Inspection Service
3R Report Review & Property History
Cross-checking San Francisco's official permit record against what's actually built, before you're the one who finds the difference.
Overview
A 3R Report — the Report of Residential Building Record — is an official document from San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection showing a property's permit history, its legally recorded number of units and rooms, and any code complaints on file. It's a standard part of due diligence in San Francisco real estate specifically, in a way it simply isn't in most other Bay Area cities, because so much of the city's housing has a century of layered remodels behind it.
The gap is what the report can't tell you: it shows what the city has on file, not what's actually behind the walls. An unpermitted in-law unit, an extra bedroom carved out of a garage, or a basement conversion can all exist without ever appearing in the record — and San Francisco has an unusually large amount of exactly this kind of undocumented work, some of it decades old and completely invisible from a listing photo.
We retrieve the current 3R report for the property and walk the building specifically checking whether physical reality matches what the document claims — unit count, bedroom and bathroom count, and any recorded complaints — and flag every place they diverge. To be clear about the boundary: we don't issue the 3R report itself, since only the Department of Building Inspection can do that. What we do is get it, read it critically, and check it against what's actually there.
Book 3R Report Review
3R Report review is typically added to a full home inspection at a reduced rate, since the physical walk-through overlaps with work already being done on site. Call for a quote.
(216) 505-8827Same-day availability · Report same day
What's Included
3R Report Retrieval
We obtain the current Report of Residential Building Record directly from San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection for the property.
Unit Count Verification
A physical walk-through confirming the number of units, kitchens, and separate entrances against what the record shows.
Bedroom & Bathroom Cross-Check
Comparing legally recorded room counts against what is actually built and currently being used as a bedroom or bathroom.
Permit History Review
A look at recorded permits for additions, conversions, and major system work, and whether visible work on-site appears to correspond to any of them.
Code Complaint Check
Any open or historical code enforcement complaints on file for the property are noted and explained.
Discrepancy Summary
Every place the physical property and the official record disagree, documented clearly rather than left for you to notice on your own later.
The Equipment We Use
Every instrument below is used on a standard 3r report review — none of it is an upsell.
DBI permit and 3R record access
Direct retrieval of the property's official building record and permit history from the city's Department of Building Inspection.
Laser distance measurer
Verifies room dimensions and ceiling heights against what a legal bedroom or habitable space actually requires, rather than eyeballing it.
Egress and ceiling height reference standards
The baseline figures used to judge whether a room could legally be called a bedroom in the first place.
Assessor's parcel record cross-reference
The county Assessor's records on unit count and square footage are checked against both the 3R report and the physical property, since the two do not always agree with each other.
Photo documentation
Every discrepancy is photographed at its specific location, not just noted in a line of text.
Structured comparison checklist
A room-by-room comparison between what the record claims and what the walk-through actually shows, so nothing gets missed.
What We Actually Find
The findings that come up again and again on Bay Area properties.
Unpermitted in-law or garage unit
A garage or basement converted into a separate living unit with no corresponding permit — extremely common across San Francisco's older housing stock.
Undocumented bedroom conversions
A den, office, or converted garage being marketed or used as a bedroom without meeting legal egress or ceiling height requirements.
Unit count mismatch between 3R and Assessor's records
The city and county records disagreeing with each other is more common than most buyers expect, and worth resolving before you rely on either one.
Permits pulled but never finaled
Work that was permitted and started but never received a final inspection sign-off, leaving its legal status genuinely ambiguous.
Additions not reflected in square footage on file
A room addition or expansion that was never recorded, meaning the official square footage understates what is actually there.
Open code complaints with no visible resolution
A historical complaint on file that does not appear to have been addressed on-site when we look.
3R Report Review in San Francisco
This gap between the official record and physical reality is close to a uniquely San Francisco issue among the cities I serve, simply because of how much of the city's housing carries a century of layered remodels, and because legal and unpermitted in-law units are far more common here than on the Peninsula or in the South Bay.
It matters most on any property with a ground-floor unit, a garage conversion, or listing language like "bonus room" or "flex space" — in San Francisco, that phrasing frequently describes unpermitted living space being marketed carefully rather than described directly.
Who Books This
Buyers of a property with an in-law or garage unit
Whether that unit — and any rental income it represents — actually has legal standing with the city.
Buyers relying on the listing's square footage or bedroom count
Those numbers come from the seller or the agent, not the city. This checks them against the official record and the physical property.
Investors evaluating rental income potential
An unpermitted unit changes both the legal rentability and the insurance picture of a property.
Anyone who has been told "it's basically legal"
That phrase means it is not legal. This tells you exactly what the gap is and how large it is.
Our Process
Order the 3R Report
We retrieve the current official record for the property from the Department of Building Inspection.
Physical Walk-Through
A room-by-room comparison of the property against what the record claims.
Cross-Reference
Unit count, room count, and permit history checked against the Assessor's records and what is visibly on site.
Discrepancy Report
A plain-language summary of every place the record and reality disagree, delivered alongside your inspection findings.
On the Job
Frequently Asked Questions
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