | Down 3.5% | ≈ 1,890 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 6 | — | — |
| ADU | 237 | Up 8.7% | ≈ 120 |
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2023 | 2,020 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 1,741 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 1,439 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 1,588 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 1,739 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 1,919 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 2,047 | — |
| May 2024 | 2,160 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 1,938 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 2,030 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 2,074 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 1,944 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 2,205 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 1,557 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 1,569 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 1,792 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 1,712 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 1,850 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 1,986 | — |
| May 2025 | 1,871 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 1,922 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 2,095 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 2,033 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 1,976 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 2,042 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 1,741 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 1,854 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 1,856 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 1,692 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 1,702 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 1,800 | — |
| May 2026 | 1,589 | — |
| Jun 2026 | 1,772 | — |
| Jul 2026 | 1,557 | — |
| Aug 2026 | 1,351 | — |
| Sep 2026 | 1,291 | — |
| Oct 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 1,687 | 1,240–1,687 |
| Nov 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 1,687 | 1,230–1,687 |
| Dec 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 1,687 | 1,210–1,687 |
| Jan 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 1,687 | 1,178–1,687 |
| Feb 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 1,687 | 1,165–1,687 |
| Mar 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 1,687 | 1,154–1,687 |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as San Francisco publishes them to its open-data feed — not a complete census; a change in what the city publishes moves them too. The current month is left out, and the most recent months are provisional. A forecast is a statistical estimate with a range, not a prediction for any project. Informational only.
How long do permits take in San Francisco?
Based on 62,227 San Francisco permits applied for between Nov 2023 and Aug 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued same day after application, and the middle half of permits took 0–19 days. One in ten took longer than 124 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | same day | 0–19 days | 62,227 |
| Residential building | same day | 0–9 days | 46,602 |
| Commercial building | 8 days | 0–42 days | 10,849 |
| ADU | 103 days | 4–264 days | 559 |
Typical, not guaranteed: individual permits vary with project scope, application completeness and plan-review workload. Days are calendar days from application to issuance; applications still pending are counted as not-yet-issued rather than dropped. Informational only, not legal advice. How we calculate approval times.
Housing law — California
California mandates ministerial (by-right) approval of accessory dwelling units statewide, with a 60-day decision deadline and one ADU plus one junior ADU allowed on most single-family lots; owner-occupancy is generally not required.
SB 9 allows by-right duplexes and urban lot splits on single-family lots, and newer transit-oriented upzoning (SB 79) phases in from 2026.
San Francisco ADU rules
San Francisco offers more than one path to building an accessory dwelling unit. Its State ADU Program follows California's ministerial rules — streamlined, exempt from CEQA environmental review, and not subject to the Planning Code's Section 311 neighborhood notification or discretionary review — and is the fastest route for most homeowners. A separate Local ADU Program is discretionary and allows broader waivers for existing buildings but carries the city's tenant protections; a State-Hybrid program serves larger multifamily buildings.
Because so much of San Francisco's housing stock is multifamily, the number of ADUs allowed often depends on the building: a single-family home or a building with up to four units can typically add one interior ADU plus one detached ADU, while larger buildings can add more within the existing envelope. There is no owner-occupancy requirement for ADUs, and parking is generally not required.
San Francisco does not impose a single citywide maximum ADU size; units are instead governed by the building envelope and the state's minimum standards. The Local Program adds protections against displacement — ADUs cannot be built on lots with certain recent no-fault evictions, and waivers granted on a lot with rental units can make the new ADU rent-controlled.
This is an informational summary — verify current rules with the city's planning/permitting department; not legal advice.
See also: California ADU law and what is an ADU?
Data source
Sourced from DataSF — data.sfgov.org (Socrata). PDDL — Open Data Commons Public Domain.
Nearby cities — California
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns San Francisco permit records into leads.
San Francisco permit data — FAQ
Where does Igni get San Francisco permit data?
How fresh is San Francisco permit data?
How long does it take to get a building permit in San Francisco?
Is construction activity growing in San Francisco?
Does San Francisco allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — San Francisco
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Informational only, not legal advice. Headline counts reflect all permits Igni has tracked for this jurisdiction; the table shows recent activity. Housing law changes — verify current statutes before relying on this.