Roofing in San Francisco
San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection (DBI) approves plans and issues permits for all construction in the city. Applications go through its PermitSF portal, where an applicant registers and applies online, so ask the roofer for the application it filed there. DBI's page doesn't show a roofing fee, so ask DBI for the current amount before work starts. Title 24, the state energy standards, also covers a San Francisco re-roof: it treats reroofing as an alteration and start the cool roof rules at 50 percent of the roof area replaced.
Steep-sloped roofs have a way out. The prescriptive requirement is waived if the building has at least R-38 ceiling insulation or an attic radiant barrier that meets section 150.1(c)2, so ask which route the application uses. California licenses roofing contractors under classification C-39, and every active C-39 license holder must carry workers' compensation insurance, or a certificate of self-insurance, whether or not there are employees. Working alone isn't an exemption.
The state's workers' compensation division says an employer's failure to secure that coverage is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail, fines up to $10,000, or both. Ask to see the policy or the certificate before anyone climbs onto your roof.
What roofing costs near San Francisco
There's no roofing quote from San Francisco on file, so the page has no price for the city. The California page lists the estimates alongside what roofers are paid ($32.41 an hour in the BLS wage data, which is pay, not price). How we estimate costs.
Permits for roofing work in San Francisco
Plenty of cities run their own building department, so start by asking the City of San Francisco building department who issues roofing permits.
Your city or county building department decides whether a re-roof needs a permit, and CSLB says code requirements vary around the state, so ask the one for your address. California's Energy Code counts reroofing as an alteration, not a repair, which is worth mentioning when you ask what applies to your roof.