City of Beloit, Wisconsin - Planning and Building Services Division

City of Beloit, Wisconsin

city

Beloit City Hall, 100 State Street, Third Floor, Beloit, WI 53511

Required

Required

Permits are issued by the Planning and Building Services Division of Community Development, on the third floor of Beloit City Hall at 100 State Street, and applications may be emailed to [email protected] or filed in person. A reroof is filed on the Building Alteration Permit Application, which offers Residential Alteration and Residential Repair as work types, asks for the cost of improvement on a material cost only basis, and requires the Dwelling Contractor ID number and Qualifier number. The residential alteration permit fee is $50.00 plus $5.00 per $1,000 of project cost or fraction thereof in excess of $1,999, set by City Council resolution under section 9.28 of the Beloit Building Code; the published schedule is current through the December 2025 fee resolution. Failing to obtain the permit before starting subjects the responsible parties to a double fee. A weather resistant card is issued with every permit and must be posted in a conspicuous place on the front of the building, not more than 15 feet above adjacent grade, unobstructed from public view, for the entire period of the work. A building permit other than for new one- or two-family construction is void unless work commences within 6 months of issue, and expires one year from the date of original issue. The division answers on (608) 364-6700.

State-governed, and Beloit adopts the state code rather than writing its own. One- and two-family dwellings in Wisconsin are built to the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code, chs. SPS 320 to 325 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, which is Wisconsin's own text rather than an adoption of the International Residential Code — which is why its roofing rules differ from the IRC's. Do not expect an IRC edition year for a house in Beloit. Beloit adopts it at section 9.04(1) of the Beloit Municipal Code: "The State Uniform Dwelling Code contained in Chapters SPS 320 through 325, Wis. Admin. Code, and Subchapter II of Chapter 101, Wis. Stats., including any subsequent amendments thereto, are hereby adopted by reference and incorporated herein as if they were fully set forth and made a part hereof." Section 9.05 repeats the adoption and makes it plainly floating, taking the dwelling chapters and the commercial chapters SPS 360 to 366 "as from time to time amended or renumbered," so a later state amendment reaches Beloit without a new ordinance. Section 9.04(3) then goes further than the state code requires, and it is the part that matters most on an older house: the Uniform Dwelling Code applies to additions and alterations to buildings whose initial construction was lawfully begun prior to June 1, 1980. A Wisconsin municipality that exercises jurisdiction adopts the code in its entirety by ordinance and may not add requirements within the scope of that code without the approval of the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and the Beloit Building Code adds no roofing technical requirement of its own for roof coverings. The two roof rules Beloit does write itself are about upkeep and drainage rather than about how a roof is built. Section 9.17 requires that every building be kept in good repair and that "the roof shall be maintained to prevent leakage." Section 9.19 requires that all water be conveyed from buildings so as to prevent dampness in walls, floors and ceilings, provides that "Water shall not be allowed to fall or flow upon any sidewalk," and where that condition exists on an existing structure requires the owner to carry the water under the sidewalk to the gutter or storm sewer within 30 days of written notice from the division. For roof construction itself the chapter points back to the state sections, directing for garages and accessory structures that "Roofs and ceilings shall conform to the requirements of §§ SPS 321.27 and SPS 321.28, Wis. Admin. Code." Outside the Building Code, the Beloit Zoning Code carries a residential design standard a roofer should price in. Section 6.2.11(b)(1) provides: "All dwellings and associated accessory buildings shall have a roof with a pitch of at least 3 inches in height for each 12 inches of width. Roofs shall have eaves which extend at least 12 inches from the wall that supports the roof. All dwellings, accessory garages and carports shall have a roof surfaced with a State approved roofing system." A dwelling that did not meet those standards when they were adopted is treated as a nonconforming use under the same section. Commercial and three-or-more-unit multifamily work runs on the separate commercial chapters and is outside the dwelling-code rules recorded here.

