New Jersey Department of Community Affairs - Office of Local Code Enforcement, Southern Regional Office

Allenhurst Borough (Monmouth County), Buena Vista Township (Atlantic County), Chesilhurst Borough (Camden County), Corbin City (Atlantic County), Downe Township (Cumberland County), Englishtown Borough (Monmouth County), Estell Manor City (Atlantic County), Folsom Borough (Atlantic County), Hi-Nella Borough (Camden County), Hopewell Borough (Mercer County), Jamesburg Borough (Middlesex County), Laurel Springs Borough (Camden County), Mannington Township (Salem County), Millstone Borough (Somerset County), Mullica Township (Atlantic County), Penns Grove Borough (Salem County), Rocky Hill Borough (Somerset County), Roosevelt Borough (Monmouth County), Salem City (Salem County), Shrewsbury Township (Monmouth County), Washington Township (Burlington County), Weymouth Township (Atlantic County), Woodbine Borough (Cape May County) and Helmetta Borough (Middlesex County), New Jersey

district

852 South White Horse Pike, Hammonton, NJ 08037

Not required

Required

No permit is needed under state law to reroof a detached one- or two-family house; a townhouse, other attached dwelling or any other building needs one from the Department of Community Affairs' Southern Regional Office, 852 South White Horse Pike, Hammonton, 609-567-3653 (fax 609-704-1510), open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Department says "only PAPER drawings/documents are reviewed at this time by the Northern & Southern Regional Offices"; the application is the State's construction permit application packet, and inspections are requested through the Department's online Southern Region inspection request form. Where a roof permit is required, the Department's own fee rule for the towns it serves, N.J.A.C. 5:23-4.20(c), says "The fee for roofing and siding work completed on structures of Group R-3 or R-5 shall be $65.00"; other renovations, alterations and repairs are $34.00 per $1,000 of estimated cost for the first $50,000, $26.00 per $1,000 from $50,001 to $100,000 and $22.00 per $1,000 above $100,000, and the plan review fee is 20 percent of the permit fee. The same rule says "No fee shall be collected for work consequential to a natural disaster when the Department is the local enforcing agency" (5:23-4.20(a)6). The office also keeps hours at town halls: Allenhurst Borough, Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 732-531-2757 ext. 9; Buena Vista Township, Monday and Friday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 856-697-2100 ext. 817; Chesilhurst Borough, Tuesday 8:30 to 10:00 a.m., 856-725-8931; Corbin City, fourth Wednesday of the month 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 609-701-0200 or 609-567-3653; Downe Township, Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 856-447-3100; Englishtown Borough, Monday and Friday 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., 732-446-9235 ext. 220; Estell Manor City, Wednesday 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., 609-476-3132 ext. 0; Folsom Borough, Tuesday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 609-561-3178; Hi-Nella Borough, Tuesday 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 856-784-6237; Hopewell Borough, Tuesday through Friday 8:30 to 11:00 a.m., 609-466-2570; Jamesburg Borough, Monday and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 732-521-2222 ext. 106; Laurel Springs Borough, Tuesday 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., 856-784-0500; Mannington Township, Wednesday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 856-935-2359 ext. 202; Millstone Borough, first and third Tuesday of the month 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., 609-924-7445; Mullica Township, Tuesday and Wednesday 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., 609-561-7070; Penns Grove Borough, Thursday 1:00 to 3:30 p.m., 856-299-0098 ext. 120; Rocky Hill Borough, Tuesday 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., 609-924-7445; Roosevelt Borough, Wednesday 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., 609-448-0539 ext. 4; Salem City, Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 856-935-0372 ext. 211 or 212; Shrewsbury Township, Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 732-531-2757 ext. 9; Washington Township (Burlington County), Tuesday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 609-965-3242 ext. 203; Weymouth Township, Wednesday 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., 609-476-2604 ext. 101; Woodbine Borough, Monday mornings from 8:30 a.m., 609-861-2153. Helmetta's own site says "If you require permits, construction documents, or have UCC questions, they will now be administered by the Department of Community Affairs (The State) at Jamesburg Borough Hall," 131 Perrineville Road, Monday and Wednesday 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., 732-521-2222 ext. 106.

The 2024 International Residential Code, New Jersey edition, adopted by the State, with the Rehabilitation Subcode for work on existing buildings. New Jersey has one construction code, the Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23), which every municipality enforces; municipalities do not adopt building codes of their own (N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123.1 and 52:27D-139). N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21(a)1 adopts the International Code Council's "2024 International Residential Code known as the IRC/2024 as the one- and two-family dwelling subcode in New Jersey subject to the modifications stated at (c) below," and 3.21(b) applies it to "detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories above grade plane in height." The section was rewritten by R.2026 d.086, "effective August 17, 2026," in the Department of Community Affairs' print of the rules "adopted and published through the New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 16," and the Department's Current Construction Codes page lists the "International Residential Code/2024, NJ ed" with an adoption date of Aug 17, 2026. Other buildings fall under the building subcode, the International Building Code/2024, NJ edition (N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.14). Roof work on an existing building is held to the Rehabilitation Subcode: "Existing structures, when repaired, renovated, altered or reconstructed, shall conform to the requirements of N.J.A.C. 5:23-6, Rehabilitation Subcode" (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.4(a)). A six-month grace period follows the adoption. N.J.A.C. 5:23-1.6(a): "For a period of six months following the operative date of a subcode revision, applicants may submit a complete permit application, including all prior approvals, to be reviewed under the code in force immediately preceding the subcode revision." The rule history gives R.2026 d.086 no date other than its effective date, so on that reading the window runs from August 17, 2026 until about February 17, 2027: a complete application filed inside it may be reviewed under either the prior edition or the 2024 edition, at the applicant's choice, and one filed after it closes is reviewed under the 2024 edition. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, the Department of Community Affairs, which publishes these rules, is itself the enforcing agency in the municipalities this office serves; its regional office page says the office provides "for the administration and enforcement of the State Uniform Construction Code" in those municipalities and names no edition.

