The Roofing Book

Permitting Authorities / Georgia / City of Atlanta, Georgia - Department of City Planning, Office of Buildings

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Atlanta, GA?

Adopted code

City of Atlanta, Georgia - Department of City Planning, Office of Buildings

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Atlanta, GA, issued by City of Atlanta, Georgia - Department of City Planning, Office of Buildings. A PERMIT IS NEEDED FOR A SHINGLE REPLACEMENT. Section 103.4(a)(i) of Atlanta Land Development Code Appendix A exempts only "Non-structural re-roofing repairs excluding truss repairs or shingle replacement provided that upon replacement no more than three layers of shingles remain", and Section 104.2(m), item h, sets a dedicated fee: "Re-roofing of existing structures—Minimum fee .....$360.00". Starting without the permit costs more: Section 104.2(d) provides that "A fee of double the usual permit fee will be charged for all building begun without a permit. However, in no case shall the penalty portion of said fee exceed $1,000.00." Atlanta permit applications are handled by the Department of City Planning's Office of Buildings through its Zoning, Development and Permitting Services. The permit-scope provisions are Appendix A (Building Code Amendments), Chapter I, Section 103 (Application for Permit, including 103.1 "When required" and 103.4 "Work exempt from permit") and Section 104 (Permits, with the fee schedule at 104.2). Section 103.1 makes it unlawful to "alter or repair" a building "without first obtaining a building permit in conformity with Section 104, unless said structure is specifically exempted by this Code." Exterior work on a landmark or historic-district property under Chapter 20 of the zoning ordinance also needs a certificate of appropriateness once the repair valuation reaches $2,500.00.

Roof code checklist: Atlanta, GA

ItemAnswerCode citeSourceVerified
Permit to replace a roofYeslibrary.municode.com2026-09-23
Repair permit thresholdPublishedlibrary.municode.com2026-09-23
Layer limit / roof-overPublishedapi.municode.com2026-09-23
Deck & sheathingPublishedR905.2.1dca.georgia.gov2026-09-05
Drip edgeYesR905.2.8.5dca.georgia.gov2026-09-05
Ice & water shieldNot published
Mid-roof inspectionNot published
Impact-resistant (Class 4) roofingNodca.georgia.gov2026-07-25
Wind design criteriaNot published
Adopted codePublishedSec. 101.8dca.georgia.gov2026-09-05
Contractor license / registrationNot published
Sales & use taxPublisheddor.georgia.gov2026-07-25

