Town of Fairfax

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? Yes 95% · published fee schedule
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both 85% · permit application form
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes 90% · published fee schedule
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Combined 80% · published fee schedule
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No 55% · municipal code (redlined ordinance text)
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No fee-based size cap found: the Town's 'Solar' fee line is a single flat WAIVED entry with no kW/size tiers, unlike other trade lines in the same schedule. A zoning-level size or height cap may exist in Title 17 (Zoning) but could not be confirmed this run. 55% · published fee schedule

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? Either 90% · permit application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes, generally (not solar-specific) 55% · department page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes 90% · permit application form

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes — Fairfax's locally-added Fire Code §1201.4 ('Construction Documents') requires 'a scaled and dimensioned site plan showing the location of all energy systems, property lines, buildings, service and electrical panels, transfer switches, disconnects, underground wiring and piping, fuel type and piping, map placard and signage,' with the site plan required to 'clearly designate property frontage for viewer orientation.' 85% · adopting ordinance / staff report attachment (full ordinance text)

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? No dedicated online building-permit portal identified — the Town uses a paper/PDF 'Construction Permit Application' submitted or emailed directly to the Building Official (mlockaby@townoffairfaxca.gov); checks for Accela (aca-prod.accela.com/FAIRFAXCA) and CitizenServe (fairfaxca.citizenserve.com) both failed to resolve/404'd. Separately, Ross Valley Fire Department (the fire-code enforcer for Fairfax) requires digital-only plan submittal through its own online form and books inspections via an Acuity Scheduling portal. 70% · department page + vendor portal probes
• Can the whole application be completed online? No 75% · permit application form
• What does a residential solar permit cost? $0 (fee WAIVED) for both residential and commercial solar 95% · published fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Flat ($0, waived) 90% · published fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No (also effectively $0) 82% · municipal code (redlined ordinance text)

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 180 days from date of issuance; may be extended once, for one additional 180 days, by written request to the Building Official prior to expiration (no permit shall be extended more than once) 95% · permit application form
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) for wires/interconnection; Marin Clean Energy (MCE) is the Community Choice Aggregator providing generation/billing for most Fairfax accounts 78% · department/program page (Town's own)

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? 2023 95% · adopting ordinance / staff report (Town's own, dated 5 Nov 2025)
• Which building code edition is in force? 2025 California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2), based upon the 2024 International Building Code (IBC) 95% · adopting ordinance / staff report
• Which fire code edition is in force? 2025 California Fire Code (Title 24, Part 9), based on the 2024 International Fire Code (IFC), with local amendments; the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (based on the 2024 IWUIC) is adopted separately (Ordinance No. 900, FMC Ch. 8.06) 95% · adopting ordinance / staff report
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes 98% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)
• What is the installation judged against? The 2025 CBC/CRC/CEC/CFC (Title 24) as locally amended by Ordinances 899/900/901 92% · municipal code (adopting ordinance)

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

• What ridge setback and access pathways are required? No Fairfax-specific ridge-setback or fire-pathway dimension found. Town Code §15.04.055 (Alternative Power Supplies) simply requires PV to comply with the state-adopted CBC/CRC/CEC/CFC 'as amended' — meaning any ridge-setback/pathway figures come from the unamended state Fire Code (CFC Ch. 12/1205 series) rather than a Fairfax-specific number. Fairfax's own locally-added Fire Code Chapter 12 ('Energy Systems') covers site plans, signage and disconnects but contains no setback-in-feet or pathway-width language. 65% · adopting ordinance (redlined text), control-checked absence

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Yes, via NEC/CEC 690.12 as incorporated by reference through the 2025 California Electrical Code (based on the 2023 NEC), adopted wholesale by Ordinance 901 (§15.04.010(d)). No Fairfax ordinance names 'rapid shutdown' or '690.12' verbatim. 75% · adopting ordinance, control-checked absence + code-adoption inference

