Do you need a permit to remodel a bathroom or kitchen in San Francisco?

Use the table below to check which permits and drawings apply to each task in a San Francisco kitchen or bathroom project:

For other parts of the house, such as windows, decks, roofs, and fences, see our general guide on when you need a building permit in San Francisco.

Yes. It needs a building permit, and it usually needs plans (SFBC Section 106A.1, SF.gov check if your permit needs plans). Finishing a ground-floor garage or storage basement into a bedroom, family room, bath, or Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) turns storage or parking space into living space.

Because you’re creating rooms people live in, the plan review may look at ceiling height, light and ventilation, emergency escape openings, and fire separation from the garage. If you are converting the basement into an ADU on a lot that already has a house or apartment building, state law requires the city to approve or deny a complete application within 60 days (California Government Code §66317(a)(3)).

DBI offers an online application for in-kind kitchen and bathroom remodel permits without plans through the PermitSF portal, but only if your project meets all of these conditions:

• The work is in a single-family home or duplex (occupancy R-3), or in a unit of an apartment building built before 1991 (occupancy R-2) (SF.gov check if your building permit needs plans).
• All cabinets, countertops, sinks, tubs, showers, and toilets stay in their existing locations (“in kind”).
• No walls, doors, windows, or structural framing members are moved, removed, or added.
• The kitchen or bath you are remodeling was legally permitted (SF.gov apply for a kitchen or bath remodel permit).

As soon as your project moves a wall, enlarges a shower by borrowing closet space, adds a new powder room, relocates a window, or is in an R-2 apartment building built in 1991 or later, DBI requires architectural plans (SF.gov check if your building permit needs plans). For kitchen and bath work in R-2 or R-3 buildings that needs plans, SF.gov points you to an over-the-counter (OTC) permit with plans at the Permit Center (SF.gov apply for a kitchen or bath remodel permit).

When your kitchen or bathroom remodel requires drawings, who may prepare them depends on whether you are altering structural framing:

• Non-structural layout changes in a 1-to-4 unit wood-frame building up to two stories plus a basement: Under California B&P Code §5537 and B&P Code §6737.1, either a licensed architect or an unlicensed building designer may prepare the existing and proposed floor plans.
• Removing a load-bearing kitchen wall or cutting floor joists: Whenever any part of the remodel departs from conventional wood-frame construction, B&P Code §5537(b) and §6737.1(b) require the building department to demand plans and calculations signed and stamped by a California-licensed architect or registered civil or structural engineer.

Read our guides on when you need an architect and what a structural engineer does if your kitchen remodel opens up a bearing wall.

Building permit fees in San Francisco are calculated from the total construction valuation under SFBC Section 110A, Table 1A-A. To prevent under-reporting on remodel applications, DBI sets minimum construction valuation floors on its kitchen and bath remodel permit application page:

For both online no-plans applications and in-person Permit Center reviews, a legal San Francisco kitchen or bath remodel usually follows four steps:

1. Submit the building permit application: If your remodel qualifies for the no-plans permit, apply online through PermitSF (SF.gov apply for a kitchen or bath remodel permit). If your project requires drawings, submit in person at the Permit Center at 49 South Van Ness. SF.gov estimates 2 to 8 hours for that step (SF.gov interior remodel OTC guide).
2. Have your licensed plumber and electrician pull trade permits: Before rough-in work begins, your California-licensed plumbing and electrical contractors obtain their trade permits under SFBC Table 1A-C and Table 1A-E.
3. Pass rough-in and shower pan inspections before closing walls: Expect DBI inspectors to check rough framing, rough electrical wiring, rough plumbing, and the waterproofed shower pan test before drywall, cement board, or tile goes up.
4. Pass final building, plumbing, and electrical inspections: Once fixtures, GFCI outlets, ventilation fans, and smoke/CO alarms are installed, the building inspector signs off the final Job Card so the permit shows as “Completed” in DBI’s public record.