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Permitting Authorities / Cherokee County, Georgia - Building Inspections and Development Service Center

Cherokee County, Georgia - Building Inspections and Development Service Center

Adopted code

The building-permit and inspection authority for unincorporated Cherokee County, Georgia, in the northern Atlanta metro, and for the City of Waleska, which the County names as within its own permitting territory. That scope statement is the County's own and it does not reach Cherokee's other incorporated cities - Canton, Woodstock, Holly Springs, Ball Ground and Nelson. The one thing a roofer needs to know here is that Cherokee treats a covering replacement as an ordinary repair: the Building Department states in terms that a permit is not required to replace shingles, but that a structural change in roof design does need one. Permits and inspections both run through the County's CityView portal, and the County publishes a complete eleven-stage inspection schedule with no roof stage in it.

Jurisdiction
Cherokee County, Georgia
Jurisdiction type
county
Address
Canton, GA
Contact
  • url: https://www.cherokeecountyga.gov/Building-Inspections/
  • phone: 678-493-6220
Roofing permit required
Not required
Contractor registration 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 general contractors through the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 41, created by House Bill 1003 of 2004 and amended by Senate Bill 115 of 2007. There is no Georgia licence titled roofer: the chapter creates residential-basic, residential-light commercial and 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 from July 1, 2008 "no person, whether an individual or a business organization, shall have the right to engage in the business of residential contracting or general contracting without a current, valid residential contractor license or general contractor license". 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 by January 1, 2008 identify specialty contractors or other criteria to determine eligibility under the exemption of this subsection." 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. The statute allowed policy as the alternative to a rule, and on the policy side the board does name roofers. Its own consumer publication for homeowners, headed "TIPS FOR CONSUMERS" and handed out by Cherokee County at its permit counter, says at item 11 that "Certain types of contractor services are considered specialty services and do not require that the person be licensed. These include roofers, painters, brick masons, and more." The Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes the same position on its Consumer Ed site: "Please note that certain specialty occupations such as roofers, painters, drywall contractors, and repair handymen are not required to be licensed by the state." Georgia building departments repeat it - Johns Creek's homeowner and contractor guidance states that under state law a building or trade contractor must have a valid professional licence from the Secretary of State and that "There are exceptions for limited specialty contractors such as pool and retaining wall installers, roofers, etc." DO NOT TREAT THAT AS AN EXEMPTION YOU CAN RELY ON WITHOUT CHECKING YOUR OWN POSITION. The complete specialty list those documents point to cannot be read: the web address the board's own guidance gives for it no longer resolves, and the Secretary of State's site refuses automated requests, so no reachable published document sets out the criteria a roofing business would have to meet. The Tips document carries no date either. Two state publications describing roofing as a specialty service is a good reason to put your own position to the board before you bid; it is not a rule saying you need no licence. 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: COUNTY - at the permit counter. Cherokee County operates no contractor registration or licensing scheme of its own; Chapter 14 of the Official Code of Cherokee County was read in full and contains none, and Chapter 18, Article II - the county's occupation tax article - was read in full and does not mention contractors at all. What the County does instead is require the state credential as a condition of the permit. Its residential permit page states that "Permits are issued to contractors licensed by the State of Georgia or their qualified agents", lists a State Contractor's License among the documents required for a new residence and for additions, renovations and accessory structures, and requires an Authorized Permit Agent Form with a copy of the contractor's licence where someone else pulls the permit on the contractor's behalf. So for roofing work that does need a Cherokee permit - a structural change in roof design - the state licence is the gate, while an ordinary shingle replacement needs no permit and so meets no county gate at all. COUNTY - occupation tax. Official Code of Cherokee County section 18-37 requires each person engaged in any business, trade, profession or occupation in Cherokee County to pay an occupation tax, including an out-of-state business with no Georgia location exerting substantial efforts within the state, and to display the registration. Section 18-45 then provides that anyone "licensed by the Secretary of State pursuant to Title 43 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated shall provide evidence of proper and current state licensure before the Cherokee County registration may be issued." That certificate is ordinary business taxation rather than a trade credential, but note which way the gate runs: the state licence is checked before the county tax certificate issues.
