Permit GraphShortlistSan Francisco building permits since 2000

How long do pergola or trellis permits take in San Francisco's Financial District/South Beach neighborhood?

In the Financial District/South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, only 1 of the pergola or trellis permits filed from October 2025 through September 2026 has been issued, too few for a reliable figure. Only 3 of the permits filed from October 2023 through September 2024 have reached final sign-off, too few for a reliable figure.

From the city’s permit records, by the quarter each permit was filed. Data as of 8 October 2026. How to cite this · How this is calculated

How long until a permit is issued, and until final sign-off?

How long pergola or trellis permits take in San Francisco'sFinancial District/South Beach neighborhoodMedian days from filing to permit issuedMedian days from issue to final sign-offFewer than 5 permits in every quarter of the last 10 years: no median to draw.Source: San Francisco Department of Building Inspection permit data via DataSF, analysis by Permit Graph(permitgraph.org), CC BY 4.0.permitgraph.org/neighborhoods/financial-district-south-beach/pergola · Data as of 8 October 2026By the quarter the permit was filed. A median counts only permits that finished the stage, so recent quarterslook faster than they will end up. Gaps: fewer than 5 permits.

This chart as an image (SVG), with its title, source and date, free to embed under CC BY 4.0.

At a glance

StagePermits filedPermits countedMedian daysCounted a year earlierMedian a year earlier
Filed to permit issuedOctober 2025 through September 20261 issuedunder 54 issuedunder 5
Permit issued to final sign-offOctober 2023 through September 20243 finishedunder 51 finishedunder 5

“Counted” is the permits the median was taken over: those filed in the window that have been issued, or that have reached final sign-off. The first stage covers the last four complete quarters, since most permits are issued within the year. The second covers the last four quarters that ended two or more years ago, so that most of their permits have had time to finish. Citywide, the median was 11 days to issue and 222 days from issue to final over the same quarters.

Every quarter since 2000

Quarter filedFiledIssuedMedian days to issueSlowest 10%Reached finalMedian days issue to finalSlowest 10%Never finaledSettled
2026-Q37100too recent
2026-Q11000too recent
2025-Q21110too recent
2025-Q12220too recent
2024-Q41110too recent
2024-Q32110yes
2024-Q21110yes
2024-Q11110yes
2023-Q31101yes
2023-Q23102yes
2023-Q11110yes
2022-Q41101yes
2021-Q41110yes
2021-Q12220yes
2019-Q42101yes
2019-Q31110yes
2019-Q21110yes
2019-Q14330yes
2018-Q41101yes
2018-Q31110yes
2018-Q11110yes
2017-Q41110yes
2016-Q31101yes
2015-Q32102yes
2015-Q24211yes
2015-Q11110yes
2014-Q41000yes
2014-Q21110yes
2013-Q42220yes
2012-Q12111yes
2011-Q44431yes
2010-Q11100yes
2004-Q31110yes
2002-Q11100yes
2001-Q41110yes
2001-Q31100yes
2000-Q31100yes
2000-Q21100yes

A blank median means fewer than 5 permits behind it: issued permits for the first stage, and for the second, finished permits whose final is dated after their issue (a permit never issued has no span). “Slowest 10%” is the 90th percentile: one permit in ten took at least this long. Download the table as CSV or JSON; both carry the source, license and data date.

What the numbers leave out

12 of the 62 pergola or trellis permits filed since 2000 (19%) have no final sign-off 3 years after they were issued or, if never issued, filed. A median over finished permits understates the real wait: the permits that never finish are not in it. Inspection records are not yet included: “final sign-off” is the city’s own completion date on the permit.

Project types in San Francisco's Financial District/South Beach neighborhood

Shown apart, with their own page here: kitchen remodel (3,060 filed, 2,343 finished; contractors); bathroom remodel (2,943 filed, 2,280 finished; contractors); stairs (1,642 filed, 1,122 finished; contractors); deck (176 filed, 96 finished; contractors); roof deck (108 filed, 65 finished; contractors); pergola or trellis (62 filed, 30 finished; contractors). Other types: 85,930 permits. All permits in San Francisco's Financial District/South Beach neighborhood

Nearby neighborhoods

Chinatown, Nob Hill, Tenderloin; all of San Francisco; every neighborhood compared.

How this is calculated

Approved means the city issued the permit: the permit’s issue date. The first stage counts days from the filing date to the issue date, over permits issued on or after they were filed. Final sign-off means the city’s own status for the permit is “complete”, with its completion date; this site does not yet read inspection records, so the inspection date is not a separate stage. The second stage counts days from the issue date to the completion date, over permits that have reached it.

Permits are grouped by the quarter they were filed. A quarter’s median counts only its permits that have finished the stage, so recent quarters look faster than they will end up: their slow permits have not finished yet. Quarters that ended two or more years ago are marked settled; the rest are shaded in the chart. The headline’s first stage uses the last four complete quarters; its second uses the last four settled quarters.

The median is the middle permit: half took less, half more. The slowest 10% is the 90th percentile. A median needs at least 5 permits behind it, or it is left out. A project type is shown apart within a neighborhood only when it has 30 or more finished permits there; the rest are “other types”.

Never finaled means no final sign-off three years after the permit was issued (or filed, if never issued), and not expired, cancelled, withdrawn, revoked, disapproved, denied or suspended (the site’s “expired or cancelled” outcome). About a quarter of permits citywide end this way; often the work was done and nobody called for the final inspection. These permits are in the counts and not in the medians.

A permit’s neighborhood is the Analysis Neighborhood the city writes on the permit record (the official set of 41). Permits with none are counted citywide only; the page says how many. “Nearby” neighborhoods are the three nearest by the center of their permits. The site reloads the city’s data every night; permits filed since 1 January 2000 are included. The placement of a permit, its dates and its status are the city’s; the grouping and the words are this site’s. How to read these records.