Official coverage
The source covers building-permit applications. A permit number can repeat when one permit is associated with more than one address.
Official source desk
San Francisco building permit search and data guide
SF Open Data — Building Permits is published by City and County of San Francisco. Permit Archive pairs the publisher's public permit-search service with a reviewed open-data source, scope, update pattern, reuse terms, and privacy boundary.
This public guide describes the source. It does not expose permit records, addresses, captured evidence, or contractor profiles.
- Publisher
- City and County of San Francisco
- Official scope
- Building permits
- Update pattern
- Nightly
- Access route
- Documented Socrata API
- Delivery
- JSON and official exports
- Reuse record
- PDDL
Registry contract reviewed July 30, 2026. “Source managed” means the publisher controls the refresh pattern; it is not a freshness guarantee from Permit Archive.
01 / Official search
Search San Francisco permit records at the official publisher.
San Francisco Permit / Complaint Tracking System
Use the official service to search by site address, permit or application number, keyword, or map. The City says online records reach back to the 1980s. Permit Archive does not automate this portal.
Permit Archive links to this service for verification. It does not copy or publish the portal's search results.
02 / Scope
What this source covers—and what it does not.
Known limit
One permit may appear at more than one address.
Coverage must be read from the source scope—not inferred from the city name.
03 / Handling01 02 03
How the private pilot handles this source.
Use the documented route
The pilot uses the documented socrata api and the source-specific request interval. It does not scrape an interactive portal or bypass access controls.
Filter before storage
Contact datasets are outside this pilot. Personal names, phone numbers, email addresses, and contractor home or mailing addresses are denied before durable storage.
Keep the source trail
Every accepted item must retain source ID sf_building_permits, its official URL, capture time, content hash, and raw-object location.
04 / Verify
Verify the source, scope, and reuse terms.
SF Open Data — Building Permits
Permit Archive is independent and does not replace the source. Current fields, availability, and terms must be checked with the official publisher.