Capability 04 of 07
Sidewalk & Right-of-Way
Sidewalk reconstruction, driveway transitions and right-of-way interfaces — existing-condition review, proposed sidewalk grades and geometry, and permit-package coordination.
What this capability addresses
The question before the work
The line between private property and the public way is where small elevation differences, missing information and unresolved responsibilities can become expensive construction problems. SOHOXBUILT establishes the existing conditions at that interface, designs the proposed sidewalk and driveway geometry and elevations, and carries the design through the permit path.
Start here when the primary issue is the sidewalk, driveway transition, curb or public right-of-way frontage.
Problems and project types you may bring
- Sidewalk reconstruction or replacement
- Driveway and garage transitions
- Curb and sidewalk transitions
- Sidewalk slope and cross-slope concerns
- Property-line and neighboring tie-ins
- Drainage at the building, sidewalk and street interface
- Permit comments or conflicting drawings
- Accessibility-related geometry and constructability
- Public right-of-way and encroachment questions
Design and permit workflow
What SOHOXBUILT does
Understand the existing sidewalk conditions, measure what is missing when the project needs it, develop the proposed sidewalk condition, check it against applicable requirements, and prepare and coordinate the permit package. Each engagement is defined around the project, and the written proposal names which parts are included.
Establish existing conditions
Review the drawings, prior survey information, spot elevations, plans, photographs, permit comments and City correction notices you provide, together with available City record information such as GIS data, grade and grading maps and the legislated sidewalk width, and compare them against the actual sidewalk. The result is a usable existing-condition design basis: back-of-walk, top-of-curb and gutter flow-line elevations, garage and driveway elevations, sidewalk slopes and cross-slopes, curb reveal, driveway transition geometry, grade breaks, drainage direction, neighboring sidewalk tie-ins and other physical constraints.
Develop the proposed sidewalk condition
Once the existing-condition basis is established, the project may develop the proposed sidewalk condition, including as applicable proposed spot elevations, cross slopes, longitudinal slopes, driveway transitions, curb and sidewalk transitions, curb reveal, grade breaks, conform and tie-in points, accessibility-related geometry, relationships to existing entrances and garage elevations, and other sidewalk geometry required for the permit package. The proposed condition is checked against applicable City standards, accessibility requirements, project constraints and permit comments, and the checks are documented.
Permit package and coordination
Prepare and coordinate the drawings and supporting material for the permit submittal and respond to review comments. Where the project proposal includes it, SOHOXBUILT also coordinates contractors, agency processes and any licensed professionals the project requires, through permit, construction coordination and closeout. The coordination is SOHOXBUILT's; the professionals' own services are separately scoped and priced.
Where your project starts
Three starting conditions
The design needs a reliable picture of what exists today. How that picture is established depends on what you already have and on what the project and the reviewing agency require.
You have existing information
Drawings, prior survey information or existing spot elevations you already hold are reviewed and compared against the actual sidewalk. Where they are adequate for the project, they become the existing-condition basis and the work moves into development of the proposed sidewalk condition.
Existing spot elevations are missing
SOHOXBUILT can provide separately scoped field measurement of the existing sidewalk conditions needed for design. Depending on the project, measurements may use conventional level and laser methods, RTK GNSS, LiDAR and available City record information.
Field measurement is an additional service and is priced separately from the base design scope.
Surveying services are required
Where a boundary determination, survey monument, legal property-line determination or another service requiring a licensed land surveyor is needed for the project or requested by the reviewing agency, SOHOXBUILT can coordinate a qualified surveying partner.
Surveying services are separately scoped and priced and are not included in the base SOHOXBUILT service unless expressly included in the project proposal.
Three commercial categories run through every SOHOXBUILT sidewalk project. The base scope is the work expressly included in your project proposal. Additional SOHOXBUILT scope, such as field measurement, is separately scoped and priced and added to the project only when you ask for it. Third-party professional services, such as a licensed land surveyor or another licensed professional where a project requires one, are separately scoped and priced unless the project proposal expressly states otherwise.
What you may receive
Depending on the agreed scope, an engagement may produce an existing-condition design basis; a proposed sidewalk and driveway plan showing existing and proposed spot elevations, slopes, cross-slopes, transitions, grade breaks and tie-ins; a record of the checks made against applicable standards, accessibility requirements and permit comments; permit-package drawings and responses to review comments; documented assumptions and open items; and, where a project requires them, a defined scope for third-party professional or agency coordination.
