How does a San Francisco electrical permit work for rewiring?

Rewiring a San Francisco house needs a DBI electrical permit before the new wiring goes in. Contractors filing must hold a qualifying license, with the C-10 covering any electrical work; an owner may self-permit only a stand-alone single-family home they live in. Fees run $305 to $1,289 by size. The work then gets a pre-cover inspection, a final inspection and DBI’s Green Tag.

Fog City SF Knob and Tube manages knob and tube replacement in San Francisco and the East Bay, and the electrical work, carried out by licensed and insured C-10 electrical contractors, is done under a DBI permit. This guide explains the permit path for a rewire from filing to final, and then the step that is easy to skip: checking that the knob and tube is actually gone. For what the city’s code says about keeping existing wiring, see the California legality guide.

When a permit is required

DBI requires an electrical permit before installing new wiring or making alterations, extensions or additions to existing wiring. The San Francisco Electrical Code exempts like-for-like replacement of devices, fuses and breakers only where no change in existing wiring is involved, so swapping a worn switch for the same type is exempt and replacing the circuit behind it is not. Every knob and tube replacement, partial or whole-house, changes existing wiring and needs a permit. Emergency work may start before filing, with the permit applied for within one business day.

Working without one is expensive to fix. DBI’s penalty for work done without a permit is an investigation fee of nine times the permit issuance fee plus the original permit fee, and concealed work that was never inspected can be ordered exposed at the owner’s expense.

Who can pull the permit

DBI lists the license classifications that may apply for an electrical permit: B, C7, C10, C45, C46, C61 and D34. The C-10 electrical license covers any electrical work; a B general contractor may apply after approval based on the scope. To file online, a contractor registers with DBI, authorizes its state license on PermitSF and supplies a San Francisco Business Registration Certificate and workers’ compensation coverage. Under California Labor Code 108, people doing electrical work for a C-10 contractor must hold state electrician certification.

Homeowner permits are narrower than many owners expect. Only owners of stand-alone single-family homes, R-3 occupancy, that are their primary residence may apply to do the work themselves. The owner must do the work personally and declares on the application not to hire a contractor for it; LLCs are not eligible; and the inspector at the Permit Center at 49 South Van Ness may tell an owner to hire a licensed contractor. If homeowner work does not comply, it must be corrected by a state-licensed electrical contractor under a separate permit. Owners of flats, condos and multi-unit buildings cannot use this route; condo and TIC owners face their own approvals as well. The can I replace knob and tube myself guide covers it in full.

Filing on PermitSF

Electrical permits that need no plans, which covers most residential rewiring, are filed online through PermitSF for residential and commercial buildings alike. Contractors enrolled in DBI’s Express Permit program skip staff review. The permit description matters later: one that says plainly what is being replaced, for example knob and tube in named rooms or the whole dwelling, becomes part of the record a buyer or insurer can read.

What the permit costs

DBI’s current fee schedule for residential general wiring in buildings up to 10,000 square feet:

Appliances count as outlets, so a whole-house rewire usually lands in the $740 category. Separate permits are required for each structure, condominium unit, existing dwelling unit except in R-3 occupancies, and common area, which is what makes flat buildings add up: six units in the $740 category come to $4,440 before any service work. The cost guide shows where permit fees sit inside the full price, and apartment building rewiring covers per-unit phasing.

The inspections

The San Francisco Electrical Code sets two required inspections for this work, and DBI asks for 24 hours’ notice to schedule each.

Pre-cover. Before any wiring is covered or concealed, an inspector checks the rough work: cable types and routes, boxes, support and protection, and the connections at the panel. Nothing may be closed up until it passes. That is why plaster patching is always scheduled after this sign-off, and why a contractor who patches first risks being ordered to open the walls again at the owner’s expense.

Final. After devices are installed, the final inspection includes a demonstration of operation. Before calling for it, the electrical contractor tests the new circuits: that each one is correctly identified at the panel, that receptacles are wired with the right polarity and a continuous ground, and that arc-fault and ground-fault protection trips where CEC 210.12 and 210.8 require it. Testing before the call is what lets the demonstration go cleanly, and it is the same testing that produces the written circuit record. The first reinspection is free and later ones are charged.

The Green Tag. When the final passes, DBI issues the Certificate to Connect Current, the Green Tag. Where the job includes a service upgrade, PG&E needs it before reconnecting; PG&E says it typically reconnects within one day after the city inspector approves, with its own application for the new load handled separately. The panel upgrade service covers that utility side.

Historic districts

Interior rewiring in an Article 10 landmark district, such as Liberty Hill or Alamo Square, does not need Planning review; SF Planning’s Article 10 guidance says no Certificate of Appropriateness is required for interior alterations to non-designated spaces. Exterior changes visible from the street, such as a new service mast, a relocated meter or conduit on the facade, are a different matter and may need one. That is confirmed per project, and Victorian and Edwardian rewiring covers routing that keeps work inside.

How to verify the knob and tube is actually gone

A Green Tag proves that the permitted work passed. It does not prove that nothing else in the house is still on knob and tube. Homeowners report partial jobs that left ceiling fixtures on old runs, found years later, and buyers finding an active line missed in an earlier renovation. Ask for, and keep:

1. The permit record, with a final inspection, whose description names the knob and tube being replaced.
2. A written circuit record, from a knob and tube inspection or the job itself, listing every circuit in the dwelling, what it serves and what it is wired with, including any circuit left on knob and tube.
3. A labeled panel directory that matches the circuit record.
4. The status of every retired run. Old runs should be disconnected at both ends, removed where they can be reached, and otherwise identified and terminated, as the city’s code requires for unused conductors. The active vs abandoned guide explains why one-end disconnection is not enough.
5. The permit history from DataSF, to see whether earlier work was permitted and finaled.

That set is what the selling guide suggests having ready and what insurers ask to see.

A common worry: other unpermitted work

Homeowners report hesitating to file because an inspector visiting for the rewire might notice an unpermitted basement bathroom or other old work. An electrical permit covers the electrical scope described on it, and how DBI responds to anything else an inspector sees is not something any contractor can promise. Raise it before filing, so the scope and timing can be planned with it in mind, rather than skipping the permit, which leaves the new wiring undocumented and the penalty exposure larger. The replacement process guide shows where the permit fits in the overall job.

To talk through permits for your house or building, call (628) 296-7628 or request an estimate with the number of units.