Building

Overview

The Building Division ensures that construction in the Town is compliant with adopted technical construction codes, in conformance with accepted building practices, and consistent with the Town’s adopted policies and regulations.  The Building Division issues permits, conducts regular building permit inspections, performs plan check reviews for construction applications, conducts residential resale inspections, and performs code enforcement for areas under its purview.  Visit the Helpful Documents Page to download an application or obtain additional information on Building Division policies and regulations.

Construction Hours

Monday - Friday: 7:00 A.M. - 5 P.M. (Heavy Equipment: 8:00 A.M. - 5 P.M.)
Saturday: 9:30 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. (No construction noise audible at property lines.)
Sunday: No work permitted.
Holidays: No work permitted on observed holidays. Observed holidays are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day.


Codes & Permits


The Town of Tiburon adopts the California-approved technical construction codes with a limited number of amendments. Specific amendments made by the Town of Tiburon in adopting the technical construction codes can be found in Chapter 13 of the Municipal Code. 

With few exceptions, building permits are required for all construction involving electrical, mechanical, plumbing, re-roofing or drainage work; for all fences or walls; and for window replacements, kitchen or bath remodels, storage sheds, and so forth.  Generally, only cosmetic items such as painting, flooring, carpeting and wallpapering are exempt from permit requirements (Do I Need a Permit?). For single family residences, please refer to the Building Permits Required--Single Family Homes handout for a more detailed list of projects either requiring or exempt from permits. Different rules may apply for multi-family residential and non-residential buildings.
 
Permits are valid for 18 months; unusually complex project permits can be issued for 24 months in the discretion of the Building Official. If the work is not complete within the initially-approved time period, reactivation fees may be required. A reactivated permit is valid for six additional months.  The fees and penalties necessary to reactivate a permit increase with successive reactivations.  Refer to Chapter 13 of the Municipal Code for specifics.
 

Permit Fees & Re-evaluation Fees


 The Town’s building permit fee structure is largely based on the estimated valuation of a project. Details can be found in the Building Division Fee Schedule.  Separate fees may be charged by the fire district, water district, sanitary district and/or school district, which are different government agencies. When you know the complete valuation of your project, you may call the Building Division for a fee estimate.  Before the permit can be finaled, the Town will request a calculation of the actual cost of the project and additional fees, called “re-evaluation fees” will be collected if the actual project valuation was higher than the estimate upon which the original permit fee was based.
 

Work Without Permit & Penalties


 A Stop Work Order may be issued for any work requiring a building permit that was started without the necessary permits. For minor projects valued at less than $5,000 the penalty is $250, and increases to $1,000 plus four times the permit fee for projects valued at more than $50,000.  If you have any questions regarding the need for a permit, please call the Building Division rather than risk a Stop Work Order and penalty fees.
 

Minor Repairs

Application or notice to the building official is not required for ordinary repairs to structures, replacement of lamps, or the connections of approved portable electrical equipment to approved permanently installed receptacles. Such repairs shall not include the cutting away of any partition or portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support, or rearrangement, or the removal or change of any required means of egress, or rearrangement of parts of a structure affecting the egress requirements; nor shall ordinary repairs include addition to, alteration of, replacement or relocation of any water supply, sewer drainage, drain leader, gas, soil, waste, vent or similar piping, electrical wiring or mechanical or other work affecting public health or general safety. 
 

Emergency Repairs

Where equipment replacement and repairs must be performed in an emergency situation, the permit application shall be submitted within the next working business day to the building official.
 


Plan Checks


The Building Division performs a majority of plan checks in-house, but refers complex or unusual projects to an outside professional plan-checking service.  Plan checks are routed to the appropriate plan checker following any required Planning Division conformance review.  Initial plan check comments are typically completed within 10 business days following any Planning Division conformance review. 
   

Building Inspections


Depending on the scope of a project, the required building inspections may be as follows: 
  • Preliminary inspection prior to permit issuance (as required by the Building Official)
  • Footing and foundation inspection
  • Concrete slab and under-floor inspection
  • Frame inspection and close-in inspection (mechanical, electrical and plumbing)
  • Energy efficiency inspection
  • Lath and gypsum board inspection
  • Other inspections (as may be required by the Building Official)
  • Special inspection (see Tiburon Special Inspection Form and List)
  • Final inspection

Building Official Counter Hours


 The Building Official is available for meetings at Town Hall from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m.