Permitting Authorities / Alamance County - Inspections Department
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Alamance County, NC?
Adopted code
Alamance County - Inspections Department
No, Alamance County, NC does not require a permit for like-for-like roof replacement (Alamance County - Inspections Department). A like-for-like reroof of a single-family house in Alamance County's jurisdiction usually needs no building permit. State law, G.S. 160D-1110(c): no permit is required for work "costing forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or less and performed in accordance with the current edition of the North Carolina State Building Code in any single-family residence, farm building, or commercial building unless the work involves ... (1) The addition, repair, or replacement of load-bearing structures. ... (4) The use of materials not permitted by the North Carolina State Building Code. (5) The addition of roofing, excluding replacement." The North Carolina Residential Code, R908.3: "Replacement of up to 15% of the total roof deck shall not be considered structural work." The County's own FAQ lists "roof coverings with same materials" among cosmetic replacements for which "A permit is not required", and adds "Questions? Call or visit the Central Permitting Office." The FAQ speaks of the same materials; a change of roofing material is not addressed there, so call the office before switching, for example, from shingles to metal. Duplexes and multi-family buildings are not single-family residences and fall outside the statutory exemption. When a permit is needed, submit the Residential Building Permit Application by email to [email protected] or at the office at 1946 Martin Street, Burlington (336-290-0404); a photo ID must accompany every applicant signature. Roofing is not among the permit types the County's online portal accepts. All fees must be paid before an inspection can be requested. Work started without a required permit pays double the permit fee. The County serves unincorporated Alamance County, the Village of Alamance, and Elon, Gibsonville, Green Level, Haw River, Swepsonville and Ossipee; Burlington and Graham are not on that list, and Gibsonville addresses in Guilford County add 20% to the total fees.
Roof code checklist: Alamance County, NC
Each row comes from the sourced record on this page; full wording is in the table below. "Not published" means no official source for that item was found when the record was last verified.
Jurisdiction
Alamance County, North Carolina
Address
1946 Martin Street, Burlington, NC 27217
Contact
- url: https://inspections.alamancecountync.gov/
- phone: 336-290-0404
Roofing permit required
Not required
Registration details
- state_level: North Carolina licenses general contractors by job size. G.S. 87-1(a) reaches anyone who undertakes to construct "any building ... or any improvement or structure where the cost of the undertaking is forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more". Roofing is a specialty classification of that licence, "S(Roofing)", under the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors' rules (21 NCAC 12). G.S. 87-1(b)(2) exempts an owner who "constructs or alters a building on land owned by that person" where "the building is intended solely for occupancy by that person and his family" and the owner complies with G.S. 87-14; occupancy of less than 12 months after completion creates a presumption against the exemption. Whether a given reroof reaches the $40,000 line depends on the job's price, which this record does not decide.
- county_level: Alamance County sets no roofing credential of its own. Its Required Permits and Contractor Licensing pages still state the older $30,000 general-contractor figure ("General contractors for projects costing more than $30,000"); the statutory figure is now $40,000. The County's Residential Building Permit Application asks for the contractor's North Carolina License number and a County Control Number, requires a photo ID with every applicant signature, and carries an affidavit of workers' compensation coverage. A homeowner doing the work files the County's Owner Exemption Affidavit; the FAQ states the owner exemption applies to "single family dwellings only" and that "state law requires that the property be the owner's primary residence for at least twelve months after completion of the work." A $10 Homeowner's Recovery Fee applies to permits pulled by licensed general contractors.
Permit process note
A like-for-like reroof of a single-family house in Alamance County's jurisdiction usually needs no building permit. State law, G.S. 160D-1110(c): no permit is required for work "costing forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or less and performed in accordance with the current edition of the North Carolina State Building Code in any single-family residence, farm building, or commercial building unless the work involves ... (1) The addition, repair, or replacement of load-bearing structures. ... (4) The use of materials not permitted by the North Carolina State Building Code. (5) The addition of roofing, excluding replacement." The North Carolina Residential Code, R908.3: "Replacement of up to 15% of the total roof deck shall not be considered structural work." The County's own FAQ lists "roof coverings with same materials" among cosmetic replacements for which "A permit is not required", and adds "Questions? Call or visit the Central Permitting Office." The FAQ speaks of the same materials; a change of roofing material is not addressed there, so call the office before switching, for example, from shingles to metal. Duplexes and multi-family buildings are not single-family residences and fall outside the statutory exemption. When a permit is needed, submit the Residential Building Permit Application by email to
[email protected] or at the office at 1946 Martin Street, Burlington (336-290-0404); a photo ID must accompany every applicant signature. Roofing is not among the permit types the County's online portal accepts. All fees must be paid before an inspection can be requested. Work started without a required permit pays double the permit fee. The County serves unincorporated Alamance County, the Village of Alamance, and Elon, Gibsonville, Green Level, Haw River, Swepsonville and Ossipee; Burlington and Graham are not on that list, and Gibsonville addresses in Guilford County add 20% to the total fees.
