Handyman Leads in Novato, CA: License, Permits, Work Hours

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Working legally here

Novato's flat contractor rate and a license you keep on you

Section 8-1 of the Novato Municipal Code reaches everyone doing business in the city, trades and personal services included. Contractors have their own line in the rate table: one flat annual license tax in place of the per-employee scale most businesses pay, with nothing tied to gross receipts. A general, specialty or subcontractor with no fixed place of business in Novato owes the same license, and the code says he must keep it on his person while working there. Annual fees fall due January 1, and a business starting later in the year may be prorated. A late payment adds a ten-dollar charge plus 10 percent at the end of the month, and 10 percent more each month after, up to 120 percent of the fee. Applications and renewals go through the city's HdL online portal.

Novato Municipal Code, Section 8-1 (opens in a new tab)

Permits

Novato permits: express records, heritage trees, the fire district's code

Express permits that issue on the spot
Novato Permits, the city's online portal, issues residential express permits instantly, with no wait for plan review: like-for-like reroofs, siding repair or replacement, window and door swaps, mechanical and plumbing replacements, residential electrical, solar, and kitchen or bath remodels that leave the room layout, fixtures and equipment where they were. Licensed contractors, permit agents and homeowners can apply and pay online, but a contractor needs a valid City of Novato business license to use the system. Anything outside those types goes through the standard building permit process.
Source: City of Novato, Building Division
Heritage trees and two ten-day clocks
Chapter XVII requires a tree permit to remove, prune or alter a heritage tree, one 24 inches or more in diameter measured 24 inches above grade, and to remove any tree 6 inches or more across on vacant land. The application names the person or company doing the work. A 10-day public notice comes before the decision, and once a noticed permit is approved, no cutting may start for another ten days, the appeal window. Staff can waive notice for a tree a professional confirms in writing is dying or dangerous, and for Monterey pine, Bishop pine, acacia and eucalyptus.
Source: City of Novato, Planning Division
Novato Fire's 2025 wildland code
Wildfire building rules here come from the Novato Fire Protection District, not City Hall. Its Ordinance 2025-04 adopts the 2025 California Wildland-Urban Interface Code with local changes, and Ordinance 2025-01 designates the Local Responsibility Area hazard zones, moderate, high or very high, from the CAL FIRE maps the district received on February 24, 2025. The district says the zones guide building code requirements and home hardening, and it publishes both an address search for the zones and a separate WUI map, so check the parcel on each before pricing exterior work on a hillside lot.
Novato Fire Protection District (opens in a new tab)

The homes

Novato's 21,257 homes and the decade that built the most

The ACS 2019-2023 estimates count 21,257 housing units in Novato, with a median year built of 1974. The 1970s are the biggest decade at 27.4 percent, ahead of the 1960s at 18.2 and the 1950s at 14.2, so about six in ten homes went up between 1950 and 1979; another 11.6 percent were added from 2000 to 2009. Detached houses are 58.1 percent of units and attached single-family homes 12.1 percent, which means plenty of townhouse jobs alongside the ranch houses, and mobile homes add 3.0 percent. Owners occupy 65.5 percent of occupied homes. Utility gas heats 70.9 percent of them and electricity 25.6 percent.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Amphitheater Park on the former Hamilton Field in Novato. Photo: Terrygraham415, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part by part

Novato areas as the General Plan maps them

San Marin and the North area
Most homes north of Novato Boulevard came out of the 1961 San Marin Master Plan: houses set back behind front lawns on curving streets and cul-de-sacs, with few connections between subdivisions. Houses on arterials such as Novato Boulevard usually turn their backs to the road and face the interior of the tract, so the front door may sit on a quiet inner street.
Ignacio, Pacheco Valle and Pointe Marin
The Southwest area runs in fingers of houses along creek corridors that climb grassland and oak hillsides, and Ignacio Boulevard and Alameda del Prado are essentially its only links to the rest of the city. Alameda del Prado, from Ignacio Boulevard to the city limit, was repaved in July 2022 and stays on the excavation moratorium list until July 2027.
Downtown's Northwest Quadrant
North of Grant Avenue and west of Redwood Boulevard, lots are small and houses sit close together among one- and two-story apartment buildings; on streets such as Third Street, two-story apartments from the 1960s and 1970s run perpendicular to the curb. The grid is tight, with cars parked on both sides, so plan where a truck will stand.
Hamilton
East of Highway 101, reached by Nave Drive, Main Gate Road, Hamilton Parkway and State Access Road, the old air base now mixes single-family and multifamily homes, Coast Guard housing and offices in former hangars. The General Plan counts over 2,100 homes from its reuse and says the new houses echo the base's original architectural themes.
Olive and Atherton avenues
East of the freeway, the Olive Avenue and Atherton Avenue subareas meet only at the east end of Olive. Lots grow larger and more wooded toward Crest Road and Laguna Vista Drive, Bahia's homes sit beside bay wetlands, and a mobile home park stands at Armstrong and Atherton. Parts of both avenues lie outside city limits.

