The Roofing Book

Permitting Authorities / Cobb County, Georgia - Community Development Agency, Development and Inspections Division

Cobb County, Georgia - Community Development Agency, Development and Inspections Division

Adopted code

The building-permit and inspection authority for the UNINCORPORATED areas of Cobb County, Georgia, in the northwest Atlanta metro. It is not the authority inside Cobb's incorporated cities: Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Powder Springs and Austell each permit their own limits, and Mableton began accepting its own building and development permits on March 1, 2025, with February 28, 2025 the last day the County accepted them for that territory. The one thing a roofer needs to know about Cobb is unusual for a metro county: the County's own published list of work exempt from residential permitting includes standard tab shingle replacement, so an ordinary residential shingle reroof in unincorporated Cobb is not permitted work, while the same job on a commercial building is.

Jurisdiction
Cobb County, Georgia
Jurisdiction type
county
Address
Marietta, GA
Contact
  • url: https://www.cobbcounty.gov/community-development/building-development/residential-permitting
  • phone: 770-528-2060
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 - registration. Official Code of Cobb County section 18-1 requires every builder "or other contractor or builder who shall make contracts for the erection, construction or repair of buildings for which a permit is required" to pay the licence tax in Chapter 78 and "to register his name in a book provided for that purpose, with the building inspector". Its enactment history runs from a 1973 resolution through 1986 and 1994 ordinances, so it is a scheme in effect and operation well before the July 1, 2004 cut-off that O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(c) sets for local licensing of state-licensed contractors. Note what it is keyed to: contracts for work FOR WHICH A PERMIT IS REQUIRED - so it does not attach to the standard tab shingle replacement Cobb exempts. COUNTY - occupation tax. Cobb states that "All individuals/contractors in the construction industry are required to have a valid occupation tax certificate prior to operating in unincorporated Cobb County", and that "Contractors who are required to be licensed by the Secretary of State's Office MUST provide a copy of their state certification card in order to purchase any permits or obtain an Occupation Tax Certificate." A business based outside unincorporated Cobb must either show a valid certificate from its own Georgia jurisdiction or take out a Cobb one. That certificate is ordinary business taxation rather than a trade credential, but the state card gates it, so the state licence question reaches a roofer in Cobb even on work that needs no permit. Cobb also states plainly that a state residential or general contractor licence "is required prior to any permits being issued for such work."
Permit process note
The Cobb 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 Cobb must still be built to the 2024 International Residential Code with Georgia Amendments 2026 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 standard tab shingle replacement Cobb has chosen not to inspect. For the roofing work that DOES need a permit - commercial roofs, and residential work reaching beyond the covering - Cobb's general rule is broad: section 18-27(a) requires any contractor, owner or authorized representative doing any building construction to obtain a permit before performing the work, and the County's own guidance puts it as "Generally, anything built in Unincorporated Cobb County needs a building permit." Applications go to [email protected] (10 to 14 business days) or in person at 1150 Powder Springs Street, Marietta, where most permits are ready the same day. A permit needs a passing inspection every 60 days to stay active and expires outright at 180 days; a homeowner may act as their own general contractor only on the home they live in, and may not pull the permit for work a hired contractor performs.
Adopted code
Two layers, and in Georgia the state layer is the one that sets the technical content. STATE: the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments 2026 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. What a local government chooses is which mandatory codes it will enforce and whether to adopt the permissive codes. COUNTY: Cobb County adopts the IRC by floating reference rather than by edition. Official Code of Cobb County section 18-231 adopts "the edition of the International Residential Code promulgated pursuant to O.C.G.A. 8-2-25, as amended from time to time ... as the one- and two-family dwelling code of the county", together with sections 101 through 111 and 113 through 114 of its chapter 1 for administration - so the county's residential code moves with the state's, and today that is the 2024 IRC with Georgia Amendments 2026. Section 18-232 carries only two amendments: it adds a Section R108.6 doubling the fee where work starts before the permit issues, and it deletes Chapter 11 and Chapters 25 through 43 in their entirety, which is the county tracking the DCA Board's own omission of the IRC's plumbing, electrical and energy requirements in favour of the International Plumbing Code, the National Electrical Code and the International Energy Conservation Code. NEITHER AMENDMENT TOUCHES THE CODE'S ROOFING CHAPTER. The county publishes its own list of the editions in force, effective January 1, 2026: IBC 2024, IRC 2024, IFGC 2024, IPC 2024, IMC 2024 and ISPSC 2024, each with Georgia Amendments 2026; National Electrical Code 2023; International Energy Conservation Code 2015 with Georgia supplements and amendments, which is off-cycle from the rest; International Property Maintenance Code 2018 with Georgia Amendments 2021; and International Fire Code 2024 through the State Fire Marshal. Cobb's commercial adoption at section 18-121 takes IBC Appendices B, C, G, J, K and N. APPENDIX U, DISASTER RESILIENT CONSTRUCTION: the Department of Community Affairs adopts this appendix to the IRC as OPTIONAL, and a Georgia local government can only enforce a permissive code by adopting it by ordinance or resolution and forwarding a copy to DCA. Chapter 18 of the Official Code of Cobb County was read in full, all fourteen articles, and it contains no adoption of Appendix U and no adoption of any IRC appendix at all; its only reference to IRC appendixes is section 18-232(2), which deletes those attached to the chapters it removes. So Cobb 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 - it is not a rule about how an ordinary reroof is installed.