Not required — No mid-roof inspection under state law. Reroofing a detached one- or two-family house is ordinary maintenance, and N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(c) says "No permit for, inspections of, or notice to the enforcing agency of ordinary maintenance shall be required." Where a reroof does need a permit, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.18(b)1 says "Inspections of one- and two-family dwellings for which construction must cease until the inspection is made shall be limited to the following": footing trenches, foundations, utility services and a mid-point inspection, whose building item is "All structural framing, connections, wall and roof sheathing, and insulation." The list names no roof-covering or underlayment stage, and the rule does not say whether its sheathing item reaches a permitted reroof that replaces sheathing. Any further inspection a municipality requires "shall be of the type and nature that construction may continue without interruption" (5:23-2.18(b)3). Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Southern Regional Office page states nothing further on roof inspections; inspections are requested through the Department's online Southern Region inspection request form.

Not required — No impact-resistant roofing requirement under state law. The New Jersey Uniform Construction Code rules that reach a house reroof (the administrative rules in N.J.A.C. 5:23-1 and 5:23-2, the State's amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code at 5:23-3.21, and the Rehabilitation Subcode at 5:23-6) contain no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement for roof coverings. A municipality cannot add one: N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123.1 says "Any law or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding," the "alteration, renovation, rehabilitation, repair, maintenance, removal, or demolition of all buildings or structures already erected shall be regulated pursuant to the 'State Uniform Construction Code Act,'" and under 52:27D-139 local construction regulations were "deemed repealed and superseded" once the state code was promulgated. An owner may still choose an impact-rated roof covering. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Southern Regional Office page states nothing further on roof covering ratings.

No permit and no size limit for reroofing a detached one- or two-family house; a permit for every other building. N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(c) lists items that "are ordinary maintenance and shall be treated as such by every enforcing agency" and says "No permit for, inspections of, or notice to the enforcing agency of ordinary maintenance shall be required." Item 1.x is "The repair or replacement of existing roof covering on detached one- and two-family dwellings," with no square-footage or percentage cap. N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14(b)1 carries this into the permit rule: "Ordinary maintenance as defined in N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7 shall not require a permit or notice to the enforcing agency." Two limits apply. First, the item covers only detached one- and two-family dwellings. Reroofing a townhouse or other attached dwelling, or any other building, falls under the general permit rule, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14(a): "It shall be unlawful to construct, enlarge, repair, renovate, alter, reconstruct or demolish a structure ... without first filing an application with the construction official." Some of that work may be "minor work" under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.17A, which still needs a permit, but "work may proceed, upon notice to the enforcing agency, before the permit is issued" (5:23-2.14(b)2). The fee is municipal: "The municipality, in accordance with this chapter, shall establish by ordinance enforcing agency fees" (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.25; fee standards at 5:23-4.18). Second, ordinary maintenance does not include "Any work affecting structural or fire safety" (5:23-2.7(b)4), so roof work that reaches rafters, trusses or other structure needs a permit even on a detached house. The rule does not say whether replacing roof sheathing alone is such work. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Department of Community Affairs is itself the enforcing agency for the municipalities this office serves, and its regional office page states nothing further on reroofing.

Two layers maximum, by state rule. Roof work on an existing building is held to the Rehabilitation Subcode (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.4(a)), whose repair section, N.J.A.C. 5:23-6.4(e)7, reads: "Existing roof covering shall be removed before installing new roof covering when any of the following conditions occur: i. The existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that the existing roof or roof covering is not adequate as a base for additional roofing; ii. The existing roof covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile; or iii. The existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." So one existing layer of asphalt shingles may be covered once; a roof that already has two layers, a wet or deteriorated roof, or a wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile roof must be torn off first. The answer is the same if a reroof is treated as renovation rather than repair: for work other than repair, N.J.A.C. 5:23-6.8(h)7 applies "All of Chapter 9 entitled 'Roof Assemblies', except Section R907" of the 2024 International Residential Code, and its reroofing section, R908.4, Exceptions, bars a recover "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." New Jersey's Chapter 9 amendments at N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21(c)8 change only R903.4.1 and R905.1.2 and leave R908 as published. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Southern Regional Office page states nothing further on roofing.

6.625% New Jersey Sales Tax; whether the roofing bill is taxed depends on the job. The Division of Taxation's guide Contractors and New Jersey Taxes (S&U-3, Rev. 5/25) refers to "New Jersey's 6.625% Sales Tax rate." A new roof is an exempt capital improvement: "New roof" is on the guide's list of "Exempt capital improvements," and "If the work results in an exempt capital improvement to real property, the contractor does not charge Sales Tax on the bill"; the owner gives the contractor a Certificate of Exempt Capital Improvement (Form ST-8). The roofer still pays tax on materials: "The contractor pays the Sales Tax on the cost of materials and supplies at the time of purchase." A repair is taxable. The guide lists "Fixing a leaky roof" among repairs and says "replacing a few loose bath tiles or a portion of a leaky roof is a repair to the existing real property. However, replacing all of the tiles or the entire roof with upgraded or improved materials would be an exempt capital improvement." On a taxable job the only deduction is a separately stated cost of materials, and "If the contractor does not itemize the materials and the labor for a taxable job, the entire receipt is subject to tax." Work for an exempt organization, a government agency or a qualified business in an Urban Enterprise Zone follows separate exemption rules. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Southern Regional Office page states nothing further on sales tax.