Getting around

A Novato workday: 101 down the middle, bins off the street, Friday closures

Highway 101 splits Novato north to south and is the main way in and out, with State Route 37 bringing traffic from the east; the General Plan calls the freeway a barrier even for short local trips. Section 19.22.070 allows construction, equipment warm-up and site preparation from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and grading only on weekdays. The Public Works permit definitions say dumpsters, bins and storage containers may not be placed in the city right-of-way, so the box goes in the driveway. Freshly paved streets carry a five-year excavation moratorium. City offices close on alternating Fridays.

How hot leads work

From the first text to the homeowner's door

Confirm your mobile
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A text for each new job
It names the trade and the area, with a link to the job. Texts go out from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
See it before you pay
The link shows the job and the price. Skip any job you do not want.
Pay, then call the homeowner
After you pay you get the homeowner's name, number and address. Price and timing are between you.

Questions

Working in Novato: what pros ask

Do I need a Novato business license if my shop is in Petaluma?

Yes. Section 8-1 makes a contractor with no fixed place of business in Novato pay the license tax to work there, whether he is a general, specialty or subcontractor, and contractors pay one flat annual rate instead of a share of receipts. Keep the license with you on the job, because the code requires that of a licensee without a fixed place in the city. Apply or renew through the city's HdL portal.

Who can book an inspection on a Novato permit?

Only a person listed as a contact on the permit record, and only once the permit has been issued. Requests go through the Novato Permits portal. Projects that were in the former eTRAKiT system were moved to the new portal automatically, and you pick them up there after creating an account with your credentials.

Where can a debris box go on a Novato job?

On private property. The Public Works sheet of definitions for engineering permits says dumpsters, bins and temporary storage containers are prohibited in the city right-of-way, temporarily or permanently, and that applications for that kind of encroachment cannot be processed. Find a driveway or yard spot before ordering the box; an encroachment permit is for actual work in the street.

Can I prune a big oak in a Novato backyard without a permit?

Not if it is a heritage tree. Novato requires a tree permit to remove, prune or alter any tree 24 inches or more in diameter, measured 24 inches above grade. The application needs a site plan, photos, the trunk size and the name of whoever will do the work, and a noticed permit adds ten days of notice before the decision and ten more after approval before any cutting.

Is every Novato mailing address inside city limits?

No. The city's code enforcement page lists the residential part of Bel Marin Keys, Center Road from 2566 up, Trish Drive from 108 up and Indian Valley Road from 1526 up as outside the city, along with Atherton Avenue, some areas of Olive Avenue, Ignacio and some rural areas. Confirm the parcel's jurisdiction before you price a permit.

Does the hot list send me handyman leads in Novato only?

No. A text goes out for every new job in the Bay Area as it goes on sale, whatever the trade or the city, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Each one names the work and the area and links to the job, where you see the price before paying anything. You pay only for the jobs you pick, with no subscription, no bidding and no commission, and STOP ends the texts.

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Where this page belongs

Trade pages for Novato

Plumbing in Novato

Guides worth knowing

Hot leads in every city we cover

North Bay

East Bay

San Francisco

San Francisco

Peninsula

South Bay

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and fees change: confirm license and permit requirements with the city before work starts.

novato.gov: business licenses
library.municode.com: code of ordinances
library.municode.com: code of ordinances
novato.gov: residential express permits
novato.gov: novato permits
novato.gov: tree removal guide
novato.org: showdocument
novato.gov: forms resources
novato.gov: 635580441224600000
novato.gov: 638936140115570000
novato.gov: code enforcement multi family inspection program
novatofire.org: ordinances
novatofire.org: fire hazard severity zone maps
novato.org: showdocument

Novato for pros: a flat contractor license, instant permits, no street bins

Get job leads in Novato from today

You're on the hot list

Novato's flat contractor rate and a license you keep on you

Novato permits: express records, heritage trees, the fire district's code

Express permits that issue on the spot

Heritage trees and two ten-day clocks

Novato Fire's 2025 wildland code

Novato's 21,257 homes and the decade that built the most

Novato areas as the General Plan maps them

San Marin and the North area

Ignacio, Pacheco Valle and Pointe Marin

Downtown's Northwest Quadrant

Hamilton

Olive and Atherton avenues