Hot job leads · San Ramon

San Ramon for pros: one flat license fee, protected oaks, Sunday hours

San Ramon charges every contractor the same flat business license fee, from a one-person shop to a firm of more than 50, and a pro based at home also needs a Home Occupation Permit, which keeps equipment off-site or in a vehicle parked in the garage. Licenses, permits and inspections share one online portal. A native oak six inches across is protected on any lot, and work near homes may run on Sundays but never on federal holidays.

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New job: Plumbing in Dougherty Valley, San Ramon. See the job and the price before you pay: thehandymansflive.com/l/…

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Business license fee
One flat fee, the same for 5 or fewer or 50+ employees
Source: sanramon.ca.gov
Median home built
1993 (ACS 2019-2023)
Source: data.census.gov
Built 2000 or later
38.4% of 30,396 housing units
Source: data.census.gov
Weekend work hours
9am-6pm Sat and Sun in residential districts; no federal holidays
Source: online.encodeplus.com: doc viewer (opens in a new tab)

Working legally here

San Ramon's business license, and the rules for a home base

San Ramon requires a business license of everyone doing business in the city, contractors and independent contractors by name, and a firm working there from an office elsewhere needs one too. The 2026 application charges general businesses and contractors one flat fee, the same for five or fewer employees as for more than 50, and asks for your state contractor license number, its classifications and, if you have employees, your workers' compensation carrier. Once the completed application is in, with any other approvals in hand, you may start; the license arrives by mail within 30 business days and is good for one year from issue. A contractor with no permanent location keeps a copy on hand, and anyone listing a San Ramon home as the business address needs an approved Home Occupation Permit first.

Source: City of San Ramon, Business License Division

Permits

San Ramon permits: one portal, protected trees, fence and wall limits

  • Everything runs through the CSS portal

    Permitting in San Ramon is entirely online through the city's Citizen Self Service portal, the same account used for business licenses. You apply, estimate fees, request inspections and pay invoices there, and the city warns that a permit type cannot be changed once submitted, so choose carefully. Building inspectors take calls only from 7:30 to 8 a.m. on weekdays, then work in the field and return voicemails within one business day.

    Source: City of San Ramon, Building and Safety Services

  • Oaks and creekside trees need a removal permit

    The zoning code's tree chapter protects any native oak six inches or more in diameter at 54 inches above ground, any tree that size within 100 feet of a perennial stream or 50 feet of a seasonal one, and other mature trees of eight inches or more. On a single-family lot that cannot be subdivided further, only that last group is exempt; the oaks and creekside trees stay protected. Willow, fruit, eucalyptus, alder, cottonwood, pine and redwood trees are not protected at all.

    San Ramon Municipal Code, Division D5 (opens in a new tab)

  • Lattice-topped fences and benched retaining walls

    A side or rear fence may reach 7 feet without a Minor Use Permit when its top foot is open lattice the Zoning Administrator approves, and an architectural feature can rise 2 feet above a 6-foot fence, projecting no more than 18 inches from the posts. Height is measured from the lower natural grade, which may not be built up to gain height. An embankment over 48 inches must be benched into walls no taller than 48 inches with benches at least 24 inches deep, and a fence in a mapped flood area needs a building permit.

    San Ramon Municipal Code, Section D3-4 (opens in a new tab)

The homes

30,396 homes, nearly four in ten built since 2000

The ACS 2019-2023 estimates count 30,396 housing units in San Ramon, with a median year built of 1993. The 2000s were the biggest decade at 27.2 percent of units, 38.4 percent date from 2000 or later, and just 7.4 percent were standing before 1970. Detached houses are 63.9 percent of units and attached single-family homes 12.8 percent, while buildings of 20 or more units hold 10.0 percent. Owners occupy 70.5 percent of occupied homes. The houses run large: 36.2 percent have four bedrooms and 10.8 percent five or more. Utility gas heats 69.1 percent.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Waterfall Park in San Ramon
Waterfall Park in San Ramon. Photo: FASTILY, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part by part

San Ramon plan areas and what they mean on a job

  • Dougherty Valley

    The county's specific plan set density targets from rural lots under one home per acre to apartments near 30 per acre, with the denser blocks in the middle of the valley and the lightest on its rim. The Village Center, where the main branches of Alamo Creek meet, was planned at 20 or more units per acre, so a short drive takes you from condo flats to large-lot houses.

  • Faria Preserve, Northwest Specific Plan

    The plan covers about 350 acres on both sides of Bollinger Canyon Road, land outside the city limits when it was written, and mixes detached houses, townhomes, attached multi-family units and large-lot homes. A 2016 voter initiative cut Faria Preserve from 740 homes to 618 and turned one neighborhood from 302 rental apartments into no more than 180 age-targeted homes for sale.

  • The Westside hills

    The Westside Specific Plan, adopted in 1989 and amended in 1997 and 2022, covers about 3,300 acres of mostly open hillside at the city's western gateway and keeps building to roughly a fifth of it. Above 500 feet, slope sets the density, and nothing is built on slopes of 20 percent or more, so homes sit below protected ridgelines.

  • San Ramon Village, along San Ramon Valley Boulevard

    This 134-acre office and service commercial district, also called the Crow Canyon plan area, is planned to grow a mixed-use residential and retail village at its heart while keeping the service businesses that want to stay. For a pro that means shop, office and tenant work today, with new homes planned.

Getting around

A San Ramon workday: I-680, posted streets, weekend hours

City Hall and its Permit Center sit off the Bollinger Canyon Road exit of I-680. Section B6-100 of the municipal code bars construction or repair work in residential districts before 7:30 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on weekdays and before 9 a.m. or after 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and on federal holidays bars it altogether, pile drivers and hoists included. A street posted at least 24 hours ahead for construction, repair or cleaning is closed to parking, so check the signs before leaving a trailer overnight.

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Questions

Working in San Ramon: what pros ask

Can I run my contracting business from my San Ramon home?

Usually, with a Home Occupation Permit filed together with the business license. The city names contractor businesses as allowed where the work is done elsewhere and all equipment is stored off-site or in a vehicle kept in your garage. No clients may visit, nothing is stored outside, no employee or independent contractor reports to the house, and no sign shows. A move within the city means applying again.

Does San Ramon's building security code apply when I hang a new front door?

Not on an existing single-family house. Division C2 covers new construction, additions or alterations to buildings outside the R-3 occupancy group, and condominium conversions. Where it applies, wood exterior swinging doors, the garage-to-house door included, are solid-core and at least 1-3/4 inches thick or have panels of 9/16 inch or more, with a single-cylinder deadbolt throwing at least one inch, and a front door with no clear vision panel gets a 180-degree viewer.

Can handyman jobs in San Ramon run on a Sunday?

In residential districts, yes, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the same window as Saturday. Section B6-100 allows weekday work from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and none at all on holidays celebrated by the federal government, whatever the day of the week, so Memorial Day or the Fourth of July is a day off near homes.

If I buy an existing San Ramon business, does its license carry over?

No. The city's license is not transferable, so a new owner files a brand-new business license application together with the bill of sale. A change of address or other details goes on a separate change-of-information form, which the online portal cannot process, and a home-based business that moves within the city reapplies for both its permit and its license.

Does the hot list send only San Ramon work?

It sends every new job in the Bay Area, in any trade and any city, as a text between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. with the work type, the area and a link. Following the link shows the job and its price before anything is charged, you buy only the ones you want, there is no monthly fee, no bidding and no commission, and 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.

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