Building and Safety
The health and safety of our community is our highest priority. Permit Center staff are currently working in City Hall and remotely. Inspections and permits may be impacted during this time. We will continue to respond by email and phone during this period. |
Building and Safety Services oversees the department's Permit Center. Residents and businesses come to the Permit Center to process building permit applications, answer questions regarding current building codes, and plan submittal requirements. Building and Safety Services also oversees the Federal Flood Plain Program and the Earthquake Retrofit Program.
General Information
Schedule an Inspection (including Alameda County Fire Department)
To schedule a Fire Inspection, contact the Fire Prevention Office at 510-577-3317.
If you have trouble using the online permit system, please call us at 510-577-3405.
City of San Leandro’s Home Earthquake Strengthening CourseThe City of San Leandro is again offering it’s nationally recognized and award winning Home Earthquake Strengthening Course to homeowners. This is a “do-it-yourself” course geared towards owners of older, raised floor homes. Homeowners will be shown how to identify and strengthen structural weaknesses in their homes. Upon completion of this four-day course, each homeowner will have a customized blueprint for their seismic project. Class size is limited. REGISTRATION BY MAIL OR PHONE. IT'S ON A FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE BASIS. If you own a hillside home, please contact Division of Building and Safety Services at (510) 577-3427. When: Cancelled Until Further Notice Due to COVID This class is a great opportunity for the recipients of the California Earthquake Authority grant money. Those participating will gain seismic knowledge and develop a set of plans specific to their project. For more information, please call Kathy Switzer, in Building and Safety Services at (510) 577-3405. |
The San Leandro City Council announced that for the fourth year in a row, San Leandro homeowners are eligible to receive as much as $3,000 to help strengthen their homes in the event of a major earthquake. Qualified homeowners in the 94577, 94578 and 94579 zip codes can now apply for the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program from dates to come in January 2021 registration deadline via www.earthquakebracebolt.com. Participating homeowners will be selected by a random drawing. All qualifying homeowners who registered will either be selected to participate or put on a wait list. In 2017, 104 lucky San Leandro homeowners were awarded up to $3,000 to retrofit their homes. New program dates in 2021 to come.
The houses must meet certain criteria, including being built on a level or low-slope site and sit on a raised foundation with a four-foot (or less) cripple wall under the first floor. Qualifying dwellings are typically pre-1979 houses that aren’t bolted to their foundations, are built atop a crawl space and have unbraced “cripple walls” surrounding that crawl space.
Building permits can only be issued to a licensed contractor or a property owner. To verify contractor license information, go to http://www.cslb.ca.gov/ .