Selling a San Francisco home in 2026: toilets, RECO, the 3R and the rest

Most people selling a house in San Francisco meet the point-of-sale rules backwards. The agent emails a list a week before photos, the inspector flags three toilets and a rain shower, and someone spends a weekend calling plumbers. Turn it around. Learn what the city and the state ask for, walk the house with the list in hand, and book the work before you pick a listing date.

#Three things the city wants before closing

San Francisco's Housing Code sets three requirements for selling a home. Two are inspections, and the code says they happen together: water conservation and energy. The third is a records report from the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) that the buyer has to receive before the sale closes.

#The 2026 fixture rule, in numbers

The water standards live in Section 12A10 of the Housing Code, the city's water conservation ordinance for homes, amended by Ordinance 232-25 and operative January 1, 2026. Before that, a 1.6-gallon toilet passed; now the line is 1.28. Showerheads, faucets and faucet aerators may flow no more than 1.8 gallons per minute, with faucets measured at 60 pounds per square inch, and every leak has to be found and repaired. DBI's page on the rule gives the same numbers.

You may still find a spring 2026 start date on real estate websites. For anyone listing now it makes no difference, because the numbers in the code and on DBI's page are 1.28 and 1.8.

The leak test is simpler than people expect. In a one- or two-unit building the inspector watches the water meter with every fixture off, and any movement in ten minutes fails it. Tank toilets get dye or a leak tablet to catch a flapper that seeps, and flushometer valves are checked for timing and leaks.

#Eight things sellers hear, checked against the code

• Heard this?Our 1.6-gallon toilets were legal when they went in, so they'll pass.Tap for the factsWhat's trueLegal at installation isn't the test. Section 12A10(c) asks whether a toilet is rated over 1.28 gallons per flush, and a 1.6 is. The SFPUC's fixture guide dates 1.6-gallon toilets to roughly 1994 through 2013, so a bathroom redone in those years is a likely candidate.
• Heard this?The house passed its water and energy inspection when we bought it, so we're covered.Tap for the factsWhat's trueOnly the energy half can carry over. Section 1208 skips the energy inspection for a building whose compliance is already recorded. The water chapter has no such clause: Section 12A09 calls for a water inspection before any sale, and the 2026 limits are tighter than whatever you passed.
• Heard this?Our house was built in 1985, so none of this applies.Tap for the factsWhat's trueHalf right. Section 1208 exempts any part of a building permitted for construction after July 1, 1978 from the energy inspection. The water chapter has no age cutoff, and newer houses fail it too: a rain head that flows over 1.8, a high-flow kitchen faucet or a leaking fill valve will each do it.
• Heard this?The rain head and the handheld are both low-flow, so the shower passes.Tap for the factsWhat's trueMaybe not. Section 12A10(a) counts rain heads, rain tiles and any other fitting that delivers water for showering as showerheads, and it allows no more than one showerhead per valve. A two-head setup can fail with two compliant heads, so ask the inspector how they'll read your shower before you buy parts.
• Heard this?San Francisco just follows the state fixture rules.Tap for the factsWhat's trueIt's stricter. State law calls a toilet noncompliant only above 1.6 gallons per flush and a showerhead only above 2.5 gallons per minute (Civil Code 1101.3). A house can satisfy the state's disclosure cleanly and still fail San Francisco's inspection.
• Heard this?The 3R report proves everything in the house was permitted.Tap for the factsWhat's trueIt proves what's in DBI's files, and its own printed warning says as much: no one inspected the property, and plumbing and electrical permits aren't in it (Section 351). A downstairs room the 3R doesn't know about is a room the city doesn't know about. The permit guide covers legalizing it.
• Heard this?California requires a termite clearance before you can sell.Tap for the factsWhat's trueNo statute does. Civil Code 1099 applies when your contract or the buyer's lender makes a pest report or certification a condition; then the buyer must get a copy before title transfers. If yours does, the dry rot and termite report guide walks through Section 1 and Section 2.
• Heard this?If the buyer agrees to do the work, we can skip the inspection.Tap for the factsWhat's trueYou can hand off the work, not the inspection. Under Section 1211(c), both inspections still happen and get filed with DBI with notice of an escrow account. The buyer agrees to finish the measures within 180 days, and one percent of the purchase price stays in escrow until the certificate arrives.

#RECO, the energy half of the visit

RECO, the Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance, is decades old, and its list for a building of one or two units is short. Section 1212 asks for five measures, wherever the spot is accessible:

• Attic insulation to R-19, only where the existing insulation is under R-11, with dropped spaces such as the opening over a stairwell sealed first.
• Weatherstripping on doors that lead to unheated areas, except fire-rated doors.
• A water heater blanket of at least R-6, plus R-4 insulation on the first four feet of hot water pipe.
• Caulking and sealing of major cracks and openings in the outside walls, and of gaps from living space into unheated areas around vent pipes, wiring and flues.
• Duct insulation to R-3 on heating and cooling ducts that run through unheated areas, with the joints sealed by tape or mastic.

There's some give in it. A measure the owner can show isn't cost-effective drops off the list, through an appeal to DBI filed within ten working days of the inspection form (Section 1213). Section 1209 caps the required spending at one percent of the price or of the assessed value, whichever is greater, with a fixed dollar cap for buildings of two units or fewer. In a 1920s Sunset row house, look first at the attic hatch, the water heater in the garage, and any door that opens onto an unheated stair.

#The 3R report, and what a buyer reads into it

The Report of Residential Building Record is DBI's summary of what the city's files say your building is. Section 351 makes it unlawful to sell a residential building without getting one and handing it to the buyer first, unless it's a new building's first sale within a year of its final completion. A report stays valid for a year, and DBI's 3R page says to allow seven to ten business days after you order.

Read it with the house in front of you. If the 3R says single-family and there's a rented unit behind the garage, that's a conversation for your agent this month, not in escrow. The report's printed warning says any use other than the authorized one may be illegal and subject to removal or abatement.

#State rules that ride along with the sale

California adds paperwork rather than inspections. Each item below is a statement or disclosure that goes to the buyer, and each is quicker to make true than to explain away.

• Water heater strap

  Every residential water heater must be braced, anchored or strapped against earthquake motion, and the seller certifies it to the buyer in writing, which can go in the sales contract or the transfer disclosure statement.

  Open the official page

• Smoke alarm statement

  A one- or two-unit home sold in California must have an operable smoke alarm, and the seller gives the buyer a written statement of compliance before title transfers.

  Open the official page

• Carbon monoxide alarms

  Any dwelling with a fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage needs a CO alarm, placed to new-construction standards or the maker's instructions.

  Open the official page

• Fixture disclosure

  Sellers of single-family homes disclose in writing that state law required water-conserving fixtures by 2017, and whether any noncompliant fixture remains.

  Open the official page

• Pest report copy

  When the contract or lender requires a structural pest report or certification, the seller gives the buyer a copy as soon as practical before closing.

  Open the official page

• Lead paint, before 1978

  Sellers disclose known lead paint and hazards, hand over any reports and the EPA's lead pamphlet, and give the buyer 10 days to test, which the buyer may waive.

  Open the official page

The strap and the alarms are small jobs. The shutoffs guide shows what a strapped heater looks like, and the alarm guide covers where alarms go. A garage tucked under the living room is about as attached as a garage gets, so plan on CO alarms even if the kitchen is all-electric.

#A pre-listing punch list

Work through it roughly in this order. The first items take the longest to schedule, and everything after the inspection depends on what the inspector finds.