Permitting Authorities / Carteret County - Planning & Development Department
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Carteret County, NC?
Adopted code
Carteret County - Planning & Development Department
No, Carteret County, NC does not require a permit for like-for-like roof replacement (Carteret County - Planning & Development Department). A like-for-like reroof of a single-family house in Carteret 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 fee schedule reprints that statutory exemption, and its "Re-Roofing" fee applies to jobs "Over $15,000.00 or different fire rating"; the $15,000 figure is older than the statute's current $40,000, so confirm with the County before relying on either figure for a job between them. Duplexes and multi-family buildings are not single-family residences and fall outside the statutory exemption. If a permit is needed, completed applications may be emailed to [email protected] or taken to the Morehead City office (252-728-8545) or the Western Office in Cedar Point (252-222-5833); the County states "We require a list of all of the contractors and sub-contractors and their license numbers. The permit cannot be obtained without this list." Inspections are scheduled by calling either office with the permit number. Carteret County issues building permits for unincorporated areas and for Atlantic Beach, Bogue, Cape Carteret, Cedar Point, Emerald Isle, Indian Beach and Peletier; in those towns "the applicant must first obtain planning, zoning, and floodplain approval from these respective towns before a permit can be issued by Carteret County." Working without a required permit is charged "$200.00 per permit fees" for a first residential offense and "$300.00 and permit fees" for later offenses.
Roof code checklist: Carteret 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
Carteret County, North Carolina
Address
3820 Bridges Street, Suite B, Morehead City, NC 28557
Contact
- url: https://www.carteretcountync.gov/173/Permit-Application-Process
- phone: 252-728-8545
- email: [email protected]
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, highway, public utilities, grading 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: Carteret County's permit page states: "We require a list of all of the contractors and sub-contractors and their license numbers. The permit cannot be obtained without this list." The County's permitting documents include an Owner Exempt Affidavit for owners claiming the state licensing exemption. The County sets no roofing licence or registration of its own.
Permit process note
A like-for-like reroof of a single-family house in Carteret 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 fee schedule reprints that statutory exemption, and its "Re-Roofing" fee applies to jobs "Over $15,000.00 or different fire rating"; the $15,000 figure is older than the statute's current $40,000, so confirm with the County before relying on either figure for a job between them. Duplexes and multi-family buildings are not single-family residences and fall outside the statutory exemption. If a permit is needed, completed applications may be emailed to
[email protected] or taken to the Morehead City office (252-728-8545) or the Western Office in Cedar Point (252-222-5833); the County states "We require a list of all of the contractors and sub-contractors and their license numbers. The permit cannot be obtained without this list." Inspections are scheduled by calling either office with the permit number. Carteret County issues building permits for unincorporated areas and for Atlantic Beach, Bogue, Cape Carteret, Cedar Point, Emerald Isle, Indian Beach and Peletier; in those towns "the applicant must first obtain planning, zoning, and floodplain approval from these respective towns before a permit can be issued by Carteret County." Working without a required permit is charged "$200.00 per permit fees" for a first residential offense and "$300.00 and permit fees" for later offenses.
Adopted code
Carteret County enforces the North Carolina State Building Code, which applies statewide; the County's Planning & Development page describes its inspection staff as "Administering and enforcing the North Carolina Building Code for all unincorporated areas of Carteret County as well as Atlantic Beach, Bogue, Cape Carteret, Cedar Point, Emerald Isle, Indian Beach, and Peletier". 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 Code of Ordinances adds no building code of its own: its Chapter 4, Buildings and Building Regulations, holds a single section (Sec. 4-1, a septic-approval prerequisite for building permits), and Sec. 6-5 adopts the State Building Code's fire prevention volume. 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).
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — Carteret County's building chapter (Chapter 4 of its Code of Ordinances) adds no roof-covering provision, and North Carolina's approved amendments to the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code contain no UL 2218 or Class 4 impact requirement. No UL 2218 or Class 4 impact rating is required for roof coverings in the County's jurisdiction.
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. Carteret County's own FY27 Adopted Fee Schedule prints the statute under its "BUILDING PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE" heading: "Pursuant to NCGS 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 the County's permitting page links a document titled "What Work Requires A Building Permit?" that reproduces G.S. 160D-1110. The same fee schedule prices "Re-Roofing" at "$75.00 and $6.00/$1000.00 contract value (Over $15,000.00 or different fire rating)" for residential work; that line charges only jobs above its stated figure or changing the roof's fire rating, and its $15,000 is an older statutory figure; the statute now sets $40,000. The County's codified building chapter (Chapter 4 of its Code of Ordinances, whose one section, Sec. 4-1, ties building permits to septic approval) sets no dollar threshold of its own. Working without a required permit is charged "$200.00 per permit fees" for a first residential offense.
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. Carteret County's building chapter (Chapter 4 of its Code of Ordinances) adds no reroofing provision of its own.
Sales & use tax
6.75% total in Carteret County (the 4.75% state rate plus Carteret 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
Carteret County's Planning & Development Department issues building permits and performs building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing inspections under the North Carolina Building Code for unincorporated Carteret County and for the towns of Atlantic Beach, Bogue, Cape Carteret, Cedar Point, Emerald Isle, Indian Beach and Peletier. It has a main office in Morehead City and a western office in Cedar Point.
No NOAA hail reports within 10 miles of the center of Carteret County, NC in the last 5 years (data through Sep 30, 2026).
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 Carteret County, NC. Data through Sep 30, 2026. A report is an observation, not a damage record.
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