All-electric by July: What SF's Major Renovations Ordinance means for homeowners
4 Minute Read
IIf you're planning a substantial renovation in San Francisco this year or next, the rules around how your home is heated, cooled, and powered are about to change.
In July 2026, San Francisco's All-Electric Major Renovations Ordinance takes effect. For projects that hit the "major" threshold, gas is out meaning no new gas appliances, and no gas service feeding the dwelling unit. The decision between replacing in kind with gas or upgrading to all-electric is no longer a matter of preference. It's a matter of code.
Here's what we’ve learned it means -
What counts as a "major renovation"
The ordinance is triggered when a renovation reaches a defined construction threshold. The two most common ways projects cross that line:
Walls and ceilings: Alterations to more than two-thirds of the building's walls or ceilings.
Load-bearing elements: Alterations to load-bearing elements supporting more than 30% of the building's floors or ceilings.
Substantial additions that involve installing new utility systems can also pull a project across the line. In practical terms, this captures most full-home renovations, deep gut remodels, and significant structural reconfigurations. It does not capture most kitchen-only or bath-only refreshes, most maintenance work, or cosmetic updates.
The threshold matters because it determines whether you're inside the ordinance or outside of it which may shift the entire mechanical, electrical, and budgetary picture on an upcoming project.
What "all-electric" requires
Once a project crosses the major-renovation line, this is what is practically required:
Space heating moves from gas furnaces to heat pumps. In SF's mild climate, heat pumps perform well and bring the side benefit of cooling, something most older homes don't currently have but that we’re increasingly seeing a demand for.
Water heating moves from tankless or atmospheric gas units to heat pump water heaters. These need a conditioned mechanical space with adequate clearance and air volume.
Cooking moves from gas to induction. Limited exceptions exist, primarily for restaurants, but residential renovations are squarely in scope.
Gas service to the dwelling unit comes out. That changes the meter setup and, in some cases, the curb-side utility configuration.
Induction cooking
Most people assume induction is the simplest part of the swap. In my opinion, the cooking experience is excellent. Additionally, one of the under-appreciated benefits is that kitchen ventilation actually gets simpler. Without combustion byproducts to clear, CFM minimums drop, and recirculating hoods become a viable option in tight retrofits where ducting through historic framing is invasive.
The catch is electrical. Induction ranges require a dedicated 240V circuit and the panel capacity to back it up. That's true even for a straightforward gas-to-electric range swap that has nothing to do with the major-renovation ordinance. We see homeowners caught off guard by this routinely when assuming just changing the range is a half-day job and discover the panel can't carry the load.
The electrical service question
Going all-electric in a SF home almost always means looking hard at the electrical service.
200A is increasingly the floor for an all-electric home with heat pump heating, heat pump water heating, and induction cooking.
400A is increasingly common for full-feature homes with EV charging, heated floors, or larger square footage.
PG&E coordination is the variable that catches us all. Service upgrades require utility company approval, sidewalk and meter work, and sometimes transformer changes or full service conduit replacements. Queue times have been running long, and that timeline often becomes the critical path on a project.
The earlier we know a project is heading toward an all-electric scope, the earlier we can start the PG&E conversation, which frankly, is where most of the schedule risk lives.
Why this still matters if you're not doing a major renovation
Even if your project doesn't trigger SF's ordinance, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) has appliance rules that will catch you at the next equipment replacement:
January 2027: New residential gas water heaters under 75,000 BTU/hr can no longer be sold in the Bay Area.
January 2029: New residential and commercial gas furnaces can no longer be sold in the Bay Area.
These rules don't force you to change anything that's already installed. But the next time your water heater or furnace fails, the replacement equipment will need to meet zero-NOx standards (which, today, means electric). Planning ahead means you can choose your timing rather than reacting to a failure in a cold February.
Exceptions worth knowing about
The ordinance carves out room for a few categories:
Restaurants retain the ability to use gas for cooking.
100% affordable housing projects have a gradual compliance timeline starting after July 2027.
Projects that can't secure adequate utility power in time may qualify for relief, though this is a narrow path that requires documentation.
What this means for how you plan a project
The projects that absorb this change most cleanly share treat electrification as a design assumption from the first conversation.
That looks like:
Talking through the major-renovation threshold before schematics are finalized, so you know which side of the line your project sits on.
Pulling electrical service capacity into the early conversation, alongside the kitchen and bath layouts.
Identifying heat pump locations early - interior placement, exterior condenser placement, condensate routing, and acoustic considerations all interact with the architecture.
Starting the PG&E service-upgrade timeline as early as possible, since it often outruns construction.
When these conversations happen at design, they shape decisions. When they happen at permitting, they create rework.
A short conversation up front
If you have a renovation in early planning, or you're trying to figure out whether your project will cross the major-renovation threshold, a short conversation tends to offer clarity. We can walk through electrical capacity, heat pump placement options, and where the PG&E timeline is likely to land before specs and drawings are locked.
The goal isn't to push every home into a maximum-scope electrification project. It's to make sure the design you fall in love with is the one you can actually build, on a schedule that works.
Zach with Heirloom Builders
San Francisco