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San Francisco to start centralized permitting portal Feb. 13, officials say
Summary
Permit SF and the mayor's office told the Fire Commission the city will roll out a centralized OpenGov permitting portal for fire and building permits on Feb. 13, with a phased three‑year expansion to bring more departments and transparency to the permitting process.
Permit SF Director Liz Waddy and Florence Simon of the Mayor's Office of Innovation told the Fire Commission on Jan. 14 that San Francisco will begin rolling out a centralized permitting portal on Feb. 13, with the fire department and the Department of Building Inspection among the first to move online.
The portal, built on software from OpenGov, is intended to replace multiple agency-specific intake systems with a single public-facing portal that shows application status, integrates plan review workflows and produces performance dashboards, Waddy said. "Customers will be able to see where they are in the process," she told commissioners, emphasizing predictability for contractors and applicants.
Florence Simon said the city has worked with the vendor since October and expects initial features—online intake for fire alarm and sprinkler permits, an online one-stop for special events and cross-agency visibility—to be available in Phase 1. "Fire is going to be one of the first departments to benefit from this new system along with DBI starting on February 13," Simon said.
Officials said the phased approach will allow departments to pilot and refine workflows and training before adding more agencies over the next three years. Commissioners pressed staff on accountability when a permit stalls at another agency; presenters said dashboards and workflow visibility will identify which reviewer or department is responsible and that features such as automated notifications are under consideration to enforce timelines.
The presenters also stressed training and staffing needs within the fire department to support the transition. Waddy and Simon said Permit SF will provide training labs and the city will continue to adjust KPIs and timelines as the rollout proceeds. The commission did not take formal action on the presentation but asked staff to return with implementation updates as the launch approaches.
