SpendingDepartmentsBuilding and Safety

What does the Department of Building and Safety cost?

In FY2025-26, the most recent complete fiscal year, the City Controller's records show $418.5M spent from this budget, against a final budget of $603.3M (adopted at $586.3M). The adopted budget for FY2026-27 is $552.5M.

Budget and spending by year

What the City adopted for the department each fiscal year, the budget after changes made during the year, and what it spent. Fiscal years run July to June.

$552.5MAdopted budget, FY2026-27 (in progress)
$418.5MSpent in FY2025-26
$603.3MFinal budget, FY2025-26
Building and Safety: spent by fiscal year
Fiscal yearValue
FY2016-17$255.3M
FY2017-18$281.0M
FY2018-19$272.5M
FY2019-20$297.1M
FY2020-21$294.5M
FY2021-22$307.3M
FY2022-23$322.4M
FY2023-24$352.8M
FY2024-25$390.3M
FY2025-26$418.5M

Spent, complete fiscal years only.

Building and Safety: adopted budget, final budget and spending by fiscal year
Fiscal yearAdoptedFinal budgetSpent
FY2026-27in progress$552.5M——
FY2025-26$586.3M$603.3M$418.5M
FY2024-25$691.5M$652.7M$390.3M
FY2023-24$715.2M$402.3M$352.8M
FY2022-23$673.6M$358.7M$322.4M
FY2021-22$630.5M$331.6M$307.3M
FY2020-21$640.6M$321.1M$294.5M
FY2019-20$628.6M$317.5M$297.1M
FY2018-19$496.2M$294.9M$272.5M
FY2017-18$445.0M$296.4M$281.0M
FY2016-17$369.7M$263.3M$255.3M
FY2015-16$353.4M$252.0M$231.0M
FY2014-15$294.1M$224.6M$213.3M
FY2013-14$197.8M$198.3M$193.7M
FY2012-13$205.6M$176.9M$171.7M
FY2011-12$179.3M$169.4M$168.1M

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“Adopted” is the budget as first adopted; “final budget” adds the changes and transfers made during the year, such as grants received; “spent” is actual expense recorded against that year's budget. All funds, as the Controller's budget data files them under this department. Most employee benefits, pension contributions and liability payouts are budgeted in citywide accounts outside any department (see non-departmental accounts), and some special-fund work for departments is budgeted there too, so they are not included. The year in progress shows only its adopted budget.

People and pay

Pay year 2025, the most recent complete calendar year in the Controller's payroll data, with 2024 for comparison.

889Full-time employees with active status, 2025
$137.8MTotal pay, 2025
$14.2MOvertime pay, 2025
Building and Safety: employees and pay by pay year
Measure20242025
Full-time employees with active status892889
Everyone paid during the year9931,137
Total pay$125.5M$137.8M
Overtime pay$12.7M$14.2M
Pay per full-time employee$123,571$137,684

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“Full-time employees with active status” counts distinct people whose full-time job was active when the Controller extracted the data, the measure the payroll page uses. “Everyone paid” also counts part-time, seasonal and per-event workers and people who left during the year. Total and overtime pay cover everyone paid. “Pay per full-time employee” is those employees' total pay divided by their number. Pay excludes the City's pension and benefit contributions.

Payments to outside vendors

Payments the department made to outside vendors for goods and services, from the Controller's checkbook. Spelling variants of one firm are combined. FY2026-27 is a partial year, through Sep 9, 2026, and is compared with the same point of FY2025-26.

Controller checkbook · Updated Sep 22, 2026Latest payment in scope · dated Sep 9, 2026
$24.5MPaid to 109 outside payees in FY2025-26
$3.3MPaid in FY2026-27 through Sep 9, 2026; $3.1M by the same point of FY2025-26 (+8.3%)

Largest payees, FY2025-26

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Largest payees so far in FY2026-27

Building and Safety: largest outside payees in FY2026-27 to date, with the same point of the year before
PayeeTo Sep 9Same point FY2025-26
Insight Public Sector Inc$1.1M$437.3K
Kofile Technologies Inc$478.4K$136.8K
Unisys Corporation$403.5K$0
Privacy-Building and Safety$207.2K$197.5K
Satwic Inc$191.9K$323.1K
Mythics, LLC$155.3K$0
Spruce Technology Inc$144.4K$143.1K
Datamanusa LLC$119.2K$15.5K
CIM 11620 Wilshire Los Angleles LP$98.0K$142.9K
Buro Happold Consulting Engineers Inc$77.4K$0

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By fiscal year

Building and Safety: payments to outside vendors by fiscal year
Fiscal yearPaidPayees
FY2025-26$24.5M109
FY2024-25$24.7M132
FY2023-24$20.7M128
FY2022-23$21.0M143
FY2021-22$17.4M122
FY2020-21$16.4M116
FY2019-20$14.0M132
FY2018-19$12.7M142
FY2017-18$15.7M133

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Outside vendors means payments for goods and services from the City's governmental funds, leaving out payroll, benefits, debt, taxes, transfers to other governments and employee benefit insurers (the same scope as the checkbook page). Complete fiscal years only in the yearly table. Names link to a payee's page where one exists; people paid only lawsuit or claim settlements have no page. Every payment is in the payment register.

311 requests assigned to the department

Requests in MyLA311, the City's 311 system, assigned to the Department of Building and Safety or one of its units, so far in 2026 (through Oct 2), excluding information-only calls.

8,516Requests in 2026 through Oct 2
6,949From Mar 28 through Oct 2, 2026, against 2,663 in the same stretch of 2025 (+160.9%)
Building and Safety: most common 311 request types, 2026 to date
Request type2026 to date
Private Property Violation8,490
Traffic Safety21
Watershed Protection Division (WPD) Enforcement2
Feedback1
Flooding1
Parking Issues1

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The comparison starts on Mar 28 because MyLA311 began recording requests on Mar 28, 2025. Earlier requests are in the City's previous 311 system, which records the assigned department differently, so the comparison uses only the stretch both years have in MyLA311. Both years are cut at the same moment.

See all request types and council districts on the 311 page.

More about the Department of Building and Safety