CAMPAIGN

Facade inspection and maintenance program

View of the middle of a street with tall buildings on both sides. The Bay Bridge can be seen between buildings.

Keep your building facade safe

We require that San Francisco building facades are regularly inspected by a California licensed architect or engineer. If your building is 5 or more stories tall, you may need to have your facade inspected and submit a report every 10 years.See facade handout

Deadlines and processes

Inspection report deadlines

You must submit facade inspection reports depending on when your building was built.

  • Buildings built before 1910: December 31, 2021
  • Between 1910 and 1925: December 31, 2023
  • Between 1926 and 1970: December 31, 2025
  • After 1970: December 31, 2027

Qualifying buildings

You must have a facade inspection report and submit a report every 10 years if your building is:

Submit your facade inspection report

Follow our instructions to submit your facade inspection report.

 

If you have had an inspection and maintenance or replacement within the past 10 years, you may submit the inspection as a waiver from the facade program.

Get help

See us at DBI's Technical Services Division

Permit Center49 South Van Ness
2nd floor
San Francisco, CA 94103
Get directions

Contact us

Email

dbi.facade@sfgov.org

Technical Services Division628-652-3706

For historic buildings

Facade inspections and maintenance on buildings that are a “historic resource” need to be performed according to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.