ADU Surveys in San Rafael, CA

We provide ADU surveys in San Rafael, Marin County — stamped site plans, verified setbacks, average slope, and elevations for the height rules that decide whether a detached ADU clears review.

ADU Surveys in San Rafael: Local Conditions

San Rafael's ADU standards, in Municipal Code section 14.16.285, are dimensional and unforgiving. Maximum rear and side setbacks for a new or expanded ADU, attached or detached, are four feet. A detached ADU may go up to sixteen feet, or eighteen feet within a half mile of transit or on a lot with multi-story multifamily, with a roof pitch allowance for the transit-adjacent case. An attached ADU may reach twenty-five feet or the zoning district limit, whichever is lower, except in the Eichler-Alliance overlay district, where seventeen feet is the cap. The city's ADU data sheet asks for the parcel's zoning, lot size, existing and proposed lot coverage, building heights, and the average slope from GIS. Even the pre-approved plan program still needs a parcel-specific site plan.

None of those rules names a surveyor, and we will not claim San Rafael mandates one. What we will say is that four feet is measured from your legal line, not from the fence, and on lots subdivided a century ago in Gerstle Park or laid out around a curve in Terra Linda, the fence is frequently not the line. Average slope matters twice over: at twenty-five percent or greater the parcel picks up the hillside overlay in Chapter 14.12 and the design review that comes with it, so an ADU on a Dominican or Sun Valley slope is a different project than the same unit on a flat Eichler lot. Height is measured from grade, which means grade has to be surveyed. And field inspectors commonly want a surveyor to verify foundation forms before the pour.

One scanning visit answers all of it: boundary resolved from monuments and record, existing structures and the proposed ADU footprint dimensioned to the lines, trees and driveways located, contours where slope is in play, and datum-referenced elevations where a Canal-area parcel touches a flood zone. Deliverables are a stamped site plan base map, a layered DWG your designer can build on, and staked corners. See our San Rafael topographic surveys and ADU survey requirements in the Bay Area.

Full service details, process, and deliverables: ADU Surveys & Site Plans for Permit Applications · All surveying in San Rafael: San Rafael land surveying

What's Included

Scaled site plan base map matching city ADU checklists
Boundary verification — 4-ft setbacks measured from the true line, not the fence
Property corners staked for design and construction
1-foot contours and drainage data for sloped lots
Easement and utility locations from record research
CAD-ready DWG base file your designer builds on directly
Foundation form verification when the inspector requires it

Our Process

Checklist Review

We confirm your city's ADU submittal requirements — site plan content, survey triggers, slope and drainage items — so the survey is scoped to what plan check will actually ask for.

Boundary & Records Research

We research your deed, recorded maps, and easements, then locate existing monuments to establish where your property lines actually are.

Site Survey

One laser-scanned site visit captures structures, hardscape, trees, utilities, and terrain — spot elevations and contours included where the lot slopes or the city requires them.

Deliverables

You receive a stamped site plan base map and layered DWG file sized to your city's checklist, with property corners staked on the ground for your designer and builder.

ADU Surveys in San Rafael: FAQ

The city does not publish a blanket surveyor requirement for ADU permits, and we will not tell you otherwise. But the standards are dimensional: four-foot setbacks from the legal property line, height limits of sixteen, eighteen, or twenty-five feet depending on type and location, and a data sheet asking for lot size, coverage, and average slope. Those are survey answers, and starting an ADU with a comprehensive survey is the cheapest way to get them right.

Because at twenty-five percent or greater, or in the hillside residential designations, the parcel falls under the Chapter 14.12 hillside overlay and its design review, which changes the process, the schedule, and often the design. The city asks for the average slope on the ADU data sheet, and that number comes from contour data. We produce contours from scanned ground so the figure is defensible rather than estimated.

An attached ADU there is capped at seventeen feet rather than the usual twenty-five, so the height calculation gets tight and the grade it is measured from matters. Terra Linda Eichler lots are relatively flat, which helps, but a foot of misjudged existing grade is the whole margin. We survey existing grade at the building footprint and give your designer numbers to design against.

Need ADU Surveys in San Rafael?

Call (510) 543-2220 or request a quote — we'll scope your San Rafael project and give you a fixed price.

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