Paving & Asphalt
- Retail stores2,148
- Apartment property management firms1,322
- Ambulatory health care offices and clinics1,089
- Commercial building owners and lessors713
- Commercial property management firms407
Commercial trades market · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
Appointment setting for commercial contractors in San Francisco
San Francisco-Oakland has 10,654 businesses with 20 or more people on site across the categories commercial trades sell to, and it leans toward apartment and residential property managers more than the U.S. as a whole. Here is how each trade's market looks, where the buildings are and when to call.
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Trades in San Francisco
How each commercial trade's market looks in San Francisco-Oakland
Ranked by larger buildings per contractor against up to 100 markets (only markets with 10 or more contractors in a trade are ranked; n/r means not ranked). A higher rank means more buildings worth calling for every competitor working them.
| Trade | Contractors | 1-yr change | Larger buildings | Per contractor | Rank | Eligible targets | Push months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paving & Asphalt Largest buyer group: retail stores | 80 | -1 | 6,432 | 80.4 | #3 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Roofing Largest buyer group: retail stores | 39 | 0 | 6,346 | 162.7 | #4 | 12,683 | Year-round |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings Largest buyer group: retail stores | 59 | +2 | 6,627 | 112.3 | #5 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Flooring Largest buyer group: apartment and multifamily management companies | 32 | -2 | 4,550 | 142.2 | #4 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Electrical Largest buyer group: retail stores | 345 | +12 | 5,049 | 14.6 | #12 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Landscaping Largest buyer group: retail stores | 1,196 | +7 | 6,573 | 5.5 | #13 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical Largest buyer group: medical and dental office buildings | 282 | +12 | 3,660 | 13.0 | #21 | 5,014 | Apr–Jun |
| Fire Protection Largest buyer group: restaurants | 121 | +5 | 6,751 | 55.8 | #25 | · | Year-round |
| Commercial Construction Largest buyer group: manufacturing companies | 564 | -6 | 3,316 | 5.9 | #28 | 12,683 | Year-round |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial Largest buyer group: ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care | 1,180 | -15 | 4,264 | 3.6 | #58 | 3,714 | Year-round |
Who each program calls
The industries each San Francisco trade program prospects into
Every trade has its own target list. Here are the five largest target industries for each program in the San Francisco-Oakland metro, with local location counts; each guide lists all ten and who your SDR asks for.
Commercial Roofing
- Retail stores2,148
- Apartment property management firms1,322
- Manufacturing plants842
- Commercial building owners and lessors713
- Commercial property management firms407
Commercial Painting & Coatings
- Retail stores2,148
- Apartment and multifamily management companies1,322
- Manufacturing plants842
- Owner-occupied and owner-managed commercial buildings713
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
Commercial Flooring
- Apartment and multifamily management companies1,322
- Ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care1,089
- Owner-occupied and owner-managed commercial buildings713
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
- Commercial property management firms407
Commercial Electrical
- Retail stores2,148
- Manufacturing plants842
- Commercial building owners713
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
- Commercial property management firms407
Commercial Landscaping
- Retail stores2,148
- Apartment property management firms1,322
- Ambulatory health care offices and clinics1,089
- Commercial building owners and lessors713
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- Medical and dental office buildings1,089
- Manufacturing plants842
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
- Commercial property management firms407
- Private K-12 schools284
Fire Protection
- Restaurants3,062
- Apartment management companies1,322
- Manufacturing plants842
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
- Commercial property management firms407
Commercial Construction
- Manufacturing companies842
- Commercial building owners and developers713
- Senior living operators408
- Commercial property management firms407
- Private K-12 schools284
Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
- Ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care1,089
- Manufacturing plants842
- Owner-occupied and owner-managed commercial buildings713
- Senior living and skilled nursing408
- Commercial property management firms407
Locations with 20 or more employees, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Property management and similar categories count every company, whatever its size.
What's being built
The projects shaping San Francisco-Oakland
Named, sourced projects current as of 2026-09, and the trades each one puts to work.
UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital, Parnassus Heights
Under construction (structural steel), completion expected 2029
A 15-story hospital under construction at UCSF's Parnassus Heights campus in San Francisco, with first patients planned for 2030.
Structural steel and concrete work runs through summer 2027, after which mechanical, electrical and fire protection rough-in ramps up, followed by interior finishes and healthcare cleaning ahead of 2030 activation.
UCSF Real Estate, 2026-05-28 →UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland New Hospital Building
Under construction, completion expected 2031
A seismic replacement hospital building at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland with an expanded emergency department, behavioral health beds, new operating rooms and a private-room NICU; the 31,300 sq ft Temescal Hall office building on the campus finished in September 2026.
A multi-year hospital build in Oakland creates mechanical, electrical and fire protection scopes now and interior finish, flooring and painting packages toward the 2031 completion.
