Check the jurisdiction first
The County's Building and Safety division permits only the unincorporated area: places like Kentfield, Tam Valley, Strawberry, Point Reyes Station and Marinwood. San Rafael, Novato, Mill Valley, Sausalito and the other cities and towns issue their own roofing permits, which are not in the County's portal or our file.
The County's three permit types
From the County's How to apply for a building permit page (read 23 October 2026):
| Type | What it covers | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance permit | Building: "siding, stucco, re-roofing, same-size/same-location window or door replacement"; also like-for-like electrical, plumbing and mechanical | Online; "You do not need to have plans to describe your work." |
| Minor improvement permit | Rooftop solar, battery storage, backup generators, small kitchen and bath remodels | Online, "You receive your permit online up front", reviewed at the job site |
| Big-job permit | New buildings, additions, alterations | "You need to submit your plans before we issue a permit"; the County says 6 to 8 weeks |
A plain tear-off and re-roof is a maintenance permit. Replacing rafters or sheathing, adding a dormer or changing the roofline is structural and moves the job toward plan review; ask Building and Safety (415-473-6550) before you apply. Solar on the new roof is a separate minor improvement permit. Homes in wildfire areas may face roof-material rules from the fire district; we could not read the County fire department's guidance, so ask about your parcel.
How to apply
- Start in the County's permit portal: "All building permits start at the same place."
- Choose a building maintenance permit for re-roofing and describe the work; no plans are needed.
- Pay online. The County warns it will "NEVER request payment via wire transfer, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, or other payment apps."
- Post the job card at the site and keep the inspection card, which inspectors sign as each inspection passes (How permits work).
- Pass the final. "Your permit expires in 1 year"; a passed inspection extends it by a year.
What it costs
The County's Fee Explanation page (read 23 October 2026) sets out the parts of the bill rather than a flat re-roof fee:
| Line | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| Building permit application fee | 77% of the Building and Safety service fee |
| Building permit issuance fee | The remaining 23% |
| Planning surcharge | 10% of application + issuance fees |
| Technology enhancement fee | 6% of application + issuance fees |
| Construction and demolition fee | $50 to $250, by project square footage |
| Seismic (SMIP) tax | 0.01% of job value, residential |
| Building Standards "green" tax | 0.004% of job value ($1 per $25,000) |
| Roads impact fee | 1% of job value, for improvements of $10,000 or more |
The roads fee is the line to notice. The page applies it to "all improvements having a value of at least $10,000", and the usual Marin roofing permit is filed at $20,421, so on a roof at that value it would be about $200 on its own. The page does not say whether maintenance permits are exempt; the portal invoice is the final word. Prices by home value are on the Marin County roofing cost page.
Who should do it
A roofer with CSLB's C-39 Roofing classification, or a B general contractor (CSLB). Marin's permits carry the license number typed on them, so the number on your permit should match the one on your contract; check it on Check A License.
What 1,943 Marin County roofing permits show
| Measure | Unincorporated Marin roofing |
|---|---|
| Permits on homes, October 2023 to September 2026 | 1,943 |
| Roofers | 300 |
| Roofers with a permit in the last 12 months of the file | 164 |
| Usual filed value | $20,421 |
| Middle half of roofers' usual value (109 firms) | $16,500 to $25,000 |
| Approved final (tracked permits a year or more old) | 85.9% |
| Usual days from issue to final | 58 |
| 10th / 90th-percentile roofer (10+ permits) | 54.3% / 95.0% |
| Roofers matched to an active CSLB license | 86.0% |
| Roofers whose matched license is expired, suspended or similar | 10 (3.3%) |
| Busiest / quietest month | August (125) / December (54) |
Marin roofing is seasonal: August runs at 125 against an average month of 100, December at 54. Book before the rains. The busiest roofers in the last 12 months were Capstone Roofing Inc (84 permits), Apollo Building and Roofing Group Inc (44) and Wedge Roofing Inc (43). Spread is wide: the 10th-percentile roofer with 10 or more permits closed 54.3%, and 9 of 33 closed under 70%. And 10 roofers in the file match a license that is no longer active, so run the CSLB check on the day you sign.
See every Marin County roofer by license and permits finaled →
Related
Look a roofer up on the Marin County roofer list and check the license 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 roof replacement; national prices: roof replacement cost; the checklist: hiring a roofer. Counts by year: Marin County permit statistics.
What this does not tell you
The filed value is what the roofer wrote on the permit, not your invoice. The finish figures use the County's inspection file. Our license match is by the number on the permit or by business name; 10.7% of roofers did not match, which is our gap, not proof they are unlicensed. 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 roofing 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 replace my roof in Marin County?
Yes, in unincorporated Marin. The County lists re-roofing among its maintenance permits, which are issued online and need no plans because they replace something that already exists. Homes in San Rafael, Novato and the other cities and towns use their own building departments.
- How much is a roofing permit in Marin County?
The County's fee page does not list a flat re-roof fee. It adds state taxes (0.01% and 0.004% of job value), a 10% planning surcharge and 6% technology fee on the building fees, a $50 to $250 construction and demolition fee, and a roads impact fee of 1% of value on improvements of $10,000 or more. Your portal invoice gives the total.
- How long does a roofing permit take in Marin County?
The permit itself is issued online without plan review. In our file the usual unincorporated Marin roofing permit reached an approved final inspection 58 days after issue, and 85.9% of tracked permits a year or more old had one.
- When does a Marin County roofing permit expire?
The County says a permit expires in one year, and each passed inspection extends it by a year. A re-roof normally needs only its inspections to stay live.
- How much does a new roof cost in Marin County?
The usual roofing permit in unincorporated Marin was filed at $20,421, and the middle half of roofers usually filed between $16,500 and $25,000. That is the value on the permit, not a quote.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Marin County building permit search: how to look up permits on an address
- Do I need a roofing permit in Anaheim? The $375 reroof fee, the one-layer rule and two inspections
- Do I need a roofing permit in Bernalillo County? The re-roof application, the tile rule and two inspections
- Do I need a roofing permit in unincorporated Boulder County? Yes past one square, with a Class A roof and a photo final
- Do I need a roofing permit in Minneapolis? The one-bundle rule, fees, inspections and timing
- Do I need a roofing permit in Orlando? The re-roof form, the dry-in inspection, fees and timing
For one city
- Marin County contractor license lookup: CSLB classifications, County permits and what they show
- Home improvement costs in unincorporated Marin County, CA (2026): what 15 kinds of jobs were filed at
- Marin County wildfire rules for remodels: Class A roofs, the 50% siding and deck triggers, tempered windows, and the vegetation plan
- 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)
- Look up an existing building permit — Marin County Community Development Agency (2026-10-23)
- CSLB Licensing Classifications (2026-10-22)
- Check A License — CSLB (2026-10-23)