All medical and post-secondary educational institutions in the City and County of San Francisco must file a current Institutional Master Plan ("IMP") with the Planning Department.

An IMP is a document that describes existing and anticipated institutional development. With certain minor exceptions, no building permit or Conditional Use authorization may be approved for institutions that are out of compliance with applicable IMP requirements.

IMPs are required in order to:

1. provide notice and information to public agencies and the public so that early and meaningful involvement may occur prior to substantial investment by the institution,
2. enable the institution to make modifications in response to comments prior to more detailed planning, and
3. provide public agencies and the public with information that may help guide land use decisions.

Following the Planning Commission's acceptance of an IMP, an institution must submit updates to the Zoning Administrator every two years. Updates are also required if the institution's plans or the implementation of any plans significantly diverge from the IMP. New IMPs are typically required every ten years.

IMPs may be either "full" or "abbreviated." An institution is eligible to submit an abbreviated IMP if it occupies either (a) less than 50,000 square feet outside the C-3 District or (b) less than 100,000 square feet within the C-3 district. All other institutions must submit full IMPs. While full IMPs are reviewed by the Planning Commission at a public hearing, filings of abbreviated IMPs are simply reported to the Commission so that it may decide whether or not to hold a hearing.

The full scope of IMP requirements is found in Planning Code Section 304.5.

The following list describes the current filings of all institutions in San Francisco which are subject to IMP requirements. Questions about this list and the IMP process should be directed to the Office of the Zoning Administrator.

NOTES:
1. A full IMP is accepted upon the closure of the Commission's public hearing, while an abbreviated IMP is accepted upon the ZA's reporting of such filing to the Commission unless the Commission requests a hearing, in which case it is accepted upon the closure of the hearing.
2. An update is required every two years from the date of acceptance of an IMP describing the current status of the IMP.