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
City of Atlanta, Georgia
Jurisdiction type
city
Address
Atlanta, GA
Contact
  • url: https://www.atlantaga.gov/government/departments/city-planning/about-dcp/office-of-buildings
Roofing permit required
Required
Registration details
  • state_level: STATEWIDE, AND IT TURNS ON WHAT KIND OF CONTRACTOR YOU ARE RATHER THAN ON THE TRADE. Georgia licenses residential and commercial general contractors through the State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 41, created by House Bill 1003 of 2004 and amended since, including by Senate Bill 115 of 2007 and Senate Bill 503 of 2024. There is no Georgia licence titled roofer: the chapter creates residential-basic, residential-light commercial and commercial general contractor licences and no roofing class, and O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(e) names the Chapter 14 trades it deals with as plumbing, conditioned air contracting, utility contracting, electrical contracting and low-voltage contracting, which does not include roofing. Section 43-41-17(a) provides that "No person, whether an individual or a business organization, shall have the right to engage in the business of residential contracting or commercial general contracting without a current, valid residential contractor license or commercial general contractor license, respectively", a requirement in force since July 1, 2008. What pulls a roofing job inside that requirement is a definition rather than a trade: O.C.G.A. 43-41-2(9) makes a person a residential contractor where the work falls into the residential-basic or residential-light commercial category and "the total value of the work or activity or of the compensation to be received by the contractor for such activity or work, whichever is the higher, exceeds $2,500.00". That figure is per job, taken on the higher of work value or compensation; it is not an annual figure, not a materials-only figure, and not specific to roofing. TWO EXCEPTIONS REACH ROOFING AND NEITHER IS A DOLLAR TEST. The first is the specialty-contractor exception at O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(f), which begins "Nothing in this chapter shall preclude a specialty contractor from offering or contracting to perform or undertaking or performing for an owner limited, specialty, or specific trade contractor work". As Chapter 41 was first enacted in 2004 that sentence carried on to confine the exception to work that put no part of the job under anyone but the contractor's own direct employees; Senate Bill 115 struck that limitation out in 2007, so the exception no longer states a supervision test. In its place the same subsection directs that "The board shall, by rule or policy, identify specialty contractors or other criteria to determine eligibility under the exemption of this subsection." Senate Bill 115 set a January 1, 2008 deadline for that, which Senate Bill 503 of 2024 deleted. The second is the repair exception at O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(g): "Nothing in this chapter shall preclude a person from offering or contracting to perform or undertaking or performing for an owner repair work, provided that the person performing the repair work discloses to the owner that such person does not hold a license under this chapter and provided, further, that such work does not affect the structural integrity of the real property." The board defined repair at Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 553-8-.01 to mean "fixing, mending, maintenance, replacement or restoring of a part or portions of real property to good condition", on four conditions: written disclosure to the owner that the person is not licensed as a residential or general contractor, no delegation of supervision to anyone but employees, work that does not affect the life safety requirements or structural integrity of the property, and obtaining the permits and inspections the local authority requires. Whether a full tear-off and replacement is repair within that definition is a legal question neither the statute nor the rule answers. WHAT THE BOARD HAS SAID ABOUT ROOFERS, AND WHERE IT STOPS. No rule identifying specialty contractors was ever made: the board's regulations at Department 553 of the Georgia Administrative Code run twelve chapters - organisation, examination exemption, qualifications for licensure in each division, procedural rules, fees, written warranty, definitions, disciplinary action, inactive licence, changes in status, and licence renewal and continuing education - and not one of them names a trade. Since Senate Bill 115 the same subsection has also let an exempt specialty contractor take on work that would otherwise need a licence "where the total scope of the work to be performed is predominantly of the type for which such specialty contractor is duly recognized as exempt under this subsection by the board, provided that such other work involved is incidental to and an integral part of the exempt work performed by the specialty contractor and does not exceed the greater of $10,000.00 or 25 percent of the total value at the time of contracting of the work to be performed". The statute allowed policy as the alternative to a rule, and the board has published it on its own site, sos.ga.gov. Its "Traditional Specialty Contractors Policy Statements" (revised 03/06/20) list Flat Roofing, Sheet Metal Roofing, Shingles and Shakes, and Gutters and Downspouts among the specialty categories, and state that "Traditional specialty contractors will not be required to carry a residential or general contractor license but will be required to comply with all applicable national, state, and local codes and ordinances." Its "Limited Service Specialty Contractors Policy Statements" (revised 01/31/12) list "Re-Roofing of Existing Structures" as a separate limited-service