Permit process note
The Cherokee County exemption removes the permit, not the code. Under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) the Georgia mandatory codes bind any structure built in the state whether or not the local government chooses to enforce them locally, so a residential reroof in unincorporated Cherokee County or in Waleska must still be built to the 2024 International Residential Code with Georgia Amendments even though the County will not issue a permit for it or inspect it. Compliance is statewide and automatic; enforcement is local and selective, and on a covering replacement Cherokee has chosen not to inspect. WHO THE COUNTY PERMITS FOR. The Development Service Center states its own territory in one sentence: "The Development Service Center will permit all construction activity in the areas of unincorporated Cherokee County and the City of Waleska." So a job inside Waleska is a County job, and so is a job in unincorporated Cherokee. Cherokee's other incorporated cities sit outside that statement, and at least one of them runs its own counter - the City of Woodstock publishes a Building Permits and Inspections office with its own permits email and inspection scheduling. Whether Canton, Holly Springs, Ball Ground and Nelson issue their own building permits was not established here, so confirm which authority covers the address before applying anywhere. WHERE A PERMIT IS REQUIRED, the process is entirely online. Permits are applied for and inspections scheduled through the County's CityView portal, and the Building Department states that gas, sewer and subcontractor affidavits, temporary construction power, engineer letters and water and sewer notices "will only be accepted through CityView Portal". The inspection schedule says "All inspections must be scheduled online", that requests made before 5:00 PM are scheduled for the following business day depending on volume, and that cancellations must be made before 6:30 AM to avoid a charge. Re-inspection fees run $25.00, $50.00 and $100.00 for the first, second and third instance of the same inspection. Permits are issued to contractors licensed by the State of Georgia or their qualified agents, and a homeowner may obtain a permit to build their own residence under a Homeowner's Affidavit. WHAT THE COUNTY'S INSPECTORS ACTUALLY WRITE UP ON A ROOF: Cherokee publishes a "Common Code Violations" list of predefined inspector comments, and its Section G, "Roofs", has five items in full - "Residential roof coverings shall comply with Chapter 9 of the IRC"; "Any penetration more than 30" wide will require cricket or saddle per IRC 903.2.2"; "Asphalt shingle installations are limited to slopes of 2:12 or greater per IRC 905.2.23"; "Underlayment for roofs on slopes from 2:12 to 4:12 required to be doubled per IRC 905.2.7"; and "Kick out flashing required where eave of roof contacts vertical wall per IRC 905.2.8.3". That list is the County's own inspector guidance rather than an ordinance, it cites the Code section numbers as the County prints them, and it was written before the County moved to the 2024 editions on January 1, 2026 - so treat it as what Cherokee inspectors look for and check the current edition for the operative text.
