California Health Department
San Francisco commercial kitchen compliance
San Francisco is a consolidated city-county with its own food safety authority. Here's how the rules are written, who enforces them, and where San Francisco kitchens stand.
Authority chain
San Francisco → San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Branch → California Retail Food Code
San Francisco is a consolidated city-county — it operates as both a city and county government with a single health department covering all commercial kitchens within its boundaries. The health department oversees approximately 7,000 permitted food facilities. City-county = single AHJ. No split AHJ. San Francisco Fire Department Fire Prevention: (415) 558-3300.
Standard 01
Food Safety
Authority
San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Branch
- Phone
- SF 311 (consolidated city/county intake)
- Scoring type
- Major Violation Count
- Grading type
- Color Placard
- Permitted facilities
- ~7,000
- Office
- Permit Center: 49 South Van Ness, 2nd floor, San Francisco, California 94103
Methodology
The City and County of San Francisco (California) operates a Green/Yellow/Red color-coded placard program enforced under the California Retail Food Code by the San Francisco Department of Public Health Environmental Health Branch. Placard determination is driven by the count of major violations observed during inspection. Green = PASS (zero to one major violation observed; any major was corrected at the time of the inspection). Yellow = CONDITIONAL PASS (two or more major violations observed and corrected at the time of inspection; reinspection scheduled and a new placard issued based on results). Red = CLOSED (health hazards or major violations that cannot be fixed right away; facility closed). San Francisco does not publish a public-facing numeric score; placard color is the sole public display. Historical context: San Francisco previously published a 1-100 public numeric score via the LIVES (Local Inspector Value-Entry Specification) open-data feed integrated with DataSF and Yelp, launched 2013. The numeric score was deprecated in 2021 and no longer appears anywhere on public-facing San Francisco Department of Public Health or SF.gov pages. San Francisco published a public numeric score and then explicitly dropped it; Alameda, Marin, Sonoma, San Mateo, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Butte never published public numeric scores. Santa Clara is the contrasting exception that still publishes both placard and 0-100 score via SCCDineOut. Internal High/Moderate/Low risk classification is maintained for inspection scheduling but is not public-facing. Approximately 7,000 retail food facilities are permitted within the consolidated city-county.
Inspection results published by the agency are mirrored at San Francisco on ScoreTable.
Primary source
https://www.sfdph.org/dph/EH/Food/Placarding.asp
Last verified by JIE: May 21, 2026
Published inspection data for San Francisco is mirrored on ScoreTable, direct from the agency.
Health department detail
What makes San Francisco distinct
Standard 02
Fire Safety
Authority having jurisdiction
In San Francisco, fire code authority rests with San Francisco Fire Department.
- Phone
- (415) 558-3300
- Fire code edition
- 2025 California Fire Code
- NFPA 96 edition
- 2021
- Hood cleaning default
- Quarterly
- Permit type
- Annual Place of Assembly / Operational Permit — pass/fail
Hood cleaning frequencies
Frequencies enforced by San Francisco Fire Department per NFPA 96 (2021).
| Cooking volume / type | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Solid-fuel cooking | Monthly |
| High-volume / 24-hour / charbroil / wok | Quarterly |
| Moderate-volume | Semiannually |
| Low-volume / seasonal / place of worship | Annually |
Local amendments adopted
San Francisco adopts the California Fire Code with extensive local amendments (San Francisco Fire Code). City-county unified government. The San Francisco Fire Department's Fire Prevention Division is the sole authority having jurisdiction for all commercial kitchens.
Hood cleaning enforcement
HIGH — San Francisco Fire Department actively enforces; certificate of compliance required on-site
Reference
Frequently asked
- Who inspects commercial kitchens in San Francisco?
- San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Branch is the food safety authority for San Francisco. Reach them at SF 311 (consolidated city/county intake). California Retail Food Code provides the statutory base; the agency conducts inspections, scores them per local methodology, and posts results to the public.
- How are inspection results communicated in San Francisco?
- San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Branch documents inspections per color placard methodology. Results are available to the public through the agency's published portals.
- Who enforces fire and hood-cleaning rules in San Francisco?
- In San Francisco, fire code authority rests with San Francisco Fire Department. Enforcement covers the 2025 California Fire Code and NFPA 96 (2021 edition) for commercial kitchen exhaust. Hood cleaning default frequency: quarterly.
- Does San Francisco have local fire code amendments?
- Yes. San Francisco adopts the California Fire Code with extensive local amendments (San Francisco Fire Code). City-county unified government. The San Francisco Fire Department's Fire Prevention Division is the sole authority having jurisdiction for all commercial kitchens. Kitchen leaders should verify which set of amendments applies to their address with the local fire authority.
- Where can I verify San Francisco inspection records?
- Primary source: https://www.sfdph.org/dph/EH/Food/Placarding.asp. EvidLY ScoreTable mirrors the latest health-department-published results at https://www.getevidly.com/scoretable/california/san-francisco.
Related coverage
What to do with this data
EvidLY
Predict the failure. Reduce the cost. Prove the work.
EvidLY reads the regulations for San Francisco, identifies what's about to slip, and documents what got done — before an inspector or insurer asks.
See EvidLY pricingScoreTable
San Francisco inspection data — direct from the agency.
Real inspection results for San Francisco, mirrored from the health department's own published portals. No aggregation, no conversion.
View San Francisco on ScoreTableFTC disclosure: Stovio Advisors is a Cleaning Pros Plus, LLC company. Cleaning Pros Plus, HoodOps, and EvidLY (with ScoreTable) are commonly owned. Links to these sister brands are editorial references, not paid placements, and do not influence coverage. Vendor Network placements are paid and labeled as such; they do not influence editorial coverage.
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