To check a San Francisco Notice of Special Restrictions (NSR), find the recorder-stamped or conformed NSR copy tied to the Planning approval and property legal description. Carry the Planning case or motion, document title, available recording date and document number into the request. The terms of the recorded document come from that copy, and the recorder reference on it is what shows the document was recorded; an approval letter or signed packet only points to it.
San Francisco Planning’s NSR page describes NSRs for Planning Commission-approved projects whose conditions need recording and distinguishes owner signature and notarization from recording at the Recorder’s office. The document question is therefore specific: which recorded copy, for which described property and approval? A project nickname or a later building permit only points toward that answer.
Choose the NSR document stage you actually need
Put the papers in order before requesting a missing one. Write down what each paper shows and what it leaves open:
- Planning approval or motion: identifies a decision and its named conditions. Note the case, date, property description, and NSR reference if visible; the recorder’s copy is a separate paper.
- Signed and notarized packet: shows a prepared document and signers. Check its exhibits and legal description, but keep its signing date separate from a recording date.
- Recorder-stamped or conformed NSR: use the document number, date, reel, or image reference printed on the copy to join it to the precise approval and property. This is the copy to seek when the file merely says “NSR recorded.”
- Planning file copy: shows what reached Planning. The Planning instructions linked from the NSR page describe sending a conformed copy to Planning, then a separate DBI review step. These 2024 instructions describe one record trail; older files may follow a different sequence.
- DBI permit, inspection, or occupancy record: concerns building review and outcomes. It sits beside the NSR, and whether construction was permitted or completed is answered here rather than by the NSR.
This chooser prevents two similar documents from collapsing into a single “approved” label. A document can be approved for preparation, signed, recorded, or delivered to a file at different times. Copy the date and identifier from each actual page. If a later instrument appears, keep it separate for Planning or Recorder clarification instead of assuming it changed or released the earlier NSR.
Example: a folder with a Planning motion and an unsigned NSR draft
Imagine a fictional folder for “Maple Court Addition.” It holds a Planning motion and an unsigned NSR draft with a property description, with no recorder stamp or conformed copy. The motion says an NSR is part of the conditions. The narrow unanswered question is whether a later, property-matching NSR was recorded and what that copy says. The folder leaves that question open in both directions.
Make a one-page comparison: the motion’s date and case; the draft’s title and legal description; any recorded document number or date found on a separate page; and the precise missing copy. If the recorder copy describes a different lot or approval, mark that conflict. When legal descriptions differ, a matching street address is too thin a link. The example is fictional.
Request the missing NSR copy from the Assessor-Recorder or Planning
For the recorded instrument, the Assessor-Recorder’s recorded-document copy form names recording date, document number, reel number, and image number as possible copy keys. It identifies the Assessor-Recorder at City Hall, Room 190, and prints 628-652-8100. Use the keys you actually have and leave unknown fields blank. The form is marked revised July 1, 2025; ask the office about online index options and coverage years.
For the Planning-side motion, case file, or whether a conformed NSR was supplied to Planning, the current NSR page lists the Planning Counter at 628-652-7300 and pic@sfgov.org. Give the case or approval reference, approximate date, property legal description, and the document stage missing from your folder.
The older building permit lookup guide explains the separate DBI record families when the missing object is a permit or inspection file. The building permit records guide helps distinguish an approval, a filed document, an inspection, and a completion record. The NSR inquiry remains a request for the exact recorded copy and its connection to the Planning decision.
San Francisco Planning and Assessor-Recorder pages checked October 6, 2026.