How long does an ADU permit take in San Francisco?

In San Francisco, the typical ADU permit took about 7 months (219 days) from application to issue, across 365 permits issued from September 2024 to September 2026. After the permit, the typical finished ADU took about 15 months (456 days) from permit to final inspection (207 finished of 402 permits issued from September 2022 to September 2024; 49% had no final inspection on record by September 2026).

7 monthsfrom application to permitMiddle half: 3 months to 2 years
15 monthsfrom permit to final inspectionMiddle half: 8 months to 22 months

The two steps

How long ADUs take in San Francisco, in daysApplication to permit issued: median 219 days, middle half 100 to 731 days, 365 permits; Permit issued to final inspection: median 456 days, middle half 256 to 657 days, 207 permits.Application to permit issued: about 7 monthsPermit issued to final inspection: about 15 months06 mo12 mo18 mo24 mo
Bars show the median; the line through each bar spans the middle half of jobs. The second step starts where the typical permit wait ends. The two steps come from different groups of permits, so they are not added up.
The numbers behind the chart
StepMedianMiddle halfPermitsPermits issued
Application to permit issuedabout 7 monthsabout 3 months to about 2 years365September 2024 to September 2026
Permit to final inspectionabout 15 monthsabout 8 months to about 22 months207September 2022 to September 2024

ADU builders with the most jobs in San Francisco

RankContractorJobsContact
1Reliable Construction Inc
San Francisco, licensed 13 years
11
Call (415) 756-3011
2Doherty Restoration, Inc.
San Francisco, licensed 33 years
9
Visit website
3S L M Development Inc.
Redwood City, licensed 22 years
8
Visit website

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Permit wait by year issued

Year issuedJobsMedianMiddle half
202270about 22 monthsabout 9 months to about 2.2 years
2023181about 18 monthsabout 8 months to about 2.5 years
2024207about 15 monthsabout 8 months to about 2.2 years
2025155about 7 months82 days to about 21 months
2026154about 7 monthsabout 4 months to about 21 months

Why it takes this long

  • 6% of permits were issued the day they were applied for, and 15% within 30 days (365 permits).
  • 1 more permits issued in those dates carry no application date and are left out of the permit wait.
  • The longer step is building and inspection: about 7 months for the permit against about 15 months from permit to final, at the median.
  • 2% of finished jobs passed final inspection within 90 days of the permit.
  • Of the 402 permits issued from September 2022 to September 2024, 195 (49%) had no final inspection on record by September 2026. They may still be under way, dropped or never inspected; the records do not say which. They are left out of the build time; any of them that finishes will have taken more than two years, so counting them would make the typical time longer.

Days are counted between the dates on each city permit: filed_date, issued_date, completed_date. Median and middle half: half of the jobs took longer than the median; the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile. A figure is shown only when it rests on 30 or more permits. Kinds of work are sorted by the same rules as our contractor lists. Source: San Francisco Building, Electrical and Plumbing Permits (data.sf.gov i98e-djp9, ftty-kx6y, a6aw-rudh), read 2026-09-24. The same figures as data: adu.json.