Handyman Jobs in San Rafael: Tax, Hours and Street Permits

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Working legally here

San Rafael's business tax certificate, one quarter at a time

San Rafael calls its business license a business tax certificate and requires one from anyone doing business inside city limits, even with the office outside them, and a worker paid on a 1099 counts as an independent contractor who needs one too. Municipal Code 10.04.105 charges contractors a base amount plus a sum per employee, or a gross receipts schedule, whichever is greater. A contractor from outside the city gets a quarterly license by default, reports receipts from the start of the job to the end of that quarter, and renews only for quarters when he has San Rafael work or is pulling permits with Building or Public Works. A general contractor may leave what he paid subs out of his receipts by naming them, but every sub needs a certificate of his own.

City of San Rafael, Business Tax Division (opens in a new tab)

Permits

San Rafael permits beyond the building counter

Public Works encroachment permits
Public Works requires an encroachment permit whenever a property owner, business or contractor works in the city right-of-way, including just storing or staging materials there, and now processes these permits on OpenGov. A minor temporary permit covers a debris box or storage container in the street, scaffolding, tree trimming by owners or their contractors, curb and sidewalk work, and painting or washing a building exterior next to the street. The company supplying a box must hold a San Rafael business license, the box may stay two weeks at most, and one per site is the limit. A box in a driveway that keeps off the sidewalk needs no permit.
City of San Rafael, Public Works (opens in a new tab)
Landmarks and three small historic districts
The Historic Preservation Ordinance, Chapter 2.18, sends exterior changes or demolition of a designated landmark, or of a building inside a historic district, to the Planning Commission. San Rafael has sixteen landmarks, among them the Flatiron Building at 724 B Street and Falkirk at 1408 Mission Avenue, and three districts: the Victorian Village at 1623-27 Fifth Avenue, the French Quarter at 901-911 Irwin Street, and 1811-1817 Grand Avenue. The 305 sites on the Historical/Architectural Survey, last updated in 1986, are presumed significant, so show exterior work on any of them to a planner first.
City of San Rafael, Planning Division (opens in a new tab)
Hillside lots and the three-for-one tree rule
A residential parcel with an average slope over 25 percent carries the -H overlay, and new development or additions on it need design review under Chapters 14.12 and 14.25. The planning handout caps accessory structures there at 15 feet, keeps a set share of the lot in its natural state, and requires three new trees for every significant tree removed: an oak of 6 inches, or any other tree of 12 inches, measured at four and a half feet. The city recommends meeting a planner before plans are drawn for a deck or addition on a hill lot.
City of San Rafael, Planning Division (opens in a new tab)

The homes

24,212 homes, split almost evenly between owners and renters

The ACS 2019-2023 estimates count 24,212 housing units in San Rafael, with a median year built of 1968. The 1960s are the biggest decade at 21.0 percent, the 1950s and 1970s add 18.0 and 18.3, and 9.8 percent were standing before 1940. Detached houses account for 46.9 percent of units, buildings of 2 to 19 units for 26.4 percent and buildings of 20 or more for 16.3 percent. Owners occupy 51.8 percent of occupied homes and renters 48.2, so a large share of repair work is ordered by landlords and property managers rather than the people living there. Utility gas heats 62.2 percent of homes and electricity 32.9 percent.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Albert Park in San Rafael. Photo: Mx. Granger, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part by part

San Rafael neighborhoods in the General Plan 2040

The Canal District
South of the San Rafael Canal and east of Highway 101, the Canal is the city's highest-density neighborhood, home to roughly one in five residents on two percent of its land. Most of its housing is two- and three-story apartment complexes built in the 1960s and 70s, so jobs usually come through owners and managers.
Downtown
The Downtown Precise Plan covers the blocks from where Second and Fourth streets meet east to Montecito Plaza and from Mission Avenue down to the Canal. Its historic inventory names about 100 eligible properties, and two of the city's three historic districts, the French Quarter at Third and Irwin and the Victorian Village at Fifth and F, sit here.
Dominican/Black Canyon
Around Dominican University's 80-acre campus, single-family homes, some built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, sit among big trees and landscaped yards, with duplexes and a few condominiums mixed in. Creeks from the open space above run through the yards and the campus, which matters for drainage and fence work.
Peacock Gap
On the San Pedro Peninsula, Peacock Gap began as a master-planned community of single-family homes and townhomes around a golf club, and nearby Marin Bay Park, Chapel Cove and Ridge of San Rafael share its character. The General Plan expects little change there beyond owner upgrades and calls the area vulnerable to wildfire and flooding.

Getting around

A San Rafael workday: deliveries count, meter bags, weekday inspections

Section 8.13.050 allows construction, repair and deliveries of materials from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, never on Sundays or holidays, at no more than 90 dBA past the property line; a violation can bring a stop-work order of up to two days. Building inspectors are in the field Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. To hold curb space, post no-parking signs at least 72 hours ahead, and bag the meters before a box goes in a metered space; Parking Services issues both at City Hall on Fifth Avenue and at the Albert J. Boro Community Center.

How hot leads work

From the first text to the homeowner's door

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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 San Rafael: what pros ask

Do I need a San Rafael business license for a two-week job if my shop is in Santa Rosa?

Yes. The business tax covers anyone doing business within city limits, wherever the office is. As an out-of-town contractor you get a quarterly license by default and report gross receipts from the day the job starts to the end of that quarter. In a later quarter with no San Rafael work and no permits to pull, you do not have to renew.

Does my sub need his own San Rafael certificate?

Yes. The tax chapter requires every subcontractor working in the city to hold a license under the same title. A general contractor can subtract what he paid his subs from his own gross receipts, but only by giving the city each sub's name, address and the amount paid. Someone paid on a 1099 rather than as an employee counts as an independent contractor and needs one as well.

Can I start sanding a San Rafael house at 8 on a Saturday?

No. Construction and repair may run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and the same window applies to deliveries of materials. The longer owner hours, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 to 6 on weekends and holidays, are written for work a property owner does personally, with family or friends helping.

Do I need a permit to pressure wash a storefront on Fourth Street?

If the wall is next to the public sidewalk or street, yes. Public Works lists painting or washing building exteriors adjacent to the right-of-way among the jobs that need a minor temporary encroachment permit, alongside scaffolding and short sidewalk closures. Apply on OpenGov, where Public Works permits are now handled, before the equipment arrives.

Are handyman jobs in San Rafael the only ones the hot list sends?

No. The hot list texts every new Bay Area job as it goes on sale, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., whatever the trade or the city, with the type of work, the area and a link. The link shows the job and its price before you pay, and you are charged only for the jobs you take. There is no subscription, no bidding and no commission, and replying STOP ends the texts.

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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.

What San Rafael asks of a pro who works there but is based elsewhere

Get job leads in San Rafael from today

You're on the hot list

San Rafael's business tax certificate, one quarter at a time

San Rafael permits beyond the building counter

Public Works encroachment permits

Landmarks and three small historic districts

Hillside lots and the three-for-one tree rule

24,212 homes, split almost evenly between owners and renters

San Rafael neighborhoods in the General Plan 2040

The Canal District

Downtown

Dominican/Black Canyon

Peacock Gap