City of Gallatin, Tennessee - Building Codes Department

City of Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee

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Gallatin, TN

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The City publishes its adopted codes as the 2024 International Building Code, 2024 International Residential Code, 2024 International Plumbing Code, 2024 International Mechanical Code, 2024 International Fire Code, 2024 International Existing Building Code, 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, 2024 International Fuel Gas Code and 2024 International Property Maintenance Code, together with the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code and the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. THE CUTOVER DATE IS PUBLISHED AND IS WORTH CHECKING ON ANY JOB THAT HAS BEEN OPEN A WHILE: the City states that the previous 2018 suite is the set "enforced if the building permit is pulled prior to 11/20/2024." Gallatin is therefore two editions ahead of the Tennessee statewide minimum, which is the 2018 International Residential Code. That is permitted and indeed encouraged by the state scheme, which bars a local government from adopting standards less stringent than the state minimum and requires its adopted edition to be within seven years of the latest published.

Not required — Gallatin imposes no impact-resistance or hail-rating requirement on roof coverings. Article III of Municipal Code Chapter 5, Building Standards, was read in full - the code adoption at section 5-56, the modifications at 5-57, the amendments to the International Building Code at 5-58 and to the International Residential Code at 5-59, and the sections that follow on violations, building across property lines, perimeter foundation enclosures and the swimming pool code. It contains no reference to UL 2218, to FM 4473, or to a Class 4 or Class IV impact classification, and no requirement of that kind in any other wording.

Two layers maximum - one overlay is permitted, and a second existing layer requires a tear-off. Gallatin adopts the 2024 International Residential Code, and its local amendment list was read in full: Article III of Municipal Code Chapter 5 sets out the building standards, and section 5-59, Amendments to International Residential Code, contains exactly three items - a note that current permit fee schedules are available from the Building Codes Department, a change to the minimum fire separation distance in Table R302.1(1) from five feet to six feet with a footnote barring projections within three feet of a property line, and a replacement of the one- and two-family sprinkler section requiring residential sprinklers where the separation between structures is twelve feet or less. None of the three touches roofing, and there is no amendment to section R908 or to any part of the roof assemblies chapter. Section R908.3.1.1 of the 2024 International Residential Code provides that a roof recover shall not be permitted where any of three conditions occur, the third being "where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second forces removal. The other two conditions apply whatever the layer count: a covering that is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing, and a covering of slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. TENNESSEE PUTS A FLOOR UNDER THIS THAT IS WORTH KNOWING: the statewide minimum for one- and two-family dwellings is the 2018 International Residential Code, and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0780-02-23-.12(2) provides that "no city, county, town, municipal corporation, metropolitan government, or political subdivision of the State of Tennessee shall adopt or enforce any ordinance prescribing less stringent standards ... than those established hereunder" without the state fire marshal's written approval. A Tennessee jurisdiction may therefore be stricter than the two-layer rule but cannot be more permissive than it.

9.75% in the City of Gallatin - the 7% Tennessee state sales tax plus the 2.75% local tax levied by the city. Tennessee sets the state rate and lets each county or incorporated city levy its own local tax on top: the Department of Revenue states that "any county or incorporated city, by resolution or ordinance, may levy the local sales and use tax on the same privileges that are subject to the state's sales or use tax," and that "the local tax rate may not be higher than 2.75% and must be a multiple of .25." THAT CAP IS WHY A CITY RATE IS NOT ADDED TO ITS COUNTY RATE: several Tennessee cities levy the full 2.75% while sitting in a county that levies less, and stacking the two would exceed the statutory maximum. Where an incorporated city has its own rate, that rate is the local rate inside the city; where it has none, the county rate applies. The figures here are from the Department of Revenue's own machine-readable rate file for the third quarter of 2026, which the Department publishes for use in tax calculation applications. Two points specific to Gallatin. Sumner County levies 2.25%, but the City of Gallatin levies the full 2.75% permitted by statute and the city rate applies inside the city, so a Gallatin job is half a point above the surrounding county. And the city rate is recent - the Department of Revenue records it as effective from March 1, 2025 - so any quote or contract prepared before that date used a different figure.