SF Existing Buildings Ordinance compliance, filed for you
Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance (Environment Code Chapter 20) requires covered buildings in San Francisco to report energy use every year. We gather the data, check it, and file it — usually within a week.
Who’s covered
Non-residential buildings of 10,000 sq ft or more and residential buildings of 50,000 sq ft or more.
Annual deadline
May 1 for the previous calendar year.
Verification
No routine third-party verification — but the city runs its own data checks, so accuracy still matters.
Penalties
$100 per day for buildings over 50,000 sq ft and $50 per day for smaller buildings (up to 25 days).
What to report
All energy used by the whole building — including tenant spaces — for January 1 to December 31:
- Electricity — every meter serving the building
- Natural gas
- District steam, hot or chilled water, if you have it
- Delivered fuels (oil, diesel, propane) — all delivery receipts for the year
- On-site solar production, if any
- Water — we’ll confirm whether it’s required for your building
Leave out backup generator fuel. Note any meters added or removed during the year.
Good to know
- Commercial buildings also need an energy audit every five years.
- Buildings that report to San Francisco don’t have to file separately under California’s AB 802.
- Large commercial buildings face a 100% renewable electricity requirement.
What we’ll need from you
- Building address, plus any utility service addresses that differ from it
- Gross floor area for the whole building and each use (office, retail, residential…), number of units and year built
- Your Block / Lot number (we can look it up)
- Utility data for the full calendar year, January 1 – December 31 (usually 13 months of bills)
- If tenants pay their own utilities: whole-building (aggregated) data from the utility, or signed tenant authorization forms
- Access to your ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account, if you have one
- Any notice or letter you received from the city
SF Existing Buildings Ordinance questions
When is the SF Existing Buildings Ordinance deadline?
Does SF Existing Buildings Ordinance apply to my building?
What happens if I miss it?
Official program information: San Francisco benchmarking website. Requirements change — we confirm current rules for every filing.