Department of Building Inspection Annual Report Fiscal Year 2015-2016 | Page 4

Dear Customers and Stakeholders,
This past year we saw that San Francisco’s building boom has continued. DBI remains at
the forefront of that boom by protecting building and life safety through the delivery of our
core services: the issuance of permits, reviews of construction plans, and inspections of
construction projects to ensure compliance with building, plumbing, electrical, housing and
disability access codes.
We continue to administer our Unit Legalization and Additional Dwelling Unit Program to
help boost the City’s housing stock, and support the safe construction of new and existing
code-compliant housing in San Francisco. We’re continuing to ensure existing buildings
are seismically safe through the Mandatory Soft Story Program - already is in its third year
– and the Private School Evaluation Program, which seeks to provide greater transparency
of school building safety.
As DBI oversees the building safety of more than 200,000 residential and commercial
buildings in San Francisco, located in one of the world’s highest at-risk seismic zones, we
know how important it is to keep our community seismically safe through preparation and
education. That is why we’ve expanded our emergency preparedness grant programs
into the Western Addition and Bayview neighborhoods, in addition to the Chinatown
neighborhood; providing in-language, hands-on workshops and training to over 700
workshop participants.
We are ensuring building owners and residents have the tools and resources they need to
live in habitable and safe living conditions. We’re also committed to fire safety education
and outreach in addition to providing tenants the resources and tools they need to work
with their landlords to continue living in code-compliant, habitable housing.
In fiscal year 2015 – 2016, we issued over 69,000 permits and conducted 154,000
inspections with cost valuations of projects constructed at $4.9 billion dollars.
These achievements are made possible by DBI’s nearly 300 dedicated professional staff
who provide excellent customer service every day to customers and stakeholders. They
are instrumental in ensuring that DBI protects building and life safety for all who live,
work and visit San Francisco.
Angus McCarthy
Commission President
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Department of Building Inspection, Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Annual Report
Tom C. Hui, S.E., C.B.O
Director
Department of Building Inspection, Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Annual Report
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