PASO A PASO
Apply to get copies of official building plans
You must have permission from the building owners and the buildings' design professionals.
According to state law, the building owners and design professionals must give permission before we print the building plans for you.
Look up the design professionals
Start the process by viewing the plan sets to identify the design professionals.
All transactions for duplication of plans are done in-house. You will need to come to the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) in person to view the building plans. We will give you a mandatory worksheet to log the design professionals, and a copy of the building plans to view in our office.
The design professionals should have stamped or signed each plan sheet. Note their names and license numbers on the worksheet.
Get permission from the building owner
Download and print the Affidavit of the Building Owner form.
If you are not the building’s owner, you must get the owner to notarize the affidavit.
You may also need other documents to request official building plans.
File a request for building plans
$88.32 for each plan set. We will charge you $8.69 to contact each design professional.
Visit DBI’s office on the 4th floor of 49 South Van Ness. Sign into the building before 3:30 pm so we can see you at the counter the same day. See location and parking information.
Bring your documents unsigned if they are not notarized. Department staff must witness you signing documents.
Wait for a response
We will mail letters to the building’s design professionals via Certified Mail to inform them that copies of the building plans have been requested.
They have up to 30 days to respond. If they do not respond, we interpret it as approval.
Getting authorization may take longer than 30 days, if we discover more design professionals who need to be informed of the request.
Pick up your copies
$0.10 per page to print
If we don’t get objections from any design professionals, we will make a copy of the plans for you. We will let you know once it’s ready for pickup.