Having completed a “Public Integrity Review” of the Department of Building Inspection’s (DBI’s) permitting and inspection processes, driven by a need to root out departmental fraud and a history of inappropriate activities, the Controller’s Office of San Francisco has identified the following weaknesses in the DBI’s systems, processes and... Read More »

Plans to add a new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to the four-unit Noe Valley building at 1475 Church Street were drawn and approved back in mid-2018. And the completed work was then inspected and approved by a Department of Building Inspection (DBI) inspector in March of 2019. Following the... Read More »

While the former president of San Francisco’s Building Inspection Commission, Rodrigo Santos, has been indicted for bank fraud, as charged last year, the City Attorney’s investigation into permitting, inspection and contracting abuses within the Department of Building Inspection and SFPUC is still going strong. As we first reported back... Read More »

As we first reported back in 2018: San Francisco’s City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, has just filed suit against construction engineering firm Santos & Urrutia Associates, its principals and several clients and contractors over “an elaborate scheme” to excavate and expand under multiple San Francisco homes without securing proper permits... Read More »

San Francisco’s City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, has just filed suit against construction engineering firm Santos & Urrutia Associates, its principals and several clients and contractors over “an elaborate scheme” to excavate and expand under multiple San Francisco homes without securing proper permits and employing forged documents, lies and fake... Read More »