Adopted code
Alamance County enforces the North Carolina State Building Code, which applies statewide; the Inspections Department describes its function as "the enforcement of the North Carolina State Building Code and local ordinances." The 2018 North Carolina Residential Code (based on the 2015 International Residential Code) with its approved amendments is the edition in force; the NC Office of State Fire Marshal states the 2018 codes "were effective from January 1, 2019 and are currently effective." The 2024 edition has been adopted but has no effective date. The County's Residential Plan Review Requirements sheet (2019) states that it "applies to all plans submitted under the 2018 NC Residential code." North Carolina's amendments rewrite two roofing provisions: R905.2.8.5 "Drip Edge. Deleted. Not required unless required by the roof covering manufacturer installation instructions." and R908.3 "Roof replacement shall include the removal of existing layers of roof coverings down to the roof deck and replacement of up to 15% of the total existing roof deck. Replacement of up to 15% of the total roof deck shall not be considered structural work." (delayed effective date January 1, 2022). Alamance County publishes no local amendment to the building code, and its Unified Development Ordinance (amended December 16, 2024) sets no roof-covering requirement.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — Neither the State's approved amendments to the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code nor Alamance County's Unified Development Ordinance contains a UL 2218 or Class 4 impact-rating requirement for roof coverings, and the County's permit, inspection and fee publications state none. North Carolina writes one building code for the whole state, and the County publishes no local amendment of its own. An insurer's discount for a Class 4 roof is not a code requirement.
Repair permit threshold
North Carolina law exempts most single-family reroofs from a building permit. G.S. 160D-1110(c): "No permit issued under Article 9 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes is required for any construction, installation, repair, replacement, or alteration costing forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or less and performed in accordance with the current edition of the North Carolina State Building Code in any single-family residence, farm building, or commercial building unless the work involves any of the following: (1) The addition, repair, or replacement of load-bearing structures. ... (4) The use of materials not permitted by the North Carolina State Building Code. (5) The addition of roofing, excluding replacement." G.S. 143-138(b5) says the same of the Building Code: "No permit shall be required under the Code or any local variance thereof approved under subsection (e)" for such work. The North Carolina Residential Code draws the structural line for a reroof at R908.3: "Roof replacement shall include the removal of existing layers of roof coverings down to the roof deck and replacement of up to 15% of the total existing roof deck. Replacement of up to 15% of the total roof deck shall not be considered structural work." So a reroof of a single-family house costing $40,000 or less, using code-approved materials and replacing no more than 15% of the deck and no load-bearing members, needs no permit; a job over $40,000, one that replaces more deck or any rafters or trusses, or one that adds roofing where there was none, needs one. The exemption reaches single-family residences, farm buildings and commercial buildings only; duplexes and multi-family buildings are outside it. Alamance County's Inspections Department FAQ (read September 26, 2026) lists among work for which "A permit is not required": "Replacement of non-structural, cosmetic building elements, such as: floor and wall coverings; moldings and trim; cabinets and casework; roof coverings with same materials, etc." The County's Required Permits page still states an older figure: "Building permits are not required for nonstructural work costing less than $15,000"; the statutory threshold has been $40,000 for permit applications since October 1, 2023. The County's 2026-2027 permit fee schedule (effective July 1, 2026) has no roofing or reroofing fee line; work that needs a permit and is started without one pays "twice the amount of the regular permit fee".
Roof layer limit / recover
North Carolina amends the reroofing section of its Residential Code. NC R908.3 Roof replacement: "Roof replacement shall include the removal of existing layers of roof coverings down to the roof deck and replacement of up to 15% of the total existing roof deck. Replacement of up to 15% of the total roof deck shall not be considered structural work." That amendment addresses a full replacement (tear-off to the deck); it states no number of layers allowed when re-covering over an existing roof. Alamance County publishes no local rule on roof layers.
Deck & sheathing requirements
North Carolina's reroof rule allows limited deck work within a roof replacement: "Roof replacement shall include the removal of existing layers of roof coverings down to the roof deck and replacement of up to 15% of the total existing roof deck. Replacement of up to 15% of the total roof deck shall not be considered structural work." (North Carolina Residential Code R908.3, as amended). Replacing more than 15% of the deck is structural work, which takes the job outside the state's permit exemption for single-family houses. The state's approved residential amendments (2017 to 2024) do not amend the roof sheathing section (R803), so the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code's roof sheathing provisions apply as printed; they are not restated here. Alamance County publishes no local sheathing rule of its own.
Sales & use tax
6.75% total in Alamance County (the 4.75% state rate plus Alamance County's local rate; no transit tax), per the NC Department of Revenue's current sales and use tax rates by county, read September 26, 2026. How it applies to a roofing job depends on whether the job is a replacement or a repair. NCDOR's taxability chart for Roofs and Roofing Materials classes "Complete replacement of roofing systems" as a Capital Improvement: that is a real property contract, and NCDOR states "The real property contractor is the consumer of the item that the real property contractor purchases, installs, or applies for others to fulfill a real property contract", so the roofer pays sales or use tax on the materials and does not charge sales tax on the contract. The same chart classes "Repair, maintain, or partially replace all types of roofing systems" as Taxable repair, maintenance and installation services, so a repair or partial replacement is taxed to the customer at the combined 6.75% rate.
More roof permit pages in North Carolina
Related guides
The Alamance County Inspections Department, at 1946 Martin Street in Burlington, issues building and trade permits and performs code inspections for unincorporated Alamance County, the Village of Alamance and the towns of Elon, Gibsonville, Green Level, Haw River, Swepsonville and Ossipee. The cities of Burlington and Graham are not on the County's list of places it serves.
Hail reports near the center of Alamance County, NC
- Reports, last 24 months
- 2
- Largest, last 24 months
- 1.25 in Apr 29, 2026
- Most recent
- Apr 29, 2026 1.25 in
- Reports, last 5 years
- 4
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database and daily storm reports (reports since the start of the current year are preliminary), within 10 miles of the center of Alamance County, NC. Data through Sep 30, 2026. A report is an observation, not a damage record.
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