UCSF Real Estate, 2026-09 →Kaiser Permanente San Francisco hospital replacement (Geary and Divisadero)
623,000 sq ftPlans filed with the city 2026; construction start targeted late 2028
A proposed 14-story, all-electric hospital with 300 private beds across from Kaiser's existing Geary Boulevard medical center in San Francisco, plus a medical office building and two parking garages.
This is a long-lead pipeline item: entitlement runs into 2028, then an all-electric hospital means heavy electrical and HVAC scopes, and conversion of the old hospital to medical offices adds later renovation work.
SFist (citing San Francisco Chronicle), 2026-04-21 →Innovative Genomics Institute-Bakar Labs Building, UC Berkeley
Under construction (broke ground July 1, 2026)
A research and startup lab building at Oxford Street and University Avenue in Berkeley for CRISPR-based genomics research and Bakar Labs biotech companies, built by Turner Construction.
Wet labs carry dense HVAC, exhaust and electrical requirements plus fire protection, and finished lab space needs specialty flooring and recurring lab cleaning contracts.
California Construction News, 2026-07-06 →AVAIO Digital Pittsburg data center (Phase One)
99 megawattsPhase One under construction; two more phases planned
A data center on the former Delta View Golf Course site along West Leland Road in Pittsburg, Contra Costa County, with a first phase of 99 megawatts and potential expansion to 500 megawatts.
Data center phases bring large electrical, cooling and fire suppression packages, and the 76-acre site adds paving and landscaping; opposition and a pending lawsuit could affect later phases.
CBS San Francisco, 2026-07-20 → Where the buyers cluster
The owners that anchor San Francisco-Oakland
Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings here. Each fact links to its source, checked 2026-10.
Kaiser Permanente Northern California
Oakland, Alameda County
Kaiser Permanente says its Northern California region, headquartered in Oakland, has 21 hospitals, 91,154 employees and 4.7 million members.
Hospitals and medical office buildings across the East Bay, San Francisco and the Peninsula give one owner a long list of facilities needing HVAC, life-safety, cleaning and flooring work.
Kaiser Permanente →University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, Alameda County
The Daily Californian reports UC Berkeley enrolled more than 46,000 students in fall 2025 for the first time in campus history.
A dense campus of older and new academic, lab and housing buildings carries steady mechanical, roofing, painting and cleaning work.
The Daily Californian →Salesforce
San Francisco, San Francisco County
The San Francisco Standard calls Salesforce the city's largest private employer and says it occupies multiple buildings in SoMa, including Salesforce Tower.
Multiple downtown office buildings with heavy daily occupancy need janitorial, HVAC, electrical and interior finish work.
The San Francisco Standard →Chevron Richmond Refinery
Richmond, Contra Costa County
Chevron says Chevron Richmond was established in 1902 and produces gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and lubricating oils.
A large refinery site with process units, tank farms, shops and office buildings carries electrical, fire protection, painting and paving work.
Chevron Richmond →San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
San Mateo County (unincorporated, south of San Francisco)
The Mercury News reports SFO handled 54.53 million passengers in 2025, up 4.3% from 52.29 million in 2024.
Terminals, garages, the rental car center and airfield support buildings need cleaning, HVAC, electrical and pavement work.
The Mercury News →Port of Oakland
Oakland, Alameda County
The Port of Oakland says it handled 1,114,665 TEUs through the first six months of 2026, 2.5% below the same period last year.
Marine terminals, container yards and the warehouses and transload buildings around them need paving, roofing, electrical and fire protection work.
Port of Oakland → The local business base
Who the buyers are in San Francisco-Oakland
Compared with the national mix, San Francisco-Oakland over-indexes on apartment and residential property managers. The fastest-growing categories over the past year: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+477), restaurants (+276) and senior living and nursing (+64).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All establishments | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 3,062 | 12,900 | 0.94x | +276 |
| Retail stores | 2,148 | 12,038 | 0.58x | -94 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 1,089 | 11,176 | 0.82x | +477 |
| Manufacturing plants | 842 | 3,398 | 0.57x | -60 |
| Wholesale distributors | 788 | 5,144 | 0.45x | -148 |
| Grocery stores | 542 | 2,374 | 0.82x | +41 |
| Senior living and nursing | 408 | 1,448 | 0.83x | +64 |
| Private K-12 schools | 284 | 445 | 1.06x | -3 |
| Hotels | 270 | 709 | 0.65x | +1 |
| Bank and credit union offices | 256 | 2,202 | 0.53x | -110 |
| Hosting and data processing companies | 204 | 744 | 1.04x | +24 |
| Auto dealerships | 171 | 344 | 0.37x | +7 |
| Churches and religious organizations | 127 | 1,425 | 1.06x | +5 |
| Trucking companies | 123 | 1,580 | 0.49x | +26 |
| Apartment and residential property managers | 64 | 1,322 | 1.20x | +37 |
| Warehousing and distribution | 62 | 214 | 0.42x | -24 |
| Hospitals | 57 | 125 | 0.24x | -8 |
| Golf courses and country clubs | 52 | 62 | 0.29x | 0 |
| Commercial property managers | 42 | 407 | 1.14x | +16 |
| Colleges and universities | 37 | 65 | 0.34x | -10 |
| Nonresidential building owners | 26 | 713 | 0.89x | -13 |
Territory
Where the business sites are
Alameda County, San Francisco County and Contra Costa County hold 77% of the metro's larger business sites. Most programs start in those counties and add the outer 2 counties for larger accounts, depending on how far your crews travel.