Adopted code
Two layers, and in Georgia the state layer sets the technical content. STATE: the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments is a mandatory state minimum standard code adopted by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, effective January 1, 2026. Under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) the mandatory codes bind any structure built in Georgia whether or not the local government chooses to enforce them locally, so there is no local edition to look up and a county need not adopt the code for it to apply. DCA puts the division plainly on its own page: "it is not required that local governments have to adopt the mandatory codes. Local governments must, however, adopt administrative procedures in order to enforce them (O.C.G.A. Section 8-2-25(a)). However, the local government can choose which of the mandatory codes it wishes to locally enforce." COUNTY: Cherokee County's administrative adoption is Official Code of Cherokee County section 14-1, and it is a floating adoption rather than an edition. It states the intent of the board of commissioners "to enforce the latest editions of the following State of Georgia Minimum Standard Codes, as adopted and amended by the State of Georgia from time to time", then lists the International Building, Mechanical, Fuel Gas and Plumbing Codes, the National Electrical Code, the "International Residential Code with Georgia Amendments", the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code and the International Energy Conservation Code. For the residential code it adopts Sections 101 through 111 and 113 through 114 of Chapter 1 for administration, and it further adopts "Appendix S of the 2018 Georgia State Amendments to the International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings". Section 14-1(d) provides that where an adopted code conflicts with the County Code, the County Code prevails. So the county's residential code moves with the state's, and today that is the 2024 IRC with Georgia Amendments. The County publishes its own list of the editions in force from January 1, 2026: IBC 2024, IRC 2024, IPC 2024, IMC 2024, IFGC 2024, ISPSC 2024 and IFC 2024; National Electrical Code 2023; International Energy Conservation Code 2015, which is off-cycle from the rest; the 2024 Life Safety Code; and the 2010 ADA with Georgia Accessibility Code 120-3-20. LOCAL AMENDMENTS: the Building Department states in its own published amendment document that "Cherokee County Building Department has one local amendment regarding residential sprinklers in drive-under garages. This local amendment is on file with the GA Department of Community Affairs as required." That amendment is a sprinkler standard and touches no roofing provision. Section 14-1 itself carries a local amendment to the plumbing code on water-efficient fixtures and landscape irrigation, and nothing else. APPENDIX U, DISASTER RESILIENT CONSTRUCTION: the Department of Community Affairs adopts this appendix to the IRC as optional, and a Georgia local government can enforce a permissive code only by adopting it by ordinance or resolution and forwarding a copy to DCA. Chapter 14 of the Official Code of Cherokee County was read in full, both articles and every section, and it adopts exactly one IRC appendix - Appendix S of the 2018 Georgia amendments - together with Appendix G of the IRC for swimming pool barriers under County Resolution 2005-R-069. It contains no adoption of Appendix U. Note also what the Appendix S reference is not: the Department of Community Affairs' own amendment packet for the 2018 edition of the Residential Code, revised January 1, 2020, carries two appendices - Appendix Q Tiny Houses and Appendix U Disaster Resilient Construction - and no Appendix S, so the appendix Cherokee adopted is not Appendix U. So Cherokee County has not been shown to have adopted Appendix U. Note in any event that AU101.3.1 limits the appendix, where adopted, to new development and to substantial improvements to existing development, a term the appendix does not define, so it is not a rule about how an ordinary reroof is installed.
Drip edge
Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT COUNTY-SET, and it applies in Cherokee County 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 Cherokee County whether or not the County elects to enforce it locally. The County's own adoption is floating rather than edition-by-edition: Official Code section 14-1(a) records the intent of the board of commissioners "to enforce the latest editions of the following State of Georgia Minimum Standard Codes, as adopted and amended by the State of Georgia from time to time" and lists the "International Residential Code with Georgia Amendments" sixth of eight, adding Sections 101 through 111 and 113 through 114 of Chapter 1 for administration. The County publishes the editions itself: its Building Construction Codes sheet, headed January 1st 2026, names the 2024 International Residential Code among the codes "adopted by the State of Georgia as the minimum construction standards with Georgia amendments and are applicable state wide". The Georgia Department of Community Affairs amendment packet for the 2024 IRC carries no amendment to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies: the packet's full text is archived in this project and was measured rather than skimmed, at zero occurrences of any R9-hundred section number and zero of the phrase "Chapter 9". So the Chapter 9 drip-edge provision at Section R905.2.8.5 stands as written for Georgia. Cherokee County's own building instrument was re-opened in full for this entry, not taken from an earlier report: Chapter 14, Buildings and Building Regulations, of the Official Code of Cherokee County, all 77 documents and 108,032 characters of it, Article I and Article II with its property-maintenance divisions, searched on anchored terms with zero hits for "drip", zero for "R905", zero for "Chapter 9" and zero for "shingle". The one