City of Cedar Falls, Iowa - Inspection Services Division

City of Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, Iowa

city

220 Clay Street, Cedar Falls, IA 50613

Required

Required

Cedar Falls Code of Ordinances section 7-19 provides that "except as provided in this article by specific changes, the 2021 Edition of the International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings ... and the 2021 Edition of the International Building Code ... are hereby adopted by reference and are effective as if fully set forth in this article," together with the 2009 edition of ICC A117.1 at subsection (b). The adopting instrument is Ordinance No. 2997, section 1, of November 15, 2021. The Inspection Services Division additionally lists the 2021 International Fire Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code, the 2021 International Mechanical Code, the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code and the 2021 National Fuel Gas Code as adopted by reference, and the Iowa-amended 2012 International Energy Conservation Code as adopted by the State of Iowa and enforced by the city. The adoption names dated editions, so a later edition does not reach Cedar Falls without a further act of adoption. The codification is current through Ordinance No. 3140, enacted March 16, 2026 (Supplement No. 27).

Not required — Cedar Falls imposes no impact-resistance or hail-rating requirement on roof coverings. Article II of Chapter 7 of the Code of Ordinances - the adoption at section 7-19, the full amendment list at section 7-20 and the miscellaneous provisions at section 7-21 - was read in full, some fifty thousand characters of amendment text covering administration, the board of appeals, permits, fees, inspections, foundations and structural provisions. It makes no reference to UL 2218, to FM 4473, or to a Class 4 or Class IV impact classification, and contains no requirement of that kind in any other wording. Nor does it amend any provision of the roof assemblies chapter of the adopted code, so nothing in the model text has been stiffened in this direction either.

There is no dollar threshold and no square-footage threshold for roofing in Cedar Falls; a permit is required for a re-roof because the city exemption list does not reach roof coverings. Section 7-20 of the Code of Ordinances deletes the model code exemption provision in its entirety and substitutes its own: "Subsection R105.2, Work Exempt From Permit, is deleted in its entirety and a new subsection R105.2, Work exempt from permit, is substituted in lieu thereof." The substituted list has nine numbered items and all nine were read: one-story detached accessory structures of not more than 120 square feet; fences; retaining walls not over four feet measured from the bottom of the footing, unless supporting a surcharge; water tanks on grade of not more than 5,000 gallons with a height to width ratio of not more than two to one; sidewalks and driveways not more than 30 inches above adjacent grade and not over a basement or story below, with an express exception providing that "wooden decks are not, for the purpose of this article, to be considered as a sidewalk or driveway"; painting, papering, tiling not adjacent to or part of a shower, and carpeting; swimming pools accessory to one- or two-family dwellings; swings and other playground equipment; and window awnings projecting not more than 54 inches that need no additional support. Roofing, re-roofing and roof-covering replacement appear nowhere in that list, so the general rule requiring a permit for regulated work applies to them. The list closes by noting that "a land use and/or right-of-way permit may still be required," and the section preserves the model code caution that exemption from permit requirements is not authorisation to do work in violation of the code.

Two layers maximum - one overlay is permitted, and a second existing layer requires a tear-off. Cedar Falls adopts the 2021 International Residential Code at section 7-19 of its Code of Ordinances, and the city amendment article at section 7-20 was read in full and does not touch the reroofing provisions: it contains no amendment to any section of the roof assemblies chapter and no mention of roof coverings, underlayment or ice barriers. The adopted code text therefore governs unchanged. Section R908.3.1.1 of that code provides that a roof recover shall not be permitted where any of three conditions occur, the third being "where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second forces removal. The other two conditions apply whatever the layer count: a covering that is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing, and a covering of slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile.

7% in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County - the 6% Iowa state sales tax plus a 1% local option sales tax, per the Iowa Department of Revenue local option sales tax tables effective July 1, 2026. HOW IOWA TAXES A ROOF IS UNUSUAL, AND IT CUTS BOTH WAYS. Iowa Code section 423.2(6) makes a list of enumerated services taxable at the state rate, and paragraph (l) of that list reads, in its entirety, "Roof, shingle, and glass repair." Against that, section 423.3(37) exempts "the sales price of services on or connected with new construction, reconstruction, alteration, expansion, remodeling." The materials side flips with the labour side. Under section 423.2(1)(b)(1), materials sold to a contractor "for the erection of buildings and other structures or for the reconstruction, alteration, expansion, or remodeling of buildings and other structures are retail sales of tangible personal property," on which the contractor pays the tax as consumer, while materials sold "for use in repairs to or for installation in existing buildings and other structures are purchases for resale." So a job characterised as a repair carries taxable labour and resale-purchased materials, and a job characterised as reconstruction or remodeling carries exempt labour and taxed materials. Which branch a particular tear-off and replacement falls into is a fact-specific question the statute does not answer, and it changes who owes the tax rather than only how much, so settle it with an accountant rather than assume it.