category whose allowable work is rooftop equipment, demolition and remediation, adding: "You may be required to hold a contractor license if your company exceeds this scope of work." Both documents say "The following list is under development and subject to change." So a roofer whose job is predominately shingle, flat or sheet-metal roofing, with any other work incidental to it and inside the statute's $10,000.00-or-25-percent limit, is within the board's published specialty categories, which the board says do not require the residential or general contractor licence; a job that goes beyond that scope can bring the licence requirement back. The list is the board's policy rather than a rule and can change, so where a job is marginal, put its scope to the board before bidding. Two state publications say the same in general terms: the board's consumer handout "TIPS FOR CONSUMERS", which Cherokee County gives out at its permit counter, says specialty services "do not require that the person be licensed" and names roofers, and the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division says "certain specialty occupations such as roofers, painters, drywall contractors, and repair handymen are not required to be licensed by the state"; Johns Creek's building guidance notes "exceptions for limited specialty contractors such as pool and retaining wall installers, roofers, etc." THE SANCTION IS WHY THIS IS WORTH SETTLING BEFORE YOU SIGN. Under O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(b) a contract entered into on or after July 1, 2008 for work for which a licence is required, between an owner and a contractor who does not hold one, "shall be unenforceable in law or in equity by the unlicensed contractor", and "no lien or bond claim shall exist in favor of the unlicensed contractor for any labor, services, or materials provided under the contract". AND ONE THING THE STATE DOES TO THE LOCAL LAYER. O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(c) provides that "no municipality or county may require any such person licensed under this chapter to comply with any additional licensing requirements imposed by such municipality or county relative to the performance of construction work subject to the licensing requirements under this chapter", while preserving a local licence, registration or certification requirement already "in effect and operation as of the effective date of this chapter or July 1, 2004, whichever is earlier" - and even then the local requirement may not shut a state-licensed contractor out of the jurisdiction. So where a Georgia city or county credential is pressed against a state-licensed contractor, the date the local scheme was adopted is the test.
  • city_level: NOT ESTABLISHED. Whether this city runs a contractor registration or licensing scheme of its own, on top of the state position above, was not researched when this field was written, and no negative is asserted here. The question is a real one rather than a formality: O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(c), quoted above, contemplates a Georgia local licensing, registration or certification requirement that can bind even a state-licensed contractor where the scheme was in effect and operation on or before July 1, 2004, and it leaves untouched whatever a local government asks of a contractor who is not state licensed. Separately, Georgia cities and counties levy an occupation tax and issue a business licence for it; that is ordinary business taxation rather than a trade credential, but it will stop a permit just as effectively, and many Georgia jurisdictions will not issue it until a Title 43 state licence has been produced. Put both questions to this city's building department and its business-licence office before bidding.
Permit process note
A PERMIT IS NEEDED FOR A SHINGLE REPLACEMENT. Section 103.4(a)(i) of Atlanta Land Development Code Appendix A exempts only "Non-structural re-roofing repairs excluding truss repairs or shingle replacement provided that upon replacement no more than three layers of shingles remain", and Section 104.2(m), item h, sets a dedicated fee: "Re-roofing of existing structures—Minimum fee .....$360.00". Starting without the permit costs more: Section 104.2(d) provides that "A fee of double the usual permit fee will be charged for all building begun without a permit. However, in no case shall the penalty portion of said fee exceed $1,000.00." Atlanta permit applications are handled by the Department of City Planning's Office of Buildings through its Zoning, Development and Permitting Services. The permit-scope provisions are Appendix A (Building Code Amendments), Chapter I, Section 103 (Application for Permit, including 103.1 "When required" and 103.4 "Work exempt from permit") and Section 104 (Permits, with the fee schedule at 104.2). Section 103.1 makes it unlawful to "alter or repair" a building "without first obtaining a building permit in conformity with Section 104, unless said structure is specifically exempted by this Code." Exterior work on a landmark or historic-district property under Chapter 20 of the zoning ordinance also needs a certificate of appropriateness once the repair valuation reaches $2,500.00.
Adopted code