Required — Required, but the trigger is roof slope rather than climate zone, so read the scope before pricing it in or out. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.28(4)(a) requires that "Shingled or shake roofs that extend over a heated area of a dwelling or attached garage and that have a slope of 4:12 or less shall be provided with ice dam protection in the form of sheet metal or a product labeled as meeting the requirements of ASTM D 1970." SPS 321.28(4)(b) sets the extent: "The ice dam protection shall extend at least 30 inches up the roof slope from the roof edge and at least 12 inches up the roof slope beyond the inner face of the exterior wall." All three conditions have to be met — shingled or shake, over a heated area, and 4:12 or flatter — so on a steeper Beloit roof the Uniform Dwelling Code imposes no ice barrier of its own, though the shingle manufacturer's own instructions may, since SPS 321.28(3)(a) requires shingles to be installed in accordance with those instructions. Wisconsin also measures the extent differently from the International Residential Code, so do not carry IRC ice-barrier language onto a Wisconsin job. Beloit adopts the state code and adds no ice-barrier rule of its own. The Wisconsin uniform dwelling code sets these roofing rules statewide, but does not reach every house. It does not apply to a one- or two-family dwelling whose construction began before June 1, 1980, or to additions or alterations to one, unless the municipality has adopted chs. SPS 320 to 325 for that purpose — ask the building inspector before assuming it governs an older home. The code also states that it does not apply to repairs or maintenance, and it defines a repair to include replacing existing equipment with the equivalent, while a separate section regulates reroofing by name. Wisconsin has not resolved which of those two provisions governs a like-for-like tear-off, so confirm with the authority issuing the permit. In Beloit the first of those two questions is settled, and in the roofer's favour on an older house. Beloit Municipal Code section 9.04(3) provides that for the purposes of local regulation of one- and two-family dwellings the provisions of the Uniform Dwelling Code apply to additions and alterations to buildings whose initial construction was lawfully begun before June 1, 1980 -- a building-vintage cutoff that passed decades ago rather than a future effective date -- and that those provisions apply to the addition being constructed or the work involved in the alterations or repairs and shall not be construed to apply to the existing building. So the age of the house does not put a Beloit reroof outside the code, and the code reaches the roof work rather than the rest of the building. The repair question is not touched by that ordinance and stays open. About ice & water barrier

Not required — No mid-roof or roof-deck inspection stage exists in Beloit. Section 9.14 of the Beloit Building Code sends newly constructed one- and two-family dwellings to the state inspection procedure at Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.10, and for all other construction it names the City inspection stages itself: footing, foundation, framing, insulation, erosion control, and final. No roof-deck, roof-sheathing, tear-off or other interim roofing stage appears in that list, so a reroof pulled under a Beloit building permit is inspected at the final stage. Where an interim stage does apply, the code sets the waiting period rather than leaving it open: at the framing and insulation stages nothing may be covered or concealed from view until the inspection has been made and approved or 3 working days have elapsed following notification that the work is ready.

A building permit is required before beginning construction, alteration, repair, improvement, demolition or moving any building or structure. The exception is a value test with two limbs that must both be met, at section 9.12(2) of the Beloit Building Code: no permit is required for "minor repairs, maintenance or alterations whose value does not exceed $1,000 and which do not change the occupancy, area, structural strength, fire protection, exits, light or ventilation of the building or structure," and such work must still comply with the code. The City permit guide states the same threshold for owner-occupied homes in terms of materials, listing among the work needing no permit "When material costs for your project are less than $1,000," and a permit plus a licensed contractor where "Materials exceed $1,000 for the project" for roofing, siding, windows, doors and walls or ceilings. The Building Alteration Permit Application agrees, asking for the cost of improvement and stating under that line that it is material cost only, so a Beloit reroof is measured on materials rather than on the whole contract. The same guide lists "Install gutters only" and "Install roof venting only" among the work that needs no permit at all. That guide is published for owner-occupied homes and describes itself as a general guide rather than an inclusive list, so section 9.12 is the operative statement and the division is the place to settle a marginal job. Starting work before the permit is obtained subjects the responsible parties to a double fee.

Wisconsin states this as prescriptive pressures rather than as an International Residential Code design wind speed, and Beloit adopts the state code without adding to it. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.02(1)(c) requires that dwellings "be designed and constructed to withstand either a horizontal and uplift pressure of 20 pounds per square foot acting over the surface area" or, as the alternative the rule allows, the wind loads determined in accordance with ASCE 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. For the roof itself, SPS 321.27(3)(a) requires that "Roofs shall withstand a pressure of at least 20 pounds per square foot acting upward normal to the roof surface" and that "Roof overhangs, eaves, canopies and cornices shall withstand an upward wind pressure of at least 20 pounds per square foot applied to the entire exposed area." Anchorage follows at SPS 321.27(3)(b): roof framing members spanning more than 6 feet measured from the outermost edge of the roof must be permanently fastened to the top plate of load bearing walls using engineered clips, straps or hangers. Snow load is the one input that varies geographically, and SPS 321.02(1)(b)2. sends roofs to the minimum snow loads on the statewide zone map at Figure 321.02 rather than to a single number. There is no miles-per-hour design wind speed for Beloit, so do not translate the 20 pounds per square foot figure into one.

