Permitting Authorities / City of Gering - Building Inspection (Engineering & Planning Department)
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Gering, NE?
Adopted code
City of Gering - Building Inspection (Engineering & Planning Department)
Yes — a permit is required to replace a roof in Gering, NE, issued by City of Gering - Building Inspection (Engineering & Planning Department). Permit and licence forms are printed from the City's Forms & Permits page. The roofing permit application is a two-page form: page one is the application and page two is the "Roofing Inspections and Requirements" sheet, which the applicant signs - "I, [name], have read the above and agree to comply with the roofing requirements." Inspections are booked on 308-436-5096. Under Gering Municipal Code 150.021 a building permit application is filed with the Building Inspector on the City's forms, accompanied by a plat in duplicate showing lot dimensions and the size, shape and location of the building. The City Building Inspector is Jeff Vance, reachable on 308-436-6813 or [email protected], and he is the person the roofing sheet asks for progress photographs. City Hall is at 1025 P Street, open Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Starting roofing work before the permit is issued adds a $50.00 late fee to the permit, and under 150.045 the Building Inspector may charge a re-inspection fee based on the original permit fee.
Jurisdiction
City of Gering, Nebraska
Address
1025 P St., Gering, NE 69341
Contact
- url: https://www.gering.org/engineering-planning
- phone: 308-436-5096
- email: [email protected]
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Registration details
- state_level: STATEWIDE, AND INDEPENDENT OF WHAT GERING REQUIRES. Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-2104(1), in the Contractor Registration Act: "Before performing any construction work in Nebraska, a contractor shall be registered with the department." The department is the Nebraska Department of Labor. A roofer is inside the definitions rather than at their edge: "Construction" means "work on real property and annexations, including new work, additions, alterations, reconstruction, installations, and repairs" (48-2103(2)), and "Contractor" means a person or firm "engaged in the business of the construction, alteration, repairing, dismantling, or demolition of buildings ... and every other type of structure" (48-2103(3)). Two exemptions, both in 48-2104(1): a person who performs work, or has work performed, on his or her own property; and "any person who earns less than five thousand dollars annually for construction services." That threshold is annual earnings for construction services, not the value of one job, so it will rarely reach a working roofer.
- city_level: REQUIRED, AND ROOFING IS NAMED. Gering Municipal Code Chapter 118, enacted by Ordinance 2126 in 2023, is headed "CONTRACTOR'S LICENSE" and its 118.01 reads: "No person or corporation shall engage in the practice of general contractor or roofing contractor in the city without first having obtained a license to engage in any such practice and without giving the proof of surety as hereinafter provided for in this chapter." The City publishes a combined "Building and Roofing Contractor" licence application. Under 118.03 the application goes to the City with the applicant's name, address, business location and telephone number plus proof of bonding and insurance, and carries "a registration fee of $100 for a new applicant or $25 for a renewal application"; the licence expires on the last day of December of the year following issuance and is not assignable. Under 118.04 every applicant must file a certificate or policy of public liability insurance of $1,000,000 minimum for each licence held, with the insurer agreeing to give the City 30 days' written notice of expiry or cancellation, and a bond with two or more sureties or a surety company bond "in the penal sum of $2,000". Under 118.06 a licence may not be lent - it is unlawful for a licensee to allow permits to be taken out in its name by anyone else - and a licensed contractor hiring a subcontractor must give the Building Inspector a copy of that subcontractor's insurance certificate. One exemption, in 118.02: "Any bona fide owner of a residential structure, including all accessory structures, shall be exempt from the contractor's licensing requirements and may be granted a building permit to improve the structure", with the work still subject to inspection.
Permit process note
Permit and licence forms are printed from the City's Forms & Permits page. The roofing permit application is a two-page form: page one is the application and page two is the "Roofing Inspections and Requirements" sheet, which the applicant signs - "I, [name], have read the above and agree to comply with the roofing requirements." Inspections are booked on 308-436-5096. Under Gering Municipal Code 150.021 a building permit application is filed with the Building Inspector on the City's forms, accompanied by a plat in duplicate showing lot dimensions and the size, shape and location of the building. The City Building Inspector is Jeff Vance, reachable on 308-436-