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Architect, San Francisco License C25429

Smith Group

The city has issued 101 of the 106 San Francisco building permits that name Smith Group since 2018. The work is mostly commercial, led by offices. Their median plan-review permit for offices took 2.7 months from filing to issue, 30% faster than the citywide median. Their busiest neighborhoods are Financial District/South Beach, Chinatown and Mission.

Issued by the city
101 of 106 filed since 2018
Median plan-review time, offices
2.7 mo city median 3.9 mo
Rank for offices
No. 10 of 372 by offices issued
Overall rank
No. 48 of 1,543 architects and designers

What they work on

Every San Francisco building permit with Smith Group on the record since 2018, by project type. Most filed: 101 offices, 4 apartments and multifamily, 1 restaurants and bars.

Residential and commercial, by permits filed

4% residential
96% commercial
Permits by project type, filed and issued
  1. Offices Commercial 97 of 101 issued 95% of filings.
  2. Apartments and multifamily Residential 3 of 4 issued 4% of filings.
  3. Restaurants and bars Commercial 1 of 1 issued 1% of filings.

Permits over time

Permits filed each year, drawn as a street with one building per year, and how many of all their permits the city has issued.

Busiest year
2019
45 permits filed
Latest filing
Dec 2025
95% of 106 issued
Permits filed per year: 2018: 30, 2019: 45, 2020: 2, 2021: 2, 2022: 10, 2023: 7, 2024: 2, 2025: 8, 2026: 0. The 2026 figure runs through October 20, 2026.

One building per year, its height the permits filed. Each floor line marks 10 permits; the 2026 building is dashed because it counts permits filed through October 20, 2026.

Issued by the city: 101 of 106 permits filed

95%

All San Francisco project permits since 2018 in this data

93% issued

5 not issued as of October 20, 2026. Source: SF Department of Building Inspection permits via DataSF.

How fast their permits come through

Filing to issue for permits that went through plan review. Smith Group has 7 of those across all project types; the citywide comparison is for offices, their most filed type, where 1,360 of 26,216 permits went through plan review and the rest were approved over the counter.

Smith Group, offices

2.7months

That is 30% faster than the citywide median for offices.

Median months from filing to issue for plan-review permits. Smith Group, offices: 2.7 months. San Francisco, offices: 3.9 months. Middle half of city permits: 1.8 to 8.1 months.
2.7 months for offices, faster than 38 of 44 other architects and designers ranked for offices that have a median for it Each circle is a firm's median for its plan-review permits for offices. Dashed line: the median of all San Francisco plan-review permits for offices, 3.9 months. Shaded: the middle half of those permits, 1.8 to 8.1 months.
0 3 6 9 12 15+ months Revel Architecture & Design: 4.9 months Huntsman: 6.6 months Gensler: 5.4 months Rmw: 3.5 months Asd | Sky: 2.6 months Brereton Architects: 3.4 months Forge Architecture: 8.2 months Studios Architecture: 7.2 months Costa Brown Architecture: 12.1 months Ia Interior Architects: 7.7 months Rapt Studio: 9.6 months Som: 2.4 months Msa Architecture+Design: 5.0 months Perkins & Will: 5.1 months Tmda: 2.6 months Woods Bagot: 4.2 months Maccracken Architects: 19.3 months Dowler Gruman Architects: 6.5 months Hok: 4.9 months Gensler Architect: 5.9 months Quezada Architecture Inc: 6.4 months Mbh Architects: 14.7 months Michael Castro: 5.5 months Tef Design: 13.6 months Wrns Studio: 8.1 months Russell + Lopes Architects: 7.5 months Vocon: 5.1 months Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: 10.3 months Mbh: 3.7 months Shubin Donaldson: 5.4 months Polytech Assoicates: 2.5 months Mithun: 4.3 months Archtectural Resources Group: 4.1 months Brick: 4.6 months Ssdp: 5.2 months Studio Architecture: 14.9 months Page & Turnbull, Inc.: 8.5 months Red Cloud Wireless: 5.5 months Stantec Architecture Inc.: 18.6 months Pacific Das: 2.3 months Natoma Architects Inc.: 10.3 months Atelier 424: 2.6 months Studio Gang Architects: 2.9 months Owow Design: 4.3 months Smith Group 0 3 6 9 12 15+ months Revel Architecture & Design: 4.9 months Huntsman: 6.6 months Gensler: 5.4 months Rmw: 3.5 months Asd | Sky: 2.6 months Brereton Architects: 3.4 months Forge Architecture: 8.2 months Studios Architecture: 7.2 months Costa Brown Architecture: 12.1 months Ia Interior Architects: 7.7 months Rapt Studio: 9.6 months Som: 2.4 months Msa Architecture+Design: 5.0 months Perkins & Will: 5.1 months Tmda: 2.6 months Woods Bagot: 4.2 months Maccracken Architects: 19.3 months Dowler Gruman Architects: 6.5 months Hok: 4.9 months Gensler Architect: 5.9 months Quezada Architecture Inc: 6.4 months Mbh Architects: 14.7 months Michael Castro: 5.5 months Tef Design: 13.6 months Wrns Studio: 8.1 months Russell + Lopes Architects: 7.5 months Vocon: 5.1 months Bohlin Cywinski Jackson: 10.3 months Mbh: 3.7 months Shubin Donaldson: 5.4 months Polytech Assoicates: 2.5 months Mithun: 4.3 months Archtectural Resources Group: 4.1 months Brick: 4.6 months Ssdp: 5.2 months Studio Architecture: 14.9 months Page & Turnbull, Inc.: 8.5 months Red Cloud Wireless: 5.5 months Stantec Architecture Inc.: 18.6 months Pacific Das: 2.3 months Natoma Architects Inc.: 10.3 months Atelier 424: 2.6 months Studio Gang Architects: 2.9 months Owow Design: 4.3 months Smith Group

