Building and Planning Services Coronavirus Health Order and Restrictions on Construction
On March 31, 2020, the Marin County Health Officer extended the shelter-in-place order (“Public Health Order”) through May 3, 2020. Among changes made are additional restrictions placed on construction activities. With the exception of “essential” construction, most existing construction activities are suspended in order to reduce travel and human exposure consistent with the Public Health Order.
Essential construction is defined as:
- Projects immediately necessary to the maintenance, operation or repair of Essential Infrastructure, such as telecommunications, utilities, public transportation;
- Projects associated with Healthcare Operations, including creating or expanding Healthcare Operations, provided that such construction is directly related to the COVID-19 response;
- Affordable housing that is or will be income-restricted, including multi-unit or mixed-use developments containing at least 10% income-restricted units;
- Public works projects if specifically designated as an Essential Governmental Function by the lead governmental agency, such as road or facility repair necessary to maintain functionality of the road or facility;
- Shelters and temporary housing, but not including hotels or motels;
- Projects immediately necessary to provide critical non-commercial services to individuals experiencing homelessness, elderly persons, persons who are economically disadvantaged, and persons with special needs;
- Construction necessary to ensure that existing construction sites that must be shut down under this Order are left in a safe and secure manner, but only to the extent necessary to do so; and
- Construction or repair necessary to ensure that residences and buildings containing Essential Businesses are safe, sanitary, or habitable to the extent such construction or repair cannot reasonably be delayed.
We understand that the above answers do not cover all possible cases. Please contact the Building Official by email at: mlockaby@townoffairfax.org or phone at 415-458-2370 if you have questions regarding the applicability of the Public Health Order to your specific construction site. Your urgent and sincere cooperation with the Public Health Order is thankfully appreciated by the management and staff of the Fairfax Building and Planning Department. Although you may be working on a small project that seems inconsequential, there are hundreds of active building permits in Fairfax. For that reason, a collective effort to reduce travel and human exposure is essential to moving beyond the current shelter-in-place order and allowing construction to proceed as soon as possible.