How the work is delivered
SOHOXBUILT checks the proposed sidewalk and driveway configuration against applicable City standards, accessibility requirements and permit comments and documents those checks. Final approval belongs to the reviewing agency.
Where a project requires services from a licensed professional, SOHOXBUILT can coordinate the appropriate professional as part of the project delivery path. Those services are separately scoped and priced unless expressly included in the project proposal.
Start the conversation
An initial inquiry needs only basic project context:
- The general location and which frontage is involved
- A short description of the sidewalk, driveway or frontage issue
- What you are trying to build or resolve, and by when
- What existing information exists: drawings, prior survey information, spot elevations, permit or City comments
- Tell us which professionals are already involved, if any — architect, engineer, surveyor, contractor or other project team members
Drawings, surveys, photographs and agency correspondence may be requested later through an agreed receipt process. Please do not send sensitive documents with your initial inquiry. Whether your existing information is adequate as a design basis, or whether additional field measurement should be quoted, is established early in the agreed scope.
What is not included
- Boundary determination, monument surveying, legal property-line determination, records of survey and other services requiring a licensed land surveyor; SOHOXBUILT can coordinate a surveying partner when a project needs one, separately scoped and priced
- Field measurement of existing conditions, unless added to the project as separately scoped and priced work
- Professional certification, stamped drawings or other services from a licensed professional. Where a project requires them, SOHOXBUILT can identify and coordinate the appropriate professional; those services are separately scoped and priced and are not included in the base SOHOXBUILT service unless expressly stated in the project proposal
- Permit issuance, agency decisions or review timelines, which belong to the reviewing agency
- Construction, which is performed by licensed contractors
- Legal, title, insurance or tax advice
- Permit approval itself. SOHOXBUILT checks the design against applicable requirements and documents those checks; the decision belongs to the reviewing agency
Where a project actually needs any of these, the written scope names them and who provides them. SOHOXBUILT can coordinate those parties where that is part of the agreed engagement.
Process and fees
Every engagement follows the same five steps: inquiry, Fit Review, scoping conversation, written scope and proposal, then engagement on signature. The Fit Review checks suitability; it is not the design service. Existing-condition review, proposed sidewalk design, and permit package and coordination are starting points for a proposed service package, tailored to the project and confirmed in the written proposal. Field measurement is additional SOHOXBUILT scope, separately priced. Services from a licensed land surveyor or another licensed professional, where a project requires them, are third-party services, separately scoped and priced unless the proposal expressly states otherwise. Fees are not published on this site; the fee basis, deliverables, exclusions and schedule are stated in the written scope and proposal before any engagement begins. See the full process.
Examples
Project examples are published only with the owner's written permission. None are shown here yet. The scenario below is an illustrative scenario — not a client project — and it describes no real property.
Illustrative scenario · Not a client project
The situation. An owner replacing a driveway receives permit comments about the sidewalk cross-slope and the driveway transition at the garage. The existing drawings contain inconsistent elevation information.
Existing conditions. The available drawings, photographs, City comments and record information are reviewed against the actual sidewalk. Where adequate existing elevations can be established from that information, they become the design basis.
If elevations are missing. Field measurement of the existing back-of-walk, top-of-curb, flow-line and threshold elevations is quoted as separate SOHOXBUILT scope, priced separately from the base design scope.
Proposed design. SOHOXBUILT develops the proposed sidewalk and driveway geometry and elevations — slopes, cross-slopes, transitions, drainage and tie-ins — and checks them against the applicable City standards, accessibility requirements and the permit comments.
What the owner holds at the end. A proposed sidewalk plan with existing and proposed elevations, the documented checks, and a permit package that answers the City's comments. A surveying partner or other licensed professional is coordinated only if the project actually needs one, and is separately scoped and priced.
Inquire
Send a sidewalk or frontage inquiry
Start a conversation with the general location, a short description of what is not working or what you are trying to build, and your timing. Use Start a Project or the email link below to write to built@thesohox.com.
Sidewalk & Right-of-Way
Start a ProjectDrawings, surveys and agency correspondence may be requested later through an agreed receipt process. Please do not send sensitive documents with your initial inquiry.
Initial inquiries are reviewed and answered personally. The initial Fit Review determines project suitability and is not itself an engineering assessment. Substantive design work begins after the scope and engagement are agreed. Sending an inquiry does not create an engagement; that begins only with a signed scope.
Based in San Francisco. Selected projects in other locations are considered case by case.