Marin County, CA Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

Under Marin County Code Section 19.04.010(3), the county has adopted the 2025 edition of the California Electrical Code, California Code of Regulations Title 24 Part 3, which in turn incorporates the 2023 National Electrical Code published by the National Fire Protection Association, subject to local exceptions, additions, and deletions set out in Title 19. Section 19.04.012 substitutes county terminology throughout the adopted code: wherever the code says 'city' it means 'county,' and 'building official' means the Marin County building official.

The Building and Safety Division, established under Section 19.04.020, handles plan review, permit issuance, fee collection, and inspection of electrical installations for the unincorporated territory. Permit fees follow the Master Fee and Service Schedule adopted under Section 19.04.032, with a technology enhancement surcharge of six percent of the permit fee and a discount of up to sixty percent when an applicant uses a pre-approved third-party plan-check or inspection service. An electrical permit application expires if the permit itself is not issued within one year of the application under Section 19.04.050, and an issued permit becomes void if work has not substantially commenced within one year, or is not completed within two years, under Section 19.04.055. The building official may grant extensions of between seven and three hundred sixty-five days upon a written, justified request and payment of an extension fee. Appeals of building-official decisions go to the county's Board of Appeals for a $120 filing fee set under Section 19.04.032(d)(10).