San Jose building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for San Jose, California.
Last verified 2026-09-11 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St., 1st Floor, San Jose, CA 95113
- Phone
- 408-535-3555
- Office hours
- Phone Hours: M-F, 7am-4pm. Permit Center visiting hours M-Tu-Th-F: 8am-12pm & 1pm-5pm, W: 9am-12pm & 1pm-5pm, and the City states 'No tickets after 3pm'. Speak with a Planner: M 10:30am-12pm & 1pm-4pm, Tu-W 9am-12pm & 1pm-4pm, Th-F 9am-12pm & 1pm-2:30pm. Parking is under City Hall Tower with validation available.
- Website
- Official site
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.
California Building Standards Code, Title 24 California Code of Regulations, as adopted statewide. Show full textShow less
California Building Standards Code, Title 24 California Code of Regulations, as adopted statewide. NOT ASSERTED FOR SAN JOSE SPECIFICALLY: this record does not state the City's own local amendment ordinance, so no edition or amendment is claimed here. The statewide 2025 edition took effect 1 January 2026 per the City of San Diego's adoption document; San Jose's own adoption is not asserted here and must not be inferred from it.
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit (Standard Plan Review Service)
San Jose routes single-family, duplex and multifamily work that needs plan review through the Standard Plan Review Service. The City is explicit about what the application is: 'A building permit application is a legal document that conforms to state laws.'
See fee scheduleAccessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Permit
San Jose defines the unit broadly and permits three distinct forms. 'Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also called secondary units or granny flats, are small living units with a kitchen and bathroom.' They may sit on 'residentially zoned properties, including single-family, duplex, or multifamily properties.'
See fee scheduleOnline Building Permit (SJPermits.org)
San Jose issues a large class of simple permits online without plan review. 'You can download a building permit for 56 types of simple projects at SJPermits.org .' and 'Most of these projects do not require plans.'
See fee scheduleElectrical Permit
San Jose publishes an Electrical Permit table on its online permits page, listing which electrical scopes may be pulled online by property type. EV charging is named explicitly.
See fee scheduleMechanical Permit
San Jose publishes a Mechanical Permit table covering heating, cooling, gas and ventilation scopes, with eligibility for the online route shown per property type.
See fee schedulePlumbing Permit
San Jose publishes a Plumbing Permit table with the widest scope list of the three trades, and some entries explicitly bundle a mechanical permit with the plumbing one.
See fee scheduleSolar Photovoltaic Permit
Solar is one of the online building permits, but it is one of the two the City singles out as still needing plans reviewed later.
See fee scheduleReroof Permit
Reroofing is one of the few online building permits San Jose makes available on every property type.
See fee schedule
Property Access
San Jose's permit history is searchable by address
87,559 permits on record for San Jose, 1967–2026 — searchable by street address, with permit type, status, issued date and valuation where the city publishes them.
New residential construction activity
New privately-owned residential construction onlyHousing units authorized by building permits for new privately-owned residential construction — this is not total permit volume (no commercial permits or remodels).
- Latest month (2026-07)
- 64units
61 buildings · $11.4M valuation
- Trailing 12 months
- 4,891units
12 of 12 months reported · #2 in California coverage by units
- Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-07)
- 2,342units
470 buildings · $383.1M valuation
7 month(s) reported to Census
- Full year 2025
- 3,313units
630 buildings · $380.7M valuation
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS), 2026-07 vintage. Census survey data — separate from the permit-requirements verification above. All California building activity
Tips & gotchas
- SAN JOSE PUBLISHES PLAN REVIEW TIME FRAMES, which is unusual - approximate days by scope of work, dated on the page. They apply ONLY to the Standard Plan Review Service.
- FOR SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES THE MEP REVIEWS HAPPEN IN THE FIELD, not at plan check, by the assigned building inspector. That is why those cells in the published table are dashes.
- THE PERSON WHO SIGNS CARRIES THE LIABILITY. San Jose states it directly and points owner-builders to a separate warning.
- TINY HOMES ON WHEELS ARE A PERMITTED ADU TYPE HERE, single-family properties only, under Bulletin 291 - the opposite of several Oregon cities where an ADU cannot be on wheels.
- 56 SIMPLE PROJECT TYPES CAN BE PERMITTED ONLINE without plans, but a contractor needs a City of San Jose Tax Certificate as well as a state licence, and the permit is limited to its stated scope.