News

Department of Building Inspection Customer Communication

DBI Update – Customer Survey, Pre-Approved Detached ADU Plans and Priority Project Types
December 09, 2024

Dear Customers, 

We want to hear from you!  

Customer Satisfaction Survey 

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve our service and operations, we are inviting you to complete our anonymous Customer Satisfaction Survey below about your experience working with DBI.

The survey should take less than ten minutes of your time and will provide us with valuable insight on what’s working and what needs more attention at DBI. The survey closes on December 27, so please share your views today! Thank you! 

Take DBI’s Anonymous Customer Satisfaction Survey 

Pre-Approved ADUs 

Next, we have some exciting news – DBI is now pre-approving plans for detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). For a fee, building designers can submit detached ADU plans and we’ll conduct a basic review. Once the plans are approved, we’ll add an image of the finished ADU to our website and property owners will be able to select a layout, hire the building designer to prepare site-specific plans, and submit a permit application. 

For more information, please visit our Get your detached ADU plan pre-approved for future use webpage

Priority Permit Types 

Last, over the years, state and local legislators, governors and mayors, have created laws prioritizing the building permitting of specific types of projects like new housing, small business renovations and electric vehicle charging stations. 

Today, San Francisco prioritizes building permit plan review for twenty-three different types of projects with mandatory approve or deny deadlines ranging from five to sixty days. Here’s a link to the complete list. 

Given the many different priority types and that some projects fit into more than one priority category, DBI is introducing a new internal assignment system to ensure that qualifying projects are quickly and accurately prioritized and assigned to a plan reviewer. 

This will help move your projects along and help us meet the various plan review deadlines. Please contact us at dbi.communications@sfgov.org if you have questions or want additional information.