San Francisco Building Permit Timelines & Delays
San Francisco is widely regarded as one of the slowest large U.S. cities to permit. The city's own Board of Supervisors commissioned a Budget & Legislative Analyst review of permits processed between January 1, 2024 and August 12, 2025 to quantify it.
San Francisco permitting, the figures
The key published figures for this jurisdiction — each cited to its official source.
What the data shows
San Francisco's 280-day median building-permit processing time compared unfavorably to Austin, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. (Board of Supervisors Budget & Legislative Analyst review, Jan 2024 – Aug 2025).
Much of the delay was concentrated in the post-entitlement phase — when developers seek certification that designs meet building codes — at a 114-day median.
The city publishes ongoing review times on its official SF.gov Permit Performance Metrics dashboard, broken into completeness check, first plan review, and revision review steps.
Most delay accumulates before technical review
The data points to the same lever everywhere: most delay accumulates before technical review, in completeness and resubmittal cycles. Permittable's Permit Review Diagnostic checks your plans against applicable codes and common reviewer issues before you submit — so your package is more likely to clear on the first pass.
San Francisco permitting: FAQ
How long does it take to get a building permit in San Francisco?
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget & Legislative Analyst review of permits processed January 2024–August 2025 found a 280-day median building-permit processing time, with a 114-day median for the post-entitlement phase.
Why is San Francisco's permitting so slow?
The city's review found much of the delay concentrated in the post-entitlement phase — obtaining certification that designs meet building codes. San Francisco's median compared unfavorably to Austin, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
Where can I see current San Francisco permit times?
The City and County of San Francisco maintains an official Permit Performance Metrics dashboard on SF.gov, which reports median review times for building permits and planning applications, updated through the end of the last full calendar month.
Sources
All figures on this page are drawn from Permit Performance Metrics & Board of Supervisors permitting review — City and County of San Francisco. Official SF.gov permit performance dashboard, plus the Board of Supervisors' Budget & Legislative Analyst permitting analysis (permits processed Jan 1, 2024 – Aug 12, 2025). www.sf.gov/permit-performance-metrics. Specific tables, reports, and pages are cited inline with each figure above.
These figures are from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget & Legislative Analyst review of permits processed January 1, 2024 – August 12, 2025, and measure end-to-end median processing time — a different methodology than Washington's statutory-deadline reporting, so cross-city comparisons should be made with care. See the official SF.gov Permit Performance Metrics dashboard for the most current figures.