local amendment section 14-1 carries is to the plumbing code, on water-efficient fixtures and landscape irrigation, and the Building Department's own published amendment sheet states that "Cherokee County Building Department has one local amendment regarding residential sprinklers in drive-under garages. This local amendment is on file with the GA Department of Community Affairs as required." That amendment was read: it is a sprinkler piping, head-spacing and alarm standard and touches no roofing provision. APPENDIX U IS NOT ADOPTED. Chapter 14 adopts exactly two Residential Code appendices, "Appendix S of the 2018 Georgia State Amendments to the International Residential Code for One and Two Family Dwellings" at section 14-1(a)(6)b, and Appendix G for swimming pool barriers under County Resolution 2005-R-069 at section 14-63; the former section 14-2, which had dealt with appendices, was repealed outright by Ordinance No. 2018-O-007 on August 21, 2018. Neither adopted appendix is Appendix U, so its enhanced deck sealing and shingle fastening do not apply here. 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 does not rely on any third-party republication of it. What is recorded is the sourced fact that the requirement is in force in Cherokee County unamended. One practical warning for a roofer: the County's Building Inspections page states that "a permit is not required to replace shingles, install siding, windows, paint, replace floor covering or minor repairs for routine maintenance", while "structural changes in roof design" do require one. So an ordinary Cherokee re-roof is not inspected by the County. The exemption removes the inspection, not the requirement: under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) the mandatory code binds the work whether or not the local government chooses to enforce it locally. About drip edge
Mid-roof inspection
Not required — Cherokee County publishes its complete inspection schedule and there is no roof inspection of any kind in it. The County's "Inspection Schedule - A quick guide to Cherokee County Building Inspections" lists eleven numbered stages: 1 Erosion Control and Set-Back, 2 Temporary Poles, 3 Footing/Foundation, 4 Plumbing in Slab, 5 Slab/Concrete Floor Systems, 6 Bracing, 7 Deck Footing, 8 Rough, 9 Temp to Perm Construction Power, 10 Insulation and 11 Final. There is no sheathing, dry-in, roof-nailing or mid-roof hold point. Roofing enters the schedule only as something that must already be done before the rough inspection: stage 8 reads "ROUGH INSPECTION: Request inspection after roofing, framing, windows and doors installed, fire-blocking, bracing is in place and all roughed-in electrical, mechanical and plumbing are complete." In practice the question rarely arises on a reroof at all, because Cherokee treats a covering replacement as an ordinary repair that needs no permit, so it is never inspected.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-rated roof covering is required in unincorporated Cherokee County or in Waleska. The Georgia State Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code - the whole of Georgia's residential amendment list, and the copy Cherokee County publishes on its own forms page - contain no amendment to the Code's roofing chapter and no impact-resistance requirement: no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 provision appears anywhere in the packet, across all of the code amendments it carries. Cherokee County's own building regulations were read in full: Chapter 14 of the Official Code of Cherokee County, both articles and every section, adopts the state minimum codes and contains no roofing provision at all, and the County states that its single local amendment concerns residential sprinklers in drive-under garages. The County's published list of common roofing code violations covers slope limits, doubled underlayment on low slopes, crickets and kick-out flashing, and nothing about impact or hail rating. Neither instrument mandates an impact-rated covering. A hail discount an insurer offers for an impact-rated shingle is a contract term between the roofer's customer and their insurer, not a code requirement.
Repair permit threshold
Cherokee County exempts a roof covering replacement as an ordinary repair, and the exemption is stated by the nature of the work rather than by a dollar value - there is no cost threshold in it at all. The Building Department's own page states: "A building permit is typically required for any construction activity with the exception of ordinary repairs. For example: a permit is not required to replace shingles, install siding, windows, paint, replace floor covering or minor repairs for routine maintenance. However, structural changes in roof design, moving walls, additions, decks/porches, basement finishes require a building permit." READ BOTH HALVES. Replacing the covering is exempt; changing the roof structure is not, and the County draws the line at "structural changes in roof design". A reroof that stops at the shingles needs no permit, and the same job needs one the moment it alters the roof's design or structure. The Development Service Center's residential permit page separately lists what needs a permit - new single-family residences, additions, renovation work, basement finishes and detached accessory structures of 200 square feet or more - and what does not - wallpapering, painting, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and counter tops, sheds and playhouses under 200 square feet, fences not over 7 feet and retaining walls not over 4 feet. Roofing appears on neither list, because the department page handles it under ordinary repairs. The County's own advice where the line is unclear is to ask first: "If in doubt as to whether or not a building permit is required, please contact the Building Department and ask if a permit is required first before proceeding. Obtaining a permit upfront will help to avoid mistakes as well as penalty permit fees."
