Permitting Authorities / Township of Charleston - Building Permits (Associated Government Services)
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of Charleston, MI?
Adopted code
Township of Charleston - Building Permits (Associated Government Services)
Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Charleston, MI, issued by Township of Charleston - Building Permits (Associated Government Services). In Charleston Township a reroof needs a building permit, and the permits are issued by the township's contract inspector, not the township office: "Charleston Township contracts with Associated Government Services (AGS) for building, mechanical, and electrical permits." The Property page adds that AGS "is responsible to approve and issue permits, provide all required inspections, and issue final completion orders, including Occupancy Permits." AGS is at 8721 Gull Road, Suite B, in Richland, and can be reached at 269-629-0600 or 1-800-627-2801. The township's fee schedule, revised 1/1/25, prices building permits and zoning review as AGS's fee plus a 10 percent township surcharge, and lists no separate roofing fee. The Property page offers a building permit form for download. The township office, which handles sewer and street number applications, is open Tuesday and Thursday, 9 am to noon and 1 pm to 4 pm, at 269-665-7805.
Roof code checklist: Township of Charleston, MI
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
Township of Charleston, Michigan
Address
1499 South 38th Street, Galesburg, MI 49053
Contact
- url: https://www.charlestontownship.org/property/
- phone: 269-665-7805
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Permit process note
In Charleston Township a reroof needs a building permit, and the permits are issued by the township's contract inspector, not the township office: "Charleston Township contracts with Associated Government Services (AGS) for building, mechanical, and electrical permits." The Property page adds that AGS "is responsible to approve and issue permits, provide all required inspections, and issue final completion orders, including Occupancy Permits." AGS is at 8721 Gull Road, Suite B, in Richland, and can be reached at 269-629-0600 or 1-800-627-2801. The township's fee schedule, revised 1/1/25, prices building permits and zoning review as AGS's fee plus a 10 percent township surcharge, and lists no separate roofing fee. The Property page offers a building permit form for download. The township office, which handles sewer and street number applications, is open Tuesday and Thursday, 9 am to noon and 1 pm to 4 pm, at 269-665-7805.
Adopted code
2015 Michigan Residential Code. This is state law and it is the same in every Michigan city, village, township and county: the state construction code act says "This act and the code apply throughout the state," and the Michigan Residential Code rule adopts "the international residential code, 2015 edition" with the state amendments in R 408.30500 to R 408.30547g. A 2021 edition was filed with the secretary of state in 2025 but has not taken effect. On July 7, 2025 the Michigan Court of Claims entered a stipulated order in Home Builders Assoc et al. v LARA et al., and the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) says that while that order remains in place "the 2015 versions of the IRC and residential provisions of the IECC standards currently adopted, in part, by each rule set will remain valid and in effect." LARA's Statewide Jurisdiction List names Charleston Township as its own building code enforcer. The township's Property page and fee schedule name no code edition, and the township posts no building ordinance, so the page was read for an edition older than 2015 and none appears.
Drip edge
Required — Required on asphalt shingle roofs by state law. Michigan makes no amendment to the drip edge rule of the 2015 International Residential Code, Section R905.2.8.5, which applies as published: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs." Segments overlap by at least 2 inches, the drip edge extends at least 1/4 inch below the roof sheathing and at least 2 inches back onto the deck, it is fastened at no more than 12 inches on center, and underlayment goes over it at the eaves and under it at the rakes. A reroof is held to the same rule, because "Materials and methods of application used for re-covering or replacing an existing roof covering shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 9" (R908.1). Charleston Township's Property page and fee schedule were read for a local rule and state nothing further on drip edge.
About drip edgeIce & water shield
Required — Required everywhere in Michigan by state law. Michigan fills in the climatic design table of the 2015 code once for the whole state (Rule 516, Table R301.2(1)), and its ice barrier underlayment column reads Yes. The state footnote calls for Yes "for areas where the average daily temperature in January is 25 degrees Fahrenheit" or less, or where ice damming has caused damage. The base code then requires an ice barrier "for asphalt shingles, metal roof shingles, mineral-surfaced roll roofing, slate and slate-type shingles, wood shingles and wood shakes," running "from the lowest edges of all roof surfaces to a point not less than 24 inches (610 mm) inside the exterior wall line of the building" (R905.1.2). Detached accessory structures without conditioned floor area are exempt. On a tear-off, an existing ice barrier that is adhered to the deck may stay and be covered with an additional layer (R908.3, Exception). Charleston Township's Property page and fee schedule were read for a local rule and state nothing further on ice barrier.
