If you're selling a house on one side of the Sir Francis Drake corridor, and your neighbor a mile east sold last spring without a town inspection report, which rules apply to you? In Fairfax, the answer is three sets of rules, run by three separate agencies. One of them has to be finished before you can legally sign a purchase agreement.
That timing shapes everything else in a Fairfax sale. Most of the paperwork in a California home sale happens during escrow. Fairfax moves a large share of it to the weeks before the listing goes live. Since San Anselmo dropped its version of the town report this year, the gap between the two towns is now real. A seller who plans on San Anselmo's timeline can reach the offer stage with a document still missing.
The report that has to exist before anyone signs
The Town of Fairfax requires the owner of an improved residential property to get a Residential Building Record report before entering into an agreement to sell or exchange it. The only exception in the code is narrow. It covers a first sale within two years of a recorded subdivision map, so it rarely applies to an existing home.
The Town's process includes a records review and a visit to the property. The finished report covers zoning, permit history, any visible nonconformities or unpermitted work, and any toilets that need to be replaced with water-conserving models. The buyer has to receive it before the sale closes. It's valid for up to 12 months, and a one-time three-month extension is available for a third of the original filing fee, plus a special inspection fee if staff needs to come back out.
The Town's Master Fee Schedule, adopted by Resolution No. 25-24, lists these fiscal year 2025-26 fees for a Residential Resale Inspection:
| Property type | FY 2025-26 fee |
|---|---|
| Single-family home and multiple-unit structures | $469 |
| Each additional living unit | $94 |
| Condominium | $302 |
| Duplex | $570 |
The same schedule shows that fee going up a little every year since fiscal 2020-21. That fiscal year ended in June, so confirm the current amount with the Town when you apply.
The fee is the smallest part of this step. The bigger issue is what happens once the report finds something. When the sale is completed, the seller has to provide a settlement-charge statement that assigns each repair the report requires. If the buyer takes on a repair, the buyer has to pull permits within 30 days after close and finish the work within a reasonable time. If the seller keeps a repair, the seller needs those permits before close and has to start the work promptly.
That turns the report into a negotiating document. An unpermitted deck or a converted garage that turns up in the report becomes a permit obligation, and the contract has to name who owns it. When the report is in hand before the house goes on the market, the seller can decide how to handle it. When it shows up mid-negotiation, the buyer gets to frame it.
Next door, the same document went away in April
San Anselmo had run a nearly identical program since 1969. On March 13, 2026, the Marin Independent Journal reported that the Town Council had voted to repeal it. Councilmembers called it redundant, and real estate agents who spoke at the meeting pointed to overlap with private inspections and to the time the reports added to a sale. The formal repeal, Ordinance No. 2026-1199, was adopted March 24 and took effect 30 days later.
Public comment was split. One San Anselmo resident told the council the report had provided clarity for an informed decision. Councilmember Eileen Burke said, "I want to protect buyers." Burke, Mayor Steve Burdo and Vice Mayor Chantel Walker asked staff to come back with options for offering inspections as an optional paid service.
The same article puts Fairfax in context. According to the town staff report it cited, Ross, Tiburon, Fairfax, San Rafael and Belvedere all run similar programs. The process can take up to four weeks depending on the town, and fees across those programs range from $250 to $1,260. Corte Madera, Larkspur, Mill Valley and Sausalito do file-only reviews. Novato phased out its program in 2022, and unincorporated Marin County has never had one.
So the county is moving in two directions at once. Fairfax's ordinance still sits in the current 2026 edition of its municipal code. Fairfax and San Anselmo share a fire department and a sanitary district, but a Fairfax seller still needs the town report, and Ross Valley Fire still requires its resale inspection in Fairfax. Up to four weeks is a long time to add to a listing timeline, and it's enough to change the plan for a seller who was expecting a San Anselmo-style schedule.
The sewer test that follows the house past closing
The second requirement comes from the Ross Valley Sanitary District. Under RVSD's Ordinance 100, the seller has to coordinate a test of the private sewer lateral, the pipe running from the house to the public main, once the home is listed. A property that already holds a current Certificate of Compliance is exempt. A passing test earns a certificate that's good for 20 years.