Roof layer limit / recover
Cherokee County sets no local overlay or layer rule of its own, and neither does Georgia. The re-cover and roof-replacement limits that apply in unincorporated Cherokee County and in Waleska are the base 2024 International Residential Code provisions as adopted in Georgia. Official Code of Cherokee County section 14-1 adopts the latest editions of the State of Georgia Minimum Standard Codes as adopted and amended by the state from time to time, and the County states that its only local amendment concerns residential sprinklers in drive-under garages, so nothing local reaches the Code's roofing chapter. The Georgia State Amendments packet likewise makes no change to that chapter. The County's own list of common roofing code violations has five items and none of them is a layer or overlay limit. The numeric limit is therefore whatever the base Code text says, and that text is behind the publisher's paywall and is not restated here. Practical point for a roofer: because Cherokee treats a shingle replacement as an ordinary repair needing no permit, nobody at the County will check the layer count on the job, but the Code still applies by operation of law under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a).
Deck & sheathing requirements
State-governed, with the County pointing rather than amending. Roof-deck and sheathing requirements in unincorporated Cherokee County and in Waleska are the base 2024 International Residential Code provisions as adopted in Georgia: the Georgia State Amendments packet makes no change to the Code's roofing chapter, and the County states that its single local amendment concerns residential sprinklers in drive-under garages. What Cherokee does publish is where its inspectors send you. Its "Common Code Violations" list of predefined inspector comments states that "Roof and floor sheathing shall comply with IRC Chapters 5 (6) and 8 and IBC Chapter 23", and, in the same building section, that the "Sheathing nail schedule to comply with Table R602.3(3) 6" on the edges and 12" in the field" - noting that Table R602.3(3) is the Code's WALL sheathing table, so read it as the schedule the County cites generally rather than as a roof-deck rule. That list is inspector guidance rather than an ordinance and was written before the County moved to the 2024 editions on January 1, 2026, so check the current edition for the operative text. One live inspection point does touch nailing: stage 6 of the County's inspection schedule is a BRACING inspection, at which "Verification of nail pattern is required before exterior siding is installed". A reroof that goes beyond replacing the covering and reaches the decking or the framing is a different job from the County's point of view: the Building Department exempts a shingle replacement as an ordinary repair but requires a permit for "structural changes in roof design".
Sales & use tax
7% in Cherokee County. The Georgia Department of Revenue's rate chart effective July 1, 2026 lists Cherokee at code 028 with a combined rate of 7%, made up of the 4% state rate plus the three local components the chart marks E for Educational, S for SPLOST and T2 for TSPLOST 2. The Department has already published its next chart, effective October 1, 2026, and Cherokee is unchanged at 7% on it, so the rate does not move at that quarter change - which is worth checking, because a number of other Georgia counties do move on that date. Cherokee carries no city split of the kind Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton carry. For a roofer the rate matters on the materials rather than the invoice: under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-12-2-.26(1) a person who contracts to furnish tangible personal property and perform services in improving real property "is deemed to be the consumer of all tangible personal property used or consumed in performing such contract and shall pay the tax thereon at the time of purchase", so the tax on the shingles is the contractor's cost, not a line the homeowner is charged. That same rule requires every contractor improving real property in Georgia to file for a Certificate of Registration as a contractor before its first construction activity in the state, which is a tax registration and not a trade licence. The chart is reissued quarterly, so check the current one before quoting a rate.

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