Wisconsin sets this rule and Beloit adopts it whole rather than writing its own. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.28(6) bars installing a new roof covering over an existing roof covering in three situations: where the existing roof or roof covering is water-soaked or has deteriorated such that it is inadequate as a base for additional roofing; where the existing roof is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile; or where the existing roof has 2 or more applications of any type of permanent roof covering. So the practical cap is two total applications, and it bites harder than a bare layer count in two cases a Wisconsin roofer meets often — a water-soaked or deteriorated deck or covering bars an overlay over even a single layer, and so does an existing wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile roof, whatever the count. A complete tear-off to the deck with one new covering is not restricted by this subsection at all. Beloit adds nothing to it: the Beloit Building Code carries no roof-covering or layer provision, and adopts the state chapters by reference. The Wisconsin uniform dwelling code sets these roofing rules statewide, but does not reach every house. It does not apply to a one- or two-family dwelling whose construction began before June 1, 1980, or to additions or alterations to one, unless the municipality has adopted chs. SPS 320 to 325 for that purpose — ask the building inspector before assuming it governs an older home. The code also states that it does not apply to repairs or maintenance, and it defines a repair to include replacing existing equipment with the equivalent, while a separate section regulates reroofing by name. Wisconsin has not resolved which of those two provisions governs a like-for-like tear-off, so confirm with the authority issuing the permit. In Beloit the first of those two questions is settled, and in the roofer's favour on an older house. Beloit Municipal Code section 9.04(3) provides that for the purposes of local regulation of one- and two-family dwellings the provisions of the Uniform Dwelling Code apply to additions and alterations to buildings whose initial construction was lawfully begun before June 1, 1980 -- a building-vintage cutoff that passed decades ago rather than a future effective date -- and that those provisions apply to the addition being constructed or the work involved in the alterations or repairs and shall not be construed to apply to the existing building. So the age of the house does not put a Beloit reroof outside the code, and the code reaches the roof work rather than the rest of the building. The repair question is not touched by that ordinance and stays open.

Wisconsin sets the deck standard and Beloit adopts it. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.27(9), Roof sheathing, boards and planking, provides that "The allowable loads and spans for structural sheathing shall be in accordance with the grade stamp on the panel"; that "Where the rafter spacing is 24 inches on center or less, roof boards may be used that have a minimum thickness of 5/8-inch for solid sheathing and 3/4-inch for spaced sheathing"; that "Where the rafter spacing is greater than 24 inches on center, roof boards shall be tongue and groove, at least 1.5 inches thick"; and that roof planks, as an alternative, "shall be tongue and groove or splined and at least 2 inches, nominal, in thickness," shall terminate over beams unless the joints are end matched, shall be laid so that no continuous line of joints will occur except at points of support, and shall be nailed or fastened to each beam. Wisconsin keys this to the panel grade stamp and to board thickness rather than using the International Residential Code wording familiar in IRC states. The Beloit Building Code carries no roof-sheathing provision of its own for dwellings.

5.5% on materials in Beloit — the Wisconsin state sales and use tax of 5% plus Rock County's 0.5% county sales and use tax, which Rock County has levied since April 2007. Beloit imposes no municipal sales tax; the city of Milwaukee is the only Wisconsin municipality that levies one. Wisconsin treats a roof as real property, so a roofing contractor is the consumer of the materials it installs: the contractor pays sales or use tax when buying shingles and underlayment, and does not charge the customer sales tax on the reroofing contract, for labour or for materials. Selling roofing materials without installation is a retail sale and is taxable. One local caution: Beloit sits on the Illinois state line opposite South Beloit, Illinois, and a job on the Illinois side is outside the Wisconsin sales and use tax altogether and carries its own rate, so do not carry this figure across the border.