| County | Larger business sites |
|---|---|
| Alameda County | 3,921 |
| San Francisco County | 2,212 |
| Contra Costa County | 2,004 |
| San Mateo County | 1,720 |
| Marin County | 660 |
Climate and timing
San Francisco's year, month by month
Outdoor trades (roofing, paving, landscaping, exterior painting) work the months with lows of 40°F or above and sell in the months before. HVAC sells ahead of its heating and cooling peaks. Each trade page has its own calendar.
- Jan57° / 42°Outdoor season
- Feb59° / 44°Outdoor season
- Mar62° / 45°Outdoor season
- Apr65° / 46°Outdoor season
- May69° / 50°Outdoor season
- Jun74° / 53°Outdoor season
- Jul77° / 55°Outdoor season
- Aug78° / 56°Outdoor season
- Sep77° / 55°Outdoor season
- Oct72° / 51°Outdoor season
- Nov63° / 46°Outdoor season
- Dec57° / 42°Outdoor season
Working in California
Contractor licensing in California
CSLB licenses contractors by classification, with a B General Building license and C specialty licenses for individual trades. A license is required for any job of $1,000 or more (labor and materials), or any job that needs a permit or uses hired workers, since January 1, 2025.
Trade-by-trade rules are on each trade page. Confirm with Contractors State License Board (CSLB). Checked 2026-09-30.
Hiring locally
What an in-house SDR costs in San Francisco
Before you hire a sales development rep in San Francisco, price the whole job, not just the salary. Here is the local pay for sales representatives, and what a first year really costs once you add commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and the manager time it takes to coach them.
- $96,960median pay for a sales rep in the San Francisco metro
- $66,180 to $139,260middle half of local pay (25th to 75th percentile)
- 29,980people in the role locally, all competing for the same hires
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
In-house SDR, first year$166,550
Abstrakt Growth program, full-time SDR, 12 months$102,000
In-house adds $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $500/month tools, $5,000 recruiting and 4 manager hours a week at $75/hour, before ramp time or turnover. Abstrakt includes the SDR, management, tools and data.
How Abstrakt works in San Francisco
Outsourced appointment setting, one trade per market
Abstrakt's U.S.-based business development reps build a San Francisco target list around your trade, service area and ideal buildings, work it by phone, email, LinkedIn and direct mail, and book meetings with the people who sign. We will not run the same program for a direct competitor in your territory.
Selling into California? See the California outbound calling rules: do-not-call lists, calling hours and registration, so you know what a program here has to handle.
San Francisco commercial trades, answered
Does Abstrakt set appointments for commercial contractors in San Francisco?
Yes. Abstrakt runs outsourced appointment setting for commercial trades across the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro: our U.S.-based business development reps call the buildings, qualify the opportunity and book meetings with the person who signs. We run one program per trade per market.
Which commercial trades have the most room to grow in San Francisco?
Measured by larger buildings per contractor against the 100 markets we track (where a trade has at least 10 local contractors), paving & Asphalt (#3), commercial Roofing (#4) and commercial Painting & Coatings (#5) rank best in San Francisco.
What kinds of businesses are concentrated in San Francisco?
Compared with the national mix, San Francisco-Oakland has more apartment and residential property managers (1.20x). Those industries are the best-represented buyers for trades that serve them.
Which counties make up the San Francisco market?
The metro covers 5 counties. Alameda County, San Francisco County and Contra Costa County hold 77% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Sources and method
- Contractors and business-category change and concentration: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2025 Q2, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA.
- Business sites by size and county: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Suppressed size classes count as zero.
- Climate: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages.
- Projects: sources linked on each project card.
- Anchor owners: sources linked on each card, read 2026-10.
- Eligible targets: Abstrakt territory record counts, 2026-10; estimated decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect per program, shown for HVAC, roofing, construction and cleaning.
- Photo: San Francisco skyline with Salesforce Tower at dusk, by Calvin Ma on Unsplash.
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