STATE-GOVERNED IN ITS TECHNICAL CONTENT, BUT ATLANTA WRITES TWO ROOFING RULES OF ITS OWN. Georgia's residential construction standard is the Georgia State Minimum Standard One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, which is the 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) with Georgia Amendments (the "Georgia State Amendments to the International Residential Code (2024 Edition), Revised January 1, 2026" packet issued by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs). Per O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a), the codes enumerated as mandatory in O.C.G.A. 8-2-20(9) have state-wide application and do not require adoption by a municipality or county; DCA's own guidance states that "Georgia law gives the enumerated codes statewide applicability, so it is not required that local governments have to adopt the mandatory codes," and that local governments must instead adopt administrative procedures in order to enforce them. A local government may adopt local amendments only where they are MORE stringent than the state minimum, only where justified by local climatic, geologic, topographic or public safety factors, and only after submitting the proposed amendment to DCA and filing the adopted amendment with the department. CITY LAYER: Atlanta's own amendments are collected in Appendix A, "Building Code Amendments," Chapter I, of Part III of the Code of Ordinances (Land Development Code). That appendix has twelve sections, 101 through 1301, and all twelve were read for this entry. Most of it is administrative - Sections 103 (Application for Permit) and 104 (Permits) are where the city's permit triggers, exemptions and fees live - but two of the twelve are substantive roofing rules that a roofer planning an Atlanta job has to know about, and neither of them comes from the IRC. (1) Section 1300, "ROOFING REFLECTANCE STANDARDS," adopted by Ordinance No. 2025-18(25-O-1310) on 6-11-25 and amended by Ordinance No. 2026-09(26-O-1154) on 3-11-26, provides at 1300.1 that "The provisions of this section shall apply to all new building construction and roof replacements." Under 1300.2(a), unless an exception applies, roof coverings over conditioned spaces on steep-slope roofs (roof slope > 2:12) must be constructed of materials that achieve "A 3-year aged solar reflectance not less than 0.21 as determined by the ANSI/CRRC S100 Standard or as certified to the City of Atlanta by the manufacturer" or "A 3-year aged solar reflectance index not less than 20" on the same basis; for low-slope roofs (roof slope ≤ 2:12) the figures are 0.70 and 85. The exceptions at 1300.2(c) cover vegetated roof areas and the equipment maintaining them, roof areas used as outdoor recreation space, roof areas holding equipment required by the International Fire Code, roof areas that are 3% or less of the building's gross floor area, and "Repairs to existing roofs that do not require full replacement of the structure's roof." Practical effect: a full Atlanta roof replacement has to use a covering that meets the reflectance figure, while a repair short of full replacement does not. (2) Section 101.8, "APPLICATION TO EXISTING BUILDINGS," subsection (h), provides that repairs and alterations not covered by the preceding paragraphs may be made with the same kind of materials as those of which the building is constructed, "but not more than twenty-five (25) percent of the roof covering of a building shall be replaced in any period of twelve (12) months unless the entire roof covering is made to conform with the requirements of this Code for new buildings." What Appendix A does NOT do is rewrite the technical roof-covering chapter: it contains no amendment to IRC Chapter 9 and no reference to R903, R905 or R908, and the Georgia Amendments packet contains no Chapter 9 amendment either, so the IRC roof-covering provisions apply in Atlanta as adopted. Appendix A also contains no adoption of the optional IRC Appendix U (Disaster Resilient Construction), which DCA adopts as a permissive code a local government may take up; whether Atlanta has adopted it by some other instrument is not established.
Drip edge
Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT CITY-SET, and it applies in Atlanta exactly as it applies everywhere else in Georgia. The International Residential Code is one of the codes Georgia designates as a mandatory state minimum standard, so under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) it binds construction in Atlanta whether or not the City elects to enforce it locally. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs amendment packet for the 2024 IRC carries no amendment to Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies), so the Chapter 9 drip-edge provision at Section R905.2.8.5 stands as written, neither deleted nor rewritten for Georgia. Atlanta's own building-code amendments, collected as Appendix A, Building Code Amendments, Chapter I, in Part III of the Code of Ordinances, were read in full for this entry: all twelve sections, 101 through 1301, of which not one mentions drip edge, underlayment, sheathing or roof-covering fastening. So there is no Atlanta rewrite either. The operative ICC text of R905.2.8.5, which sets the extent, lap and fastening specifics, sits behind the ICC paywall; this record does not restate it and no third-party republication of it is relied on. What is recorded is the sourced fact that the requirement is in force in Atlanta unamended. One practical warning for a roofer: because a non-structural re-roof is exempt from permit in Atlanta under Appendix A Section 103.4, this requirement will usually go uninspected by the City, and Section 103.4 answers that directly: "Exemptions from permit requirements of this code shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provision of this code or any other laws and ordinances of the City of Atlanta." About drip edge
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — Neither the Georgia State Amendments to the 2024 IRC (a full section-by-section amendment list with no entry touching IRC Chapter 9) nor Atlanta's own Land Development Code Appendix A, Building Code Amendments, Chapter I amends the roof-covering provisions of Chapter 9. No impact-resistant, Class 4, or UL 2218 roof-covering requirement appears in either instrument, so none applies in Atlanta beyond whatever the unamended base 2024 IRC itself requires.
Repair permit threshold