About ice & water barrierImpact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-resistance requirement under state law. The 2015 Michigan Residential Code was searched in full and has no hail or impact rating rule for roof coverings: the words hail, impact and UL 2218 do not appear in it, and none of them appears in the roof assemblies chapter of the base 2015 International Residential Code either. Michigan applies one code statewide ("This act and the code apply throughout the state."), and the act gives the power to amend it to the state director, who adopts the model codes "with amendments, additions, or deletions as the director determines appropriate." Charleston Township's Property page and fee schedule were read for a local rule and state nothing further on impact resistance.
Repair permit threshold
Charleston Township's Property page, read October 15, 2026, names roofing among the work that needs a building permit: "Building Permits are required for all building regardless of use and number of acres owned. This includes such home improvements as plumbing, electrical, mechanical (heating and air conditioning), decks, swimming pools, siding, roofing, replacement windows and out buildings." The page sets no size or cost threshold and no repair exemption for roofing. Under state law, the state construction code act says "before construction of a building or structure, the owner, or the owner's builder, architect, engineer, or agent, shall submit an application in writing to the appropriate enforcing agency for a building permit" and "A building permit is not required for ordinary repairs of a building or structure." (MCL 125.1510), without defining ordinary repairs or capping them by size or cost. The page does not say which roof work, if any, AGS treats as an ordinary repair, and AGS's own pages were not read for this record.
Roof layer limit / recover
Two layers at most, under state law. Michigan builds one- and two-family homes to the 2015 Michigan Residential Code, which adopts the 2015 International Residential Code and makes no amendment to its reroofing section, Section R908; the Michigan rule set was searched in full and R908 does not appear in it. The base section therefore applies as the International Code Council publishes it. Section R908.3.1.1 lists the conditions under which a new roof may not be laid over an existing one, and the third is "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be covered once; a roof that already carries two layers is torn off to the deck. The same section also bars covering a roof that is water soaked or too deteriorated to serve as a base, and covering "slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile." Locally, the township's Property page and fee schedule state no layer rule, and the township website lists no building ordinance, so no local building ordinance was found to read; no classification is stated for this record.
Deck & sheathing requirements
State law, from the base code. Michigan makes no amendment to the roof sheathing section of the 2015 International Residential Code, Section R803, which does not appear in the Michigan rule set, so it applies as published. Lumber roof sheathing follows Table R803.1: over rafters or beams 24 inches apart it must be at least 5/8 inch net thick. Wood structural panels must be identified "for grade, bond classification and performance category by a grade mark or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency," and their spans may not exceed "the values set forth in Table R503.2.1.1(1), or APA E30." For a shingle roof the base code adds that "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks" (R905.2.1), and on any reroof "The structural roof components shall be capable of supporting the roof covering system" (R908.2). Charleston Township's Property page and fee schedule were read for a local rule and state nothing further on roof sheathing.
Sales & use tax
6%, statewide, with no local add-on. This is state law: the General Sales Tax Act sets the tax "equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the business," the Use Tax Act sets "a total combined rate equal to 6%," and the Michigan Department of Treasury says "Michigan does not allow city or local units to impose sales tax." On a roofing job the roofer is the taxpayer on materials, because the Use Tax Act counts as a consumer "A person acquiring tangible personal property if engaged in the business of constructing, altering, repairing, or improving the real estate of others." Nothing on the Charleston Township Property page or fee schedule changes this.
Local roofing hub
More roof permit pages in Michigan
Related guides
Charleston Township, in southeastern Kalamazoo County, contracts with Associated Government Services (AGS), at 8721 Gull Road, Suite B in Richland, to approve and issue its building, mechanical and electrical permits and to perform its inspections; the township office at 1499 South 38th Street in Galesburg handles sewer and property street number applications. The State of Michigan's jurisdiction list names the Township as its own building code enforcer. Michigan's single state construction code applies, and for houses that is the 2015 Michigan Residential Code.
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