ADU Surveys in Novato, CA

Novato allows an ADU on any lot that permits single-family or multifamily residential use and has a proposed or existing dwelling, and a JADU on lots developed with a single-family dwelling. State law splits units into two categories the city treats differently: limited standard ADUs under Government Code section 66323, capped at 800 square feet, to which the city cannot apply standards beyond those the statute prescribes, and traditional standard ADUs, subject to Novato's local standards in NMC sections 19.34.030 and 19.34.031. For attached and detached units those local standards set side, rear, and street-side setbacks of four feet, a detached height limit of 16 feet (18 feet within a half mile of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor), and a maximum of 850 square feet for a studio or one-bedroom unit and 1,000 square feet with two or more bedrooms.

Four feet is the number that makes a survey worth the money. A four-foot setback is measured from the legal property line, and fences in Novato's postwar tracts are routinely off by a foot or more — enough to turn a compliant plan into a violation, or to cost you buildable width you actually own. Inspectors verify foundation forms in the field, and correcting a form line is cheap while correcting a poured foundation is not. Our scanner captures the whole yard in one visit: existing house, accessory structures, trees, utilities, fences, retaining walls, and neighbor eave and ridge heights measured rather than estimated, on the same coordinate basis as the boundary.

Elevations come back on NAVD88, which matters because the city directs applicants to Novato Sanitary District, North Marin Water District, Novato Fire Protection District, and Public Works for site-specific requirements such as flood zone and wildland-urban-interface conditions. See Novato topographic surveys and our Bay Area ADU survey guide.