Drip edge
Required — State-governed, not county-set, and it applies whether or not anyone inspects the job. Cobb County adopts the International Residential Code promulgated under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25 as amended from time to time, which today is the 2024 edition with Georgia Amendments 2026, and the Code's drip-edge requirement sits in the roofing chapter that neither the Georgia amendment packet nor Cobb's own section 18-232 changes. The base Code text is behind the publisher's paywall and is not restated here. The point a Cobb roofer should not miss is that the County's permit exemption for standard tab shingle replacement removes the inspection, not the requirement - O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) binds the work to the mandatory state codes whether or not the local government enforces them. About drip edge
Mid-roof inspection
Not required — Cobb County publishes its complete inspection-code list and none of the codes is a roof inspection of any kind. The building codes are 111 Footing/Foundation, 112 Rough Framing, 113 Final, 115 Slab, 116 Wall Cover, 117 Ceiling Cover, 120 Insulation and 551 Zoning Compliance, alongside the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, site and fire series - no sheathing, dry-in, roof-nailing or mid-roof stage exists. The County's Required Inspections sheet, which describes each required inspection in sequence from the temporary power pole through the building final, likewise sets no roofing hold point. In practice the question rarely arises, because a residential standard tab shingle replacement in unincorporated Cobb is exempt from permit and so is never inspected at all.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-rated roof covering is required in unincorporated Cobb County. The Georgia State Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, the packet that is the whole of Georgia's residential amendment list, contains 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 it. Cobb's own building regulations were read in full: Chapter 18 of the Official Code of Cobb County, all fourteen articles from Article I through Article XIV, contains no roofing provision at all, and its residential amendment section 18-232 amends only the fees section and deletes the plumbing, electrical and energy chapters. 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
Cobb County exempts residential shingle replacement from permit, and the exemption is stated by material rather than by dollar value - there is no cost threshold in it at all. Answering its own published question "What is exempt from residential permitting?", the Community Development Agency lists eleven categories of work, one of which reads in full: "Only residential standard tab shingle replacement is exempt. Commercial is not exempt." READ THE LIMITS, BECAUSE THEY ARE NARROW. The exemption names residential work only; the same job on a commercial building is not exempt. It names standard tab shingle replacement, so it does not on its face reach a metal, tile, slate or built-up roof, and it does not reach work that goes past replacing the covering - decking, framing or structural repair is building construction under Official Code of Cobb County section 18-27(a), which requires a permit before the work starts. The same exemption list separately exempts "Exterior wall covering such as siding, fascia and cornice work", so fascia work accompanying a reroof is covered by its own item. Where a permit IS required and the work begins without one, section 18-232 adds IRC Section R108.6, under which the building official charges an additional fee equal to the permit fee up to $1,000.00 per required permit, and an after-the-fact permit may be refused outright if the work does not comply.
Roof layer limit / recover
Cobb 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 Cobb are the base 2024 International Residential Code provisions as adopted in Georgia. Official Code of Cobb County section 18-231 adopts the IRC promulgated under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25 as amended from time to time, and section 18-232 - the county's complete residential amendment list - changes only the fees section and deletes Chapters 11 and 25 through 43, so it leaves the Code's roofing chapter untouched. The Georgia State Amendments packet to the 2024 IRC likewise makes no change to that chapter. 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 Cobb exempts residential standard tab shingle replacement from 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, not county-set. Roof-deck and sheathing requirements in unincorporated Cobb are the base 2024 International Residential Code provisions as adopted in Georgia, unmodified at both levels. The Georgia State Amendments packet to the 2024 IRC makes no change to the Code's roofing chapter, and Cobb's own residential amendment section 18-232 touches only the fees section and the deleted chapters. No Cobb County amendment to a roof-deck, sheathing or fastening provision exists, and the base Code text itself is behind the publisher's paywall and is not restated here. Where a reroof goes beyond replacing the covering and reaches the decking or the framing, note that it leaves the County's shingle permit exemption behind and becomes permitted building construction under Official Code of Cobb County section 18-27(a).
Sales & use tax
6% in Cobb County, and it is the same figure everywhere in the county, inside the cities as well as outside. The Georgia Department of Revenue's rate chart effective July 1, 2026 lists Cobb at code 033 with a combined rate of 6%, made up of the 4% state rate plus the two local components the chart marks E for Educational and S for SPLOST. Cobb carries no city split of the kind Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton carry, and the Department's chart effective October 1, 2026 carries the same 6% for Cobb, so the rate does not move at that quarter change. That makes Cobb one of the lowest-rate counties in metro Atlanta. 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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