Atlanta Land Development Code, Appendix A (Building Code Amendments), Chapter I, Section 103.4(a)(i) exempts from the building permit, for existing single-family, two-family or duplex residential structures "and without regard to cost": "Non-structural re-roofing repairs excluding truss repairs or shingle replacement provided that upon replacement no more than three layers of shingles remain". THE EXEMPTION EXCLUDES SHINGLE REPLACEMENT BY NAME, so an ordinary asphalt-shingle tear-off and replacement falls outside it, and the City's own fee schedule prices that job: Section 104.2(m), item h, lists "Re-roofing of existing structures—Minimum fee .....$360.00". That is why this record answers yes. What the exemption does reach is non-structural roof repair short of replacing shingles. Its closing proviso about how many layers remain "upon replacement" sits uneasily with the exclusion in front of it; this record does not read the proviso as bringing shingle replacement back into the exemption, and a roofer who thinks a particular job fits should get that in writing from the Office of Buildings first. A SEPARATE DOLLAR EXEMPTION. Section 103.4(a) also provides that "No permit or permit fee is required for any repair work to a single-family, duplex, multi-family or non-residential structure with a total valuation of less than $10,000.00 provided that such work is otherwise lawful", and defines repair work as "the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure for the purpose of its maintenance." That is a valuation test, not a roofing rule; whether a given job falls under it depends on its valuation, so confirm before relying on it. HISTORIC PROPERTIES. Section 103.4(f) withdraws both exemptions for work affecting the exterior of a landmark or historic building or site, or one in a historic district, governed by Chapter 20 of the zoning ordinance; there, no certificate of appropriateness, permit or fee is required only for "any repair work with a total valuation of less than $2,500.00 provided that such work is otherwise lawful." Section 103.4 also provides that exemption from permit requirements "shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provision of this code or any other laws and ordinances of the City of Atlanta", so the roof-covering requirements recorded in the other fields of this record bind the work whether or not a permit is pulled.
Roof layer limit / recover
TWO SEPARATE LIMITS APPLY IN ATLANTA AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME NUMBER. (1) PERMIT-EXEMPTION LIMIT (city, Atlanta-specific): Atlanta Land Development Code, Appendix A, Chapter I, Section 103.4(a)(i) exempts from permit "Non-structural re-roofing repairs excluding truss repairs or shingle replacement provided that upon replacement no more than three layers of shingles remain." Three layers is a condition of that permit exemption, which by its own words does not reach shingle replacement; it is a permit-administration figure, not a statement of the technical maximum permitted by the building code. (2) TECHNICAL RE-COVER LIMIT (state/IRC): the substantive roof re-covering limits are IRC Section R908 as adopted in Georgia. The Georgia Amendments packet contains no amendment to IRC Chapter 9, so the base, unamended 2024 IRC R908 re-cover provisions apply, and Atlanta's own Appendix A amendments are administrative (Sections 103/104) rather than a rewrite of Chapter 9. Roofers should read Section 103.4's three-layer figure as bearing only on whether a permit is needed, and R908 as deciding whether the re-cover is lawful at all. Base-code rule, read at 2024 IRC Section R908.4 (Roof recover), Exceptions and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: a roof recover "shall not be permitted" where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering" (nor where the existing covering is water soaked or deteriorated, or is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile). One existing layer may therefore be recovered; a second existing layer forces tear-off to the deck.
Deck & sheathing requirements
NOT SET BY THE CITY, AND NOT RESTATED HERE. Atlanta's own building-code amendments were read in full for this entry: Appendix A, Building Code Amendments, Chapter I, in Part III of the Code of Ordinances, all twelve sections, 101 through 1301. Nothing in them addresses roof-deck sheathing, the substrate an asphalt shingle may be fastened to, or the fastening of a roof covering; the words sheathing and underlayment do not appear in the appendix at all. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs amendment packet for the 2024 IRC likewise carries no amendment to Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies). The governing provision is therefore the base Chapter 9 sheathing requirement, IRC Section R905.2.1, as adopted for Georgia and unmodified by either government. That ICC text is behind the ICC paywall and this record deliberately does not reproduce it from any third-party republication, so a roofer needing the exact wording should read it in the code itself or ask the Office of Buildings. What Atlanta does add is a permit consequence rather than a technical rule: replacing deck sheathing makes the job structural, which takes it outside the non-structural re-roofing permit exemption in Appendix A Section 103.4, so a re-roof that includes deck replacement needs a permit even though a plain non-structural re-roof does not.
Sales & use tax
8.9% combined within the City of Atlanta. Georgia's Department of Revenue Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart lists jurisdiction code 060A, "Fulton (Atlanta)," at 8.9%, which includes the 4% Georgia state rate plus Fulton County, MARTA, and City of Atlanta local components. This differs from the 7.75% rate that applies in the rest of Fulton County outside Atlanta, Hapeville, College Park and East Point. This is the rate a roofing contractor pays on materials purchased within Atlanta city limits.

