Permitting Authorities / Douglas County - Zoning and Codes (Building Codes)
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Douglas County, KS?
Adopted codeDouglas County - Zoning and Codes (Building Codes)
Douglas County Zoning and Codes issues building permits in unincorporated Douglas County, Kansas, from 3755 East 25th Street, Lawrence. The county enforces the 2018 International Residential Code, adopted as the Residential Code of Douglas County by Section 13-201 of the county code. This listing covers the office's contact details, the Kansas roofing contractor registration rule and the local sales tax rate, and the code facts quoted below; it does not cover every local permit rule.
Roof code checklist: Douglas County, KS
| Item | Answer | Code cite | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permit to replace a roof | Not published | |||
| Repair permit threshold | Not published | |||
| Layer limit / roof-over | Published | R908.3.1.1 | county-code-chapter-13.pdf | 2026-10-17 |
| Deck & sheathing | Not published | |||
| Drip edge | Yes | R905.2.8.5 | county-code-chapter-13.pdf | 2026-10-17 |
| Ice & water shield | No | county-code-chapter-13.pdf | 2026-10-17 | |
| Mid-roof inspection | Not published | |||
| Impact-resistant (Class 4) roofing | No | county-code-chapter-13.pdf | 2026-10-17 | |
| Wind design criteria | Published | county-code-chapter-13.pdf | 2026-10-17 | |
| Adopted code | Published | Sec. 13-201 | county-code-chapter-13.pdf | 2026-10-17 |
| Contractor license / registration | Yes | ksrevisor.gov | 2026-10-17 | |
| Sales & use tax | Published | ksrevenue.gov | 2026-10-17 |
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
Douglas County, Kansas
Jurisdiction type
county
Address
3755 East 25th Street, Lawrence, KS 66046
Contact
- url: https://www.dgcoks.gov/zoning-and-codes/building-code
- phone: 785-331-1343
Contractor registration required
Registration details
- state_level: A KANSAS ROOFING CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. K.S.A. 50-6,123(a)(1): "No person shall engage in the business of or act in the capacity of a roofing contractor within this state without having a valid registration certificate as required by this act." K.S.A. 50-6,122(a)(1) defines a roofing contractor as any person, including a subcontractor and nonresident contractor, who in the ordinary course of business "Engages in the business of commercial or residential roofing services for a fee" or offers or solicits roofing-related services. Section 50-6,122(a)(2) excludes a person doing demolition or debris cleanup, "a person working under the direct supervision of the roofing contractor and who is hired by such roofing contractor as an employee or day laborer," and an "exempt general contractor," a general contractor meeting the conditions of 50-6,122(e) (among them, that roofing is no more than 50% of the project cost, or that roofing is subcontracted to a registered roofer, and no door-to-door sales). This record does not decide whether a given reader falls inside any exclusion. Under K.S.A. 50-6,128 the annual fee is set by the Attorney General, may not exceed $500, and the certificate expires June 30 each year. Working unregistered carries civil penalties under K.S.A. 50-636 (50-6,123(b)).
Adopted code
Section 13-201 of the Official County Code of Douglas County, Kansas adopts "The International Residential Code, 2018 Edition," with Appendix Chapters E, F, J, P, Q, R and S, as the "Residential Code" of Douglas County for detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories in height "in the unincorporated areas of Douglas County, Kansas" [HR-22-6-2, Sec. 1]. Section 13-203 amends it, and states: "Chapter 1 of the Residential Code is deleted and replaced with the provisions of Article 1 of this Chapter 13." The county's residential permit packet states that all construction shall be built to the 2018 International Residential Code.
Drip edge
Required — Drip edge is required at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs (IRC R905.2.8.5). The County adopted the 2018 International Residential Code via Section 13-201 of the Official County Code of Douglas County, Kansas; that instrument, read in full (Article 1, Sections 13-101 through 13-118, which replaces IRC Chapter 1, and Article 2, Sections 13-201 through 13-208), does not amend R905.2.8.5, so the code's drip-edge requirement stands as enacted local law. About drip edge
Ice & water shield
Not required — Table R301.2(1), Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, as completed and inserted by Section 13-203(c) of the Official County Code of Douglas County, Kansas (amending the 2018 International Residential Code), enters No in its ice barrier underlayment required column. About ice & water barrier
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — Chapter 13, Construction Codes, of the Official County Code of Douglas County, Kansas was read in full, including Article 1 (Sections 13-101 through 13-118, replacing IRC Chapter 1) and Article 2 (Sections 13-201 through 13-208, adopting and amending the 2018 International Residential Code). Article 2 amends Table R301.2(1), Section R313.2, energy provisions in Chapter 11, and mechanical, fuel gas, plumbing and electrical sections; none of its amendments touches IRC Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies). Counts across all of Chapter 13: "UL 2218" 0, "Class 4" 0, "impact" 0, "hail" 0.
Wind design criteria
Table R301.2(1), as completed and inserted by Section 13-203(c) of the Official County Code of Douglas County, Kansas: wind design speed 115 mph, topographic effects No, seismic design category A, ground snow load 20 psf, weathering Severe, frost line depth 30 inches, termite Moderate to Heavy, winter design temperature 4 degrees F, ice barrier underlayment required No, air freezing index 778, mean annual temperature 56 degrees F.
Roof layer limit / recover
Base-code rule, read at 2018 International Residential Code Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed, and quoted here rather than left behind the ICC paywall: a roof recover "shall not be permitted" where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second existing layer means a tear-off to the deck. Douglas County's adopting instrument (Chapter 13, Articles 1 and 2, read in full) does not amend IRC Sections R907 or R908.
Sales & use tax
The combined sales tax rate in unincorporated Douglas County is 7.75% (Kansas state 6.5% + Douglas County 1.25%), per the Kansas Department of Revenue's Pub. 1700 jurisdiction rate table effective October 1, 2026. Cities inside the county add their own rates. Per KDOR Pub. KS-1525, "Services performed to install or apply tangible personal property are exempt from sales tax when the services involve the original construction, reconstruction, restoration, remodeling, renovation, repair or replacement of a residence," so residential re-roof labor is exempt. Materials are not: contractors "are considered to be the final user or consumer of the materials they install for others, and must pay Kansas sales or use tax on them."
More roof permit pages in Kansas
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Related guides
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Sources
- dgcoks.gov verified 2026-10-17
- ksrevisor.gov verified 2026-10-17
- ksrevisor.gov verified 2026-10-17
- ksrevisor.gov verified 2026-10-17
- dgcoks.gov verified 2026-10-17
- dgcoks.gov verified 2026-10-17
- ksrevenue.gov verified 2026-10-17
- ksrevenue.gov verified 2026-10-17
- codes.iccsafe.org verified 2026-10-17