2 firms with medians over 15 months are drawn at the right edge.

Where they rank

Ranked by permits the city has issued since 2018, first across every project type, then for offices alone.

  1. 46 Ottolini Booth & Associates 101
  2. 47 Gary Gee Architects, Inc. 101
  3. 48 Smith Group 101
  4. 49 Dnm Architect 98
  5. 50 Gelfand Partners Architects 98

All permits issued, 1,543 architects and designers Full ranking

  1. 8 Lawrence Smith 144
  2. 9 Forge Architecture 134
  3. 10 Smith Group 97
  4. 11 Fme Architecture 92
  5. 12 Studios Architecture 92

Offices issued, 372 architects and designers Offices ranking

Where they work

The neighborhoods where Smith Group files the most permits, and how many architects and designers count each one among their top 4 neighborhoods.

  1. 01 Financial District/South Beach 386 architects and designers count Financial District/South Beach among their busiest neighborhoods
  2. 02 Chinatown 127 architects and designers count Chinatown among their busiest neighborhoods
  3. 03 Mission 381 architects and designers count Mission among their busiest neighborhoods
  4. 04 Tenderloin 112 architects and designers count Tenderloin among their busiest neighborhoods

Questions for the first call

  1. Which of your recent San Francisco permits are closest to my project in type, size and neighborhood, and can I see the permit numbers?
  2. How long did those permits take from filing to issue, and what did plan check send back?
  3. Who on your team draws the set, who stamps it, and who answers the city's comments?

Other architects and designers for offices

Firms ranked near Smith Group by permits issued for offices.

  1. 7 Interior Architects 179 offices issued
  2. 8 Lawrence Smith 144 offices issued
  3. 9 Forge Architecture 134 offices issued · 8.2 mo median for offices
  4. 11 Fme Architecture 92 offices issued
  5. 12 Studios Architecture 92 offices issued · 7.2 mo median for offices
  6. 13 Costa Brown Architecture 85 offices issued · 12.1 mo median for offices

See all 372 architects and designers ranked for offices

Sheet
A-048 No. 48 of 1,543
Drawing
Permit record, Smith Group
Architect, San Francisco
License
C25429 check with CAB
Data as of
Oct 2026
Scale
Not to scale

Built only from public San Francisco Department of Building Inspection records (permits, permit contacts), updated 2026-10-20. It is not a review or an endorsement, and Smith Group has not paid to be listed. Project addresses are never shown.

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