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The permitting authority for the City of Atlanta, Georgia. The city straddles Fulton County (the large majority) and DeKalb County. Atlanta enforces the Georgia State Minimum Standard Codes, which Georgia designates as MANDATORY and which apply to construction statewide whether or not a local government elects to enforce them locally; Atlanta's own contribution is permit administration, fees, inspections, historic-district review, and the local administrative amendments collected in Appendix A (Building Code Amendments) of Part III of the Atlanta Code of Ordinances (Land Development Code). For roofing specifically, the technical requirements are state/IRC-governed but the permit trigger is local - see repair_permit_threshold.

Hail reports near Atlanta, GA

Reports, last 24 months
6
Largest, last 24 months
1.25 in Jun 26, 2025
Most recent
Jun 27, 2025 1.00 in
Reports, last 5 years
13
5 most recent reports, last 5 years
DateHail sizeDistance
Jun 27, 20251.00 in9 mi S
Jun 26, 20251.25 in7 mi NW
Jun 26, 20251.00 in5 mi NW
Jun 26, 20251.00 in9 mi WNW
Jun 26, 20251.00 in6 mi S

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 Atlanta, GA (Census point). Data through Oct 7, 2026, not updated since. A report is an observation, not a damage record.

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Roofing questions: Atlanta, GA

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Atlanta, GA?

