San Diego building permits

Building department

Address

7650 Mission Valley Road, MS# DSD-1A, San Diego, CA 92108 - the Mission Valley office, which the City calls 'This office is the primary location for in-person customer assistance, with most services requiring an appointment .' A second office at 550 West C St., 12th Floor (MS# DSD-2A), San Diego, CA 92101 serves pre-scheduled appointments for existing projects and permits only; 'Walk-in services are not available.'

Phone

619-446-5000

Office hours

Mission Valley building hours Monday - Friday 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. Front Counter Customer Service Mon-Thu 8 - 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 - 3 p.m., Fri 10 - 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 - 3 p.m. Records Mon-Thu 7 - 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 - 4 p.m. Cashiers Mon-Thu 7 - 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. The Customer Service Line is listed separately as 619-446-5000, MONDAY - FRIDAY: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. NOTE: 'All in-person services at the Mission Valley location are closed on business days between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.'

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in San Diego — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.

Codes adopted

California publishes its building standards as Title 24, adopted by state agencies and republished on a three-year cycle. A city or county may change those standards only after its governing body makes an express finding that the change is reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions, and no change becomes operative until the finding and the change have been filed with the California Building Standards Commission.

• 2025 California Building Standards Code (CBSC), Title 24 California Code of Regulations - the City's own document records that it 'has been adopted by the State of California and will be effective on a statewide basis on January 1, 2026.'
• San Diego's local amendments to the 2025 CBSC are published by DSD. CAUTION: the adoption document is headed 'Proposed Local Amendments 2025 California Building Standards Code' and says the City 'proposes to adopt by reference certain parts of the CBSC'. It is dated Thursday August 28, 2025 and revised 2-13-2026. Confirm the enacted status with DSD before relying on any individual local amendment.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (Combination Building - Single Dwelling Units, ADUs and Duplexes)

  San Diego states the trigger broadly: 'A Building Permit is required to construct any new structure or improve existing buildings and other structures.' Applicants choose a record type, and the residential one is 'Combination Building - Single Dwelling Units, ADUs and Duplexes'.

  From$737.00→

• Commercial Building Permit (Building - All other buildings)

  The same Building Permit governs non-residential work; the record type is 'Building - All other buildings (multi-dwelling, commercial, industrial, all others)'. San Diego also runs a same-day route for qualifying office work.

  From$737.00→

• Electrical Permit

  San Diego requires an electrical permit for all electrical work and names EV charging explicitly: 'An Electrical Permit is required for all electrical work, including Electric Vehicle Charging Systems (EVCS).'

  See fee schedule→

• Plumbing/Gas Permit

  San Diego titles this permit Plumbing/Gas. It 'is required for the alteration, addition or replacement of a plumbing system or portion of a plumbing system within or on any structure or premises'.

  See fee schedule→

• Mechanical Permit

  San Diego writes the mechanical trigger as a prohibition: 'No part of heating, ventilating, air conditioning or refrigeration systems shall be installed, altered, replaced or repaired unless a Mechanical Permit has been obtained for the work.'

  See fee schedule→

• Demolition/Removal Permit

  Demolition is permitted through DSD under Information Bulletin 710. Historic review can apply here as it does to construction, and the City addresses sewer capping directly.

  From$737.00→

• Accessory Dwelling Unit / Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit Permit

  San Diego runs ADUs and JADUs through the building permit with no way around it: 'A Building Permit is required to create an ADU or JADU. There are no exemptions.' Which permit issues depends on scale - 'Depending upon the number of dwelling units created by the ADU(s), either a Combination Building Permit or a Building Permit will be issued.'

  From$737.00→