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? Caution signs/labels identifying the quantity and type of additional power source(s), required at the main service panel and on all disconnect equipment (additional locations may be required by the fire code official); plus a single, clearly-labeled, readily-accessible exterior disconnect for all alternate power sources (PV, ESS, generators). 88% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No 80% · adopting ordinance (redlined text), control-checked absence
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Yes — Fire Code §1201.4 requires 'a scaled and dimensioned site plan showing the location of all energy systems, property lines, buildings, service and electrical panels, transfer switches, disconnects, underground wiring and piping, fuel type and piping, map placard and signage,' oriented to clearly show property frontage. 88% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)
• Where must the labels be placed? At the main service panel and on all disconnect equipment (Fire Code §1201.5); the single required exterior disconnect itself must be installed 'as close as possible to the main service panel' and located prior to any load/service panel (§1201.6). 85% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? Not stated relative to the meter specifically — Fairfax's Fire Code §1201.6 requires the single exterior disconnect to be installed 'as close as possible to the main service panel or as approved by the fire code official,' but does not reference the utility meter's location. PG&E's own DG interconnection/Greenbook rules on meter proximity were not checked this run. 60% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Mixed — explicit only for one related equipment type: Fire Code §1208.5 requires Home Backup Generators to be 'listed and labeled in accordance with UL 2200.' No equivalent Fairfax-specific listing clause was found naming PV modules or inverters directly; general listing of PV/inverter equipment would instead come from the state-adopted CEC by reference. 55% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Yes, as part of a combined 'Energy Systems' framework covering PV, ESS and generators together: a scaled site plan (§1201.4), caution signs/labels (§1201.5), a single exterior disconnect (§1201.6), and mandatory operational shutdown testing that explicitly names 'photovoltaic system, energy storage systems, and generators' (§1201.7) — the test simulates a normal-power failure and requires the single disconnect(s) to fully terminate all alternate power sources. 88% · adopting ordinance (redlined text)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? Fire-side: yes, separately priced — Ross Valley Fire Department's own fee schedule prices 'Photovoltaic Power System' ($328) and 'Battery Systems' ($465) as two distinct line items. Building-side: no — the Town's Master Fee Schedule has only one 'Solar' line (WAIVED), with no distinct battery/ESS line. 75% · published fee schedule (fire district), page text self-extracted

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

• How is an inspection booked? Phone for Building Division final inspections (415-453-2263, per the Town's own permit/inspection card); Portal (Acuity Scheduling, self-serve online) for Ross Valley Fire Department's separate fire-prevention inspections. 85% · permit application / inspection record card + fire district department page
• How much notice is required? 24 hours (Building Division, by phone); 72 business hours (Ross Valley Fire Department, for its own fire-side inspections, booked online) 88% · permit application / inspection record card + fire district department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No dedicated AM/PM booking windows found for the Town's own building inspections — the department page states inspections occur 'Monday-Thursday mornings and afternoons' generically, without a same-day or discrete AM/PM slot system. Ross Valley Fire's Acuity-based online scheduler does let the applicant 'select the available day and time,' which functions as a windowed system for fire-side inspections. 55% · department page

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? Yes 80% · department page
• If delegated, to whom? For the fire-code 'Energy Systems' component only (site-plan/signage/disconnect review and the required operational shutdown test): Ross Valley Fire Department, a 4-agency JPA (Town of Fairfax, Town of San Anselmo, Town of Ross, Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District), formed 1982 under Gov. Code §§6500-6514, enforcing Fairfax's own adopted Fire Code (FMC Ch. 8.04). 85% · fire district's own department page

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? Building/electrical side (Town): the permit's own generic Inspection Record card lists 'Rough Electrical' (122) and 'Electrical Final' (176) among available inspection types, ending in 'Building Final' (199) — no solar-specific stage code exists; it uses the same codes as any electrical/building job. Fire side (RVFD): a separate inspection tied to the 'Photovoltaic Power System' / 'Battery Systems' permit line, including the Ch. 12 operational shutdown test. 75% · permit application / inspection record card

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? No 80% · department page, control-checked absence
• What must be on site at inspection? The Town's Inspection Record card itself, which must be 'Post[ed] ... In A Conspicuous Place' on the job site. 70% · permit application / inspection record card

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? Final (building final inspection sign-off) 60% · permit application / inspection record card