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Atlanta, GA. Atlanta Land Development Code, Appendix A (Building Code Amendments), Chapter I, Section 103.4(a)(i) exempts from the building permit, for existing single-family, two-family or duplex residential structures "and without regard to cost": "Non-structural re-roofing repairs excluding truss repairs or shingle replacement provided that upon replacement no more than three layers of shingles remain". THE EXEMPTION EXCLUDES SHINGLE REPLACEMENT BY NAME, so an ordinary asphalt-shingle tear-off and replacement falls outside it, and the City's own fee schedule prices that job: Section 104.2(m), item h, lists "Re-roofing of existing structures—Minimum fee .....$360.00". That is why this record answers yes. What the exemption does reach is non-structural roof repair short of replacing shingles. Its closing proviso about how many layers remain "upon replacement" sits uneasily with the exclusion in front of it; this record does not read the proviso as bringing shingle replacement back into the exemption, and a roofer who thinks a particular job fits should get that in writing from the Office of Buildings first. A SEPARATE DOLLAR EXEMPTION. Section 103.4(a) also provides that "No permit or permit fee is required for any repair work to a single-family, duplex, multi-family or non-residential structure with a total valuation of less than $10,000.00 provided that such work is otherwise lawful", and defines repair work as "the reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing structure for the purpose of its maintenance." That is a valuation test, not a roofing rule; whether a given job falls under it depends on its valuation, so confirm before relying on it. HISTORIC PROPERTIES. Section 103.4(f) withdraws both exemptions for work affecting the exterior of a landmark or historic building or site, or one in a historic district, governed by Chapter 20 of the zoning ordinance; there, no certificate of appropriateness, permit or fee is required only for "any repair work with a total valuation of less than $2,500.00 provided that such work is otherwise lawful." Section 103.4 also provides that exemption from permit requirements "shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provision of this code or any other laws and ordinances of the City of Atlanta", so the roof-covering requirements recorded in the other fields of this record bind the work whether or not a permit is pulled.

Is drip edge required in Atlanta, GA?

Yes. STATE-GOVERNED, NOT CITY-SET, and it applies in Atlanta exactly as it applies everywhere else in Georgia. The International Residential Code is one of the codes Georgia designates as a mandatory state minimum standard, so under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) it binds construction in Atlanta whether or not the City elects to enforce it locally. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs amendment packet for the 2024 IRC carries no amendment to Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies), so the Chapter 9 drip-edge provision at Section R905.2.8.5 stands as written, neither deleted nor rewritten for Georgia. Atlanta's own building-code amendments, collected as Appendix A, Building Code Amendments, Chapter I, in Part III of the Code of Ordinances, were read in full for this entry: all twelve sections, 101 through 1301, of which not one mentions drip edge, underlayment, sheathing or roof-covering fastening. So there is no Atlanta rewrite either. The operative ICC text of R905.2.8.5, which sets the extent, lap and fastening specifics, sits behind the ICC paywall; this record does not restate it and no third-party republication of it is relied on. What is recorded is the sourced fact that the requirement is in force in Atlanta unamended. One practical warning for a roofer: because a non-structural re-roof is exempt from permit in Atlanta under Appendix A Section 103.4, this requirement will usually go uninspected by the City, and Section 103.4 answers that directly: "Exemptions from permit requirements of this code shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provision of this code or any other laws and ordinances of the City of Atlanta."

Can you roof over an existing roof in Atlanta, GA?

TWO SEPARATE LIMITS APPLY IN ATLANTA AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME NUMBER. (1) PERMIT-EXEMPTION LIMIT (city, Atlanta-specific): Atlanta Land Development Code, Appendix A, Chapter I, Section 103.4(a)(i) exempts from permit "Non-structural re-roofing repairs excluding truss repairs or shingle replacement provided that upon replacement no more than three layers of shingles remain." Three layers is a condition of that permit exemption, which by its own words does not reach shingle replacement; it is a permit-administration figure, not a statement of the technical maximum permitted by the building code. (2) TECHNICAL RE-COVER LIMIT (state/IRC): the substantive roof re-covering limits are IRC Section R908 as adopted in Georgia. The Georgia Amendments packet contains no amendment to IRC Chapter 9, so the base, unamended 2024 IRC R908 re-cover provisions apply, and Atlanta's own Appendix A amendments are administrative (Sections 103/104) rather than a rewrite of Chapter 9. Roofers should read Section 103.4's three-layer figure as bearing only on whether a permit is needed, and R908 as deciding whether the re-cover is lawful at all. Base-code rule, read at 2024 IRC Section R908.4 (Roof recover), Exceptions and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: a roof recover "shall not be permitted" where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering" (nor where the existing covering is water soaked or deteriorated, or is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile). One existing layer may therefore be recovered; a second existing layer forces tear-off to the deck.

