Which permit
From the County's How to apply for a building permit page (read 23 October 2026):
| Job | Permit type | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| New or changed circuits, outlets | Electrical maintenance permit | Online, "You do not need to have plans to describe your work." |
| Service upgrade (panel) | Electrical maintenance permit | Online, no plans |
| EV charging station | Electrical maintenance permit | Online, no plans |
| Backup generator | Minor improvement permit | Online, "You receive your permit online up front", reviewed at the job site |
| Battery (energy storage) system | Minor improvement permit | Same |
| Rooftop solar | Minor improvement permit | Same |
| Rewiring as part of an addition or major remodel | Big-job permit with plans | The County says 6 to 8 weeks |
The County permits only the unincorporated area. San Rafael, Novato, Mill Valley, Sausalito and the other cities and towns issue their own electrical permits, which are not in the County's portal or our file. For a case the table does not settle, call Building and Safety on 415-473-6550.
How to apply
- Open the County's permit portal: "All building permits start at the same place."
- Choose the electrical maintenance permit, or the minor improvement permit for a generator, battery or solar, and describe the work.
- Pay online. The County says it will "NEVER request payment via wire transfer, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, or other payment apps."
- Post the job card; keep the inspection card for the inspector to sign (How permits work).
- Pass the final. "Your permit expires in 1 year", and each passed inspection extends it a year.
What it costs
The County's Fee Explanation page (read 23 October 2026) lists the parts of every permit bill:
| Line | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| Application fee + issuance fee | 77% and 23% of the Building and Safety service fee |
| Planning surcharge | 10% of those two fees |
| Technology enhancement fee | 6% of those two fees |
| Seismic (SMIP) tax | 0.01% of job value, residential, 50-cent minimum |
| Building Standards "green" tax | 0.004% of job value, $1 minimum |
| Roads impact fee | 1% of job value, improvements of $10,000 or more |
Most electrical jobs sit under the $10,000 roads-fee line: the usual permit is filed at $4,000. A panel upgrade bundled with solar and a battery may not. The Building and Safety service fee itself is on a separate base-fee page in the portal; the invoice is the final word. Prices by home value are on the Marin County electrical cost page.
Who should do it
An electrician with CSLB's C-10 Electrical classification (CSLB). Marin permits carry the license number typed on them; match it to your contract on Check A License.
What 1,464 Marin County electrical permits show
| Measure | Unincorporated Marin electrical |
|---|---|
| Permits on homes, October 2023 to September 2026 | 1,464 |
| Electricians | 315 |
| Firms with a permit in the last 12 months of the file | 167 |
| Usual filed value | $4,000 |
| Middle half of firms' usual value (90 firms) | $3,250 to $5,500 |
| Approved final (tracked permits a year or more old) | 65.7% |
| Usual days from issue to final | 124 |
| 10th / 90th-percentile firm (10+ permits) | 53.7% / 88.0% |
| Firms with 10+ permits closing under 70% | 12 of 25 |
| Firms matched to an active CSLB license | 88.6% |
| Busiest / quietest month | January (150) / August (73) |
Electrical permits close the slowest of the County's big trades: a usual 124 days, against 58 for roofing, and only 65.7% had a final. Nearly half of the busy firms, 12 of 25, closed under 70%. Filing peaks in January at 150 and is quietest in August, so summer is the easier time to book. The busiest firm in the last 12 months, Divine Electric Inc, filed 128. EV chargers are counted separately on the Marin County EV charger list.
See every Marin County electrician by license and permits finaled →
Related
Look electricians up on the Marin County electrician list and check licenses with the Marin County contractor license lookup. Past permits on your address: Marin County building permit search. Other places' rules: do I need a permit for electrical work, do I need a permit for an electrical panel upgrade and do I need a permit for a generator; national prices: electrical work cost; the checklist: hiring an electrician. Counts by year: Marin County permit statistics.
What this does not tell you
The filed value is what the electrician wrote on the permit. Minor improvement permits (solar, batteries, generators) never appear in the County's inspection file, so they have no finish figures. Our license match uses the number on the permit or the business name; 9.2% of firms did not match. The County's site blocks automated reading, so its pages were read through a page reader.
How we know this
Permit types and steps are quoted from the Marin County Community Development Agency's How to apply for a building permit and How permits work pages, and fee components from its Fee Explanation page, read 23 October 2026. Counts are unincorporated Marin County electrical permits on homes, October 2023 to September 2026; finished share uses tracked permits a year or more old with an approved final inspection, and license status is our match against CSLB's license file.
Numbers come from Marin County Community Development Agency building permits on homes in unincorporated Marin (the County's open-data permit and inspection files), data through October 19, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Do I need a permit to upgrade my electrical panel in Marin County?
Yes, in unincorporated Marin. 'Service upgrades' are on the County's electrical maintenance permit list, issued online with no plans. San Rafael, Novato and the other cities and towns issue their own permits.
- Do I need a permit for a backup generator in Marin County?
Yes. The County lists backup generator installations, energy storage systems and rooftop solar as minor improvement permits: you get the permit online up front and the work is reviewed at the job site.
- How much is an electrical permit in Marin County?
The County publishes the parts of the fee rather than a flat amount: state taxes of 0.01% and 0.004% of job value, a 10% planning surcharge and 6% technology fee on the building fees, and a 1% roads impact fee on improvements of $10,000 or more. The usual electrical permit in our file was filed at $4,000, under that line.
- How long does an electrical permit take to close in Marin County?
The permit is issued online, but closing it is slow: the usual unincorporated Marin electrical permit in our file reached an approved final 124 days after issue, and 65.7% of tracked permits a year or more old had one.
- Do I need a permit for an EV charger in Marin County?
Yes. 'EV charging stations' are on the County's electrical maintenance permit list, alongside circuits, outlets and service upgrades.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Do I need an electrical permit in Anaheim? Panel upgrades, the utility meter spot, fees and inspections
- Do I need an electrical permit in Arlington, VA? What's exempt, who pulls it, how long it takes
- Austin building permit search: how to look up permits on an address
- Do I need an electrical permit in Austin? The exempt list, the homestead permit, fees and inspections
- Do I need an electrical permit in Pittsburgh? The PLI rule, the $130 minimum and who can pull it
- Do I need an electrical permit in Raleigh? The City's rule, the $124 minimum fee and the owner affidavit
For one city
- How to apply for a building permit — Marin County Community Development Agency (accessed 2026-10-23)
- How permits work — Marin County Community Development Agency (accessed 2026-10-23)
- Building Permits: Fee Explanation — Marin County Community Development Agency (accessed 2026-10-23)
- CSLB Licensing Classifications (2026-10-22)
- Check A License — CSLB (2026-10-23)