Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Arlington, TX?

City of Arlington, Texas

city

101 W. Abram Street, 2nd Floor, Arlington, TX 76010

Required

Required

Per the city's Re-Roof Permits technical bulletin: "A building permit is required to replace roof covering materials (re-roof) except when the replacement area is 10 percent or less of the roof area." "All contractors must be registered to perform work in the City of Arlington." Reroof applications are submitted online at ap.arlingtontx.gov and require an application, a site plan, and a re-roof worksheet; the permit must be issued and posted at the job site before work starts. All re-roofing, even work that falls under the 10-percent exemption, must still meet code provisions such as flashing and drip-edge requirements.

An insulation inspection is required if insulation is installed above the deck, verified by the inspector prior to concealment. At final inspection, the inspector verifies no more than one existing layer of asphalt or composition shingles has been covered over, that plumbing vents, CSST gas piping, and flue gas exhaust vents are unobstructed, and that vent flashing, metal edgings, drain outlets, and counter flashings have been replaced as necessary. Homeowners may waive the city's attic inspection by submitting a signed, notarized "Certificate of Final Roof Inspection" affidavit instead.

"The City of Arlington has adopted the 2021 I-Codes, the 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC), and the Unified Development Code (UDC) for building material and height requirements, setbacks, and construction methods." Residential roof decking, drip edge, and ventilation requirements are enforced per the 2021 IRC; the city's amendments do not require ice barrier underlayment.

Required About drip edge

Not required — Ice barrier underlayment is not required in Arlington: the city's own amendments to the 2021 IRC do not require it, and the city cites the region's lack of a history of ice damming. Residential roof decking, drip edge, and ventilation requirements are enforced per the 2021 IRC. (City of Arlington Re-Roof Permits & Inspections technical bulletin.) About ice & water barrier

Not required — The "Construction" Chapter of the Code of the City of Arlington, Article I "Building Code" -- which adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at Section 1.02 and carries the city's local amendments to it at Section 1.04(D), as amended by Ordinance No. 22-055 adopted November 1, 2022 -- was read in full. Arlington amends the roofing chapter in two places, both concerned with fire: Section R902.1 as amended requires Class A, B or C roofing tested in accordance with ASTM E108 and UL 790, and an added exception permits non-classified roof coverings on one-story detached accessory structures of not more than 120 square feet. A fire rating is a different test from impact resistance. Arlington does impose a Class 4 requirement elsewhere, and it does not reach houses: Ordinance No. 25-075, enacted in 2025 and pending codification, adds Green Building Performance Standards requiring UL 2218 or FM 4473 Class 4 hail resistance, but it applies only to multi-family and residential mixed-use development and supplements Chapter 15 of the International Building Code rather than the residential code. No UL 2218 or Class 4 impact requirement applies to a one- or two-family dwelling under the city's adopted residential code or its amendments.

"A building permit is required to replace roof covering materials (re-roof) except when the replacement area is 10 percent or less of the roof area."

8.25% combined (6.25% state + 2.00% City of Arlington; no special-purpose district or transit-authority add-on), the Texas local-rate cap. Texas collects no construction use tax at building-permit issuance; use tax, when owed, is self-assessed by the purchaser and remitted directly to the Comptroller's office rather than collected by a city or county permit office (Comptroller Use Tax guidance, comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/sales/use-tax.php). Under Comptroller guidance for real property repair and remodeling, "Labor to repair, remodel, or restore residential real property is not taxable"; on the lump-sum contract typical of residential re-roofing, "you pay tax on all your supplies, materials, equipment, and taxable services when you buy them. You don't charge your customer tax" (Comptroller Pub. 94-116, Real Property Repair and Remodeling, comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/94-116.php) -- so the combined rate above is the roofer's own cost basis on materials purchased, not a rate charged to the homeowner.