What building code does Atlanta, GA use?

STATE-GOVERNED IN ITS TECHNICAL CONTENT, BUT ATLANTA WRITES TWO ROOFING RULES OF ITS OWN. Georgia's residential construction standard is the Georgia State Minimum Standard One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, which is the 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) with Georgia Amendments (the "Georgia State Amendments to the International Residential Code (2024 Edition), Revised January 1, 2026" packet issued by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs). Per O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a), the codes enumerated as mandatory in O.C.G.A. 8-2-20(9) have state-wide application and do not require adoption by a municipality or county; DCA's own guidance states that "Georgia law gives the enumerated codes statewide applicability, so it is not required that local governments have to adopt the mandatory codes," and that local governments must instead adopt administrative procedures in order to enforce them. A local government may adopt local amendments only where they are MORE stringent than the state minimum, only where justified by local climatic, geologic, topographic or public safety factors, and only after submitting the proposed amendment to DCA and filing the adopted amendment with the department. CITY LAYER: Atlanta's own amendments are collected in Appendix A, "Building Code Amendments," Chapter I, of Part III of the Code of Ordinances (Land Development Code). That appendix has twelve sections, 101 through 1301, and all twelve were read for this entry. Most of it is administrative - Sections 103 (Application for Permit) and 104 (Permits) are where the city's permit triggers, exemptions and fees live - but two of the twelve are substantive roofing rules that a roofer planning an Atlanta job has to know about, and neither of them comes from the IRC. (1) Section 1300, "ROOFING REFLECTANCE STANDARDS," adopted by Ordinance No. 2025-18(25-O-1310) on 6-11-25 and amended by Ordinance No. 2026-09(26-O-1154) on 3-11-26, provides at 1300.1 that "The provisions of this section shall apply to all new building construction and roof replacements." Under 1300.2(a), unless an exception applies, roof coverings over conditioned spaces on steep-slope roofs (roof slope > 2:12) must be constructed of materials that achieve "A 3-year aged solar reflectance not less than 0.21 as determined by the ANSI/CRRC S100 Standard or as certified to the City of Atlanta by the manufacturer" or "A 3-year aged solar reflectance index not less than 20" on the same basis; for low-slope roofs (roof slope ≤ 2:12) the figures are 0.70 and 85. The exceptions at 1300.2(c) cover vegetated roof areas and the equipment maintaining them, roof areas used as outdoor recreation space, roof areas holding equipment required by the International Fire Code, roof areas that are 3% or less of the building's gross floor area, and "Repairs to existing roofs that do not require full replacement of the structure's roof." Practical effect: a full Atlanta roof replacement has to use a covering that meets the reflectance figure, while a repair short of full replacement does not. (2) Section 101.8, "APPLICATION TO EXISTING BUILDINGS," subsection (h), provides that repairs and alterations not covered by the preceding paragraphs may be made with the same kind of materials as those of which the building is constructed, "but not more than twenty-five (25) percent of the roof covering of a building shall be replaced in any period of twelve (12) months unless the entire roof covering is made to conform with the requirements of this Code for new buildings." What Appendix A does NOT do is rewrite the technical roof-covering chapter: it contains no amendment to IRC Chapter 9 and no reference to R903, R905 or R908, and the Georgia Amendments packet contains no Chapter 9 amendment either, so the IRC roof-covering provisions apply in Atlanta as adopted. Appendix A also contains no adoption of the optional IRC Appendix U (Disaster Resilient Construction), which DCA adopts as a permissive code a local government may take up; whether Atlanta has adopted it by some other instrument is not established.