City of South San Francisco

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? Yes 95% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 85% · fee schedule
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 90% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 70% · fee schedule
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No — not required as a city permit condition 55% · inference from absence + state law
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 60% · inference from absence
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No — ministerial building-permit process only; no Council/SUP step found for rooftop residential PV 65% · department handout + state law

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? Either 85% · department handout
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes 85% · department handout
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 75% · department handout

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• What documents make up a complete submittal? For SolarAPP+ route: SolarAPP+-approved plan set + confirmation/certificate, uploaded to the city portal with the plan-check application. For the non-SolarAPP+ (regular Building Permit) route: the generic Section A package on the city's Plan Submittal Requirements handout — title block, fully dimensioned plot plan, and (where applicable) an electrical single-line schematic with panel schedules/load calcs (Section B). 75% · published checklist
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic only — the Plan Submittal Requirements handout states 'WE NOW ACCEPT ELECTRONIC SUBMITTALS WITH OPTION TO UPLOAD PLANS FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL AT permits.ssf.net'; no physical copy count is specified. 75% · published checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — a fully dimensioned plot plan showing property lines, contour lines, streets, driveways, and locations of all buildings, easements and off-street parking (generic Section A requirement of the Plan Submittal Requirements handout; not solar-specific). 70% · published checklist
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes 65% · published checklist
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes 55% · inference from program adoption
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Generally no PE/architect structural stamp for a single-family residential PV retrofit — the city's generic submittal rule requires an architect/civil-engineer stamp only for 'buildings, other than accessory buildings and residential occupancies, less than 5 units, and 2 stories or less'; for single-family residences 'the person who drew the plans must sign all sheets.' A wet-stamped structural calc is only listed as a Section B item that 'may be required' case-by-case. 60% · published checklist

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? eTRAKiT (CentralSquare Technologies), at permits.ssfca.gov (also reachable at legacy address permits.ssf.net, which redirects there) 95% · portal landing page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes, for SolarAPP+-eligible residential PV 85% · department handout
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $331 flat (Building Division fee 8.06, Photovoltaic – Residential) 95% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat 95% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No 65% · fee schedule

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• What is the stated plan-review turnaround? Immediate/same-day for SolarAPP+-eligible systems (no city plan review); not published for the regular Building-Permit route. 80% · department handout
• Which utility handles interconnection here? PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) 90% · utility service-requirements manual
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel, but Permission to Operate (PTO) is gated on the city's final inspection 80% · utility contractor-resources page

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? 2023 90% · adopting ordinance / department page
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Standards Code cycle: California Building Code (2024 IBC) / California Residential Code (2024 IRC) 85% · adopting ordinance / department page
• Which fire code edition is in force? California Fire Code (2024 International Fire Code) 85% · adopting ordinance / department page
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 80% · department page
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 California Building Standards Code cycle (2024 IBC/IRC/IFC/UPC/UMC, 2023 NEC) as locally amended by SSF Municipal Code Chapter 15 80% · adopting ordinance / department page

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

Nothing recorded for City of South San Francisco on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Yes, rapid shutdown is required under NEC 690.12 as adopted via the 2023 NEC (California Electrical Code) 75% · inference from adopted NEC edition

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes — PG&E requires an engraved placard where a fusible AC disconnect switch is installed for a line/supply-side (ahead-of-main-breaker) generator interconnection 90% · utility DG/service-requirements manual
• Where must the labels be placed? On the metering equipment (for the line/supply-side-tap placard specifically); more generally, PG&E's detailed DG placement/labeling rules live in TD-2306M, the Distribution Interconnection Handbook, which is gated to 'your PG&E Job Owner' and not publicly reachable. 75% · utility DG/service-requirements manual

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? Within 10 feet of, and within line of sight of, the meter 85% · utility service-requirements manual
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes — the Master Fee Schedule carries a dedicated residential Energy Storage System permit fee (8.07, $331 flat), confirming batteries/ESS are a permitted, processed installation type; specific SSF conditions (e.g. location, capacity limits) could not be confirmed because the local Fire Code amendment text (Municipal Code Ch. 15 / eCode360) is Cloudflare-blocked. 70% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Yes — Energy Storage System (Residential) has its own $331 flat fee line (8.07), distinct from the Photovoltaic (Residential) $331 line (8.06) 80% · fee schedule

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

• How is an inspection booked? Phone — 'Request an inspection by calling the Building Division main line at (650) 829-6670 option #1.' 90% · department handout

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? Yes 90% · department page/staff directory
• If delegated, to whom? N/A — not delegated; performed in-house by Building Division staff inspectors 85% · department page/staff directory

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? A single final inspection following permit issuance — the handout's process is (1) SolarAPP+ automated review, (2) city permit issuance, (3) schedule inspection by phone. No separate rough-in or interim inspection stage is described. 70% · department handout
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? No 60% · inference from absence

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• What must be on site at inspection? The approved permit set/inspection record card and permit must be on site and readily accessible; the solar handout adds: 'have all approved paperwork, as well as permit and inspection card printed and present on site for your inspector.' 90% · department page
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Presumed yes as standard practice 50% · inference from general practice

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? Final (inspection sign-off on the permit card) — no separate Certificate of Occupancy is referenced for a residential PV alteration 55% · inference from department page wording
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer 80% · utility contractor-resources page
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $230/hour for re-inspections during normal business hours (fee 8.02); $309/hour for inspections/re-inspections outside normal hours (fee 8.01) 90% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? The inspector signs off the inspection or notes corrections on the spot; a re-inspection is required once corrections are completed. 85% · department page