The district's fee schedule sets the Lateral Permit fee.
Two parts of the ordinance matter most during a sale. First, the ordinance doesn't say who pays if the lateral fails. It says the buyer and seller have to agree on who handles the repair. Second, the repair and the district's final inspection have to be finished within 90 days of close of escrow. A repair can include adding a conforming cleanout and a backwater prevention device, along with the related district permits.
This is the one sign-off that can stay open after the keys change hands. That makes it a negotiating point, with the same dynamic as the Town report. A failed test with no price attached sits there as an unknown, and buyers tend to price unknowns conservatively. The ordinance lets an owner run a discretionary camera inspection before the formal test, to see whether the line is likely to pass. The district doesn't require a report from that preliminary look. A camera inspection doesn't replace the test, but it can give a seller a contractor's estimate to bring to the table.
The fire inspection that goes into your disclosures
The third requirement belongs to the Ross Valley Fire Department. Its resale inspection page says the inspection is no longer required in San Anselmo. It's still required for any single-family home listed for sale in Ross and Fairfax. Individual condominiums and townhomes are exempt unless the whole complex is being sold.
The inspection covers the exterior only and focuses mainly on wildfire hazards and vegetation. Because inspectors don't go inside, no appointment is needed. The report arrives by email, and the department says the report and its code requirements belong in the seller's disclosures. The page also notes that buyers are required to keep the property in compliance with vegetation management and wildfire codes after they purchase. The posted fee is $190, but the page dates that figure to July 2016, so confirm it when you pay. The department gives two different turnaround times. The resale page says inspections are completed within one week of application, and its FAQ says reports are done in three to five business days.
On a hillside lot, that report can turn into a list of vegetation work that a buyer reads alongside the inspection reports they ordered themselves. If you schedule it before photos and listing prep, any trimming it calls for can be done while the house is still being staged.
The three sign-offs side by side
| Town of Fairfax RBR | RVSD lateral test | Ross Valley Fire resale inspection | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Before a sale agreement | Coordinated at listing | Applied for at listing |
| What it covers | Permits, zoning, nonconformities, toilets | Sewer line from house to main | Exterior wildfire and vegetation items |
| Last published fee | $469, FY 2025-26 | See district fee schedule | $190, dated 2016 |
| Who pays for fixes | Assigned in the settlement statement | Negotiated by buyer and seller | Not specified on the department's pages |
| Can it stay open after close? | Buyer must pull permits within 30 days | Repairs due within 90 days | Buyer must keep property compliant |
An order that keeps the offer stage clean
- Apply for the Town RBR first. It's the only one of the three that can legally hold up a signed contract, and Marin's similar programs can take up to four weeks.
- Book the fire inspection during listing prep. It's quick and exterior-only, and any vegetation work it calls for can happen alongside staging.
- Consider a camera inspection of the sewer lateral before the formal RVSD test. That way a seller who's facing a repair has an estimate before buyers ask.
- Bring all three results to the pricing conversation. Repairs that are already found and assigned are easier to negotiate than ones that turn up after an offer.
Questions sellers ask about these requirements
Does a Fairfax condo need all three? Condos have their own Town resale fee, listed at $302 on the FY 2025-26 schedule. Ross Valley Fire exempts individual condos and townhomes unless the whole complex is sold. For the sewer lateral, check with RVSD, because Ordinance 100 has a separate section for common interest developments.
If my home passed a lateral test a few years ago, do I test again? A current Certificate of Compliance exempts the property from the sale-triggered test, and a certificate is valid for 20 years from the date it was issued.
Can repairs from the Town report wait until after closing? They can if the buyer agrees to take them on in the settlement statement. In that case the buyer has to pull permits within 30 days of closing.
Is there financial help for sewer lateral work? In 2023, the Town of Fairfax announced that RVSD was offering grants and loans for sewer lateral work. Ask the district directly whether any program is available now.
If you're planning to list in Fairfax this fall or next spring, the Town report is what sets your timeline. Let's put all three sign-offs on a calendar before the listing date is set. Erin Farber can walk you through what each report is likely to turn up on your property and how to handle it in negotiation. Let's connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
