Does Novato make us pull a permit to repaint the house?
No. The Building Division's guide lists painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and counter tops among the work exempt from a building permit, taking the list from California Building Code Section A105.2. The same guide says an exemption does not relieve anyone from complying with other codes, regulations and local ordinances. So the repaint skips the building counter while the federal lead rule, the water district's hosing ban and the county's stormwater rules all still apply.
The painter found dry rot in our fascia. Is that still part of the paint job?
Not as the city sees it. Termite and dry rot repair sits on the permit-required side of Novato's Building Permit Guide, next to siding replacements and new or replacement windows, while the paint that goes over them is exempt. Ask for the repair to be quoted and permitted as its own piece of work. The pressure-treated boards that come off cannot go to the Novato hazardous waste facility either: treated wood waste is sent to a site on the state toxics department's list.
Can the crew pressure-wash the siding and rinse the driveway after?
Washing the walls, yes. Rinsing the driveway into the gutter, no. North Marin Water District's Regulation 15 prohibits direct hosing of driveways, walkways and other hard surfaces when the runoff reaches a gutter or storm drain. Marin's painters' sheet adds that process water and paint removed by a power washer must be collected in a tank and strained of all chips before it goes to a sanitary sewer. Latex brushes and rollers are washed in a bucket or sink.
Where does leftover paint go from a Novato house?
To the household hazardous waste facility at 7576 Redwood Boulevard, run by the Novato Sanitary District, open two Sundays and two Mondays a month with no appointment needed for residents. It takes oil and latex paint, stains, solvents and spray cans. The county's San Rafael facility is for Marin residents other than Novato's, so it is not the fallback. Empty latex cans, once dried out, go in the blue single-stream cart.
Our Novato house dates from 1971. Does the year change the prep?
Yes, and it is the common case here: the Housing Element puts 45.3 percent of the city's homes in the years 1960 to 1979. Paid work disturbing paint in a home built before 1978 falls under the federal renovation rule, so the firm has to be certified by EPA and use renovators trained in lead-safe practices. Marin's painters' sheet is stricter again, treating paint applied before 1972 as a hazardous material. Without records showing the paint is lead-free, it is handled as though it is not.
Is our Bel Marin Keys house inside the City of Novato?
No. Novato's Code Enforcement page states that the residential portion of Bel Marin Keys is not within the city limits, and it names other Novato-addressed stretches that are not either: Center Road from 2566 up, Trish Drive from 108 up, Indian Valley Road from 1526 up, parts of Atherton Avenue and Olive Avenue, and Ignacio. A repaint needs no permit anywhere, but once the job grows into repair, ask Marin County rather than the city.
