Permit Office (AHJ)
San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI)
San Francisco, CA · Licensed Professional Engineering
Energy compliance handled as engineering, not paperwork — documentation matched to the exact code edition your permitting jurisdiction enforces.
San Francisco energy design combines Title 24, Part 6 documentation with local green-building and all-electric requirements where the project is covered. In the marine climate, envelope airtightness, high-performance glazing, heat pumps, heat recovery, lighting controls, and realistic internal-load schedules usually outperform an oversized cooling plant. The energy model must be reconciled with PG&E electrical-service capacity and SFPUC water needs, particularly for labs, hospitality, healthcare, and major tenant improvements.
Code adoptions and local amendments change on multi-year cycles. The state source verification date is 2026-09-11; we verify the governing editions with San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) at project kickoff.
DBI uses its Permit and Project Tracking System for permit records, applications, and review status; project routing can include Planning, Fire, Public Works, and other city agencies. Dense or alteration projects should confirm Planning and historic-resource requirements before the building submittal, while the scope and permit type determine whether electronic review and additional departmental review are available.
San Francisco amendments address seismic safety, fire/life safety, existing buildings, accessibility, and local administration. The City's green-building and all-electric rules, the Soft Story Program, and project-specific historic or site requirements are separate local checks; the current DBI and municipal-code materials govern instead of a generic California template.
PG&E remains the electric-service and interconnection contact even where CleanPowerSF supplies generation. SFPUC water, sewer, stormwater, and alternative-water requirements need early coordination on small dense parcels, and PG&E capacity and transformer constraints should be tested before an all-electric load is fixed.
San Francisco's commercial pipeline emphasizes seismic retrofit, historic rehabilitation, tenant improvement, healthcare and institutional modernization, life-science conversion, and dense multifamily or mixed-use infill. Constrained lots, older utilities, transit interfaces, and active occupied buildings make phasing and existing-condition verification central to design.
Reviewed 2026-09-11. Code editions and local requirements can change; confirm the current requirements with the authority having jurisdiction before design.
With a team of licensed PEs and a multi-discipline engineering team, we're ready to take on projects of any size — and we turn quotes around fast. Send us your scope and get a clear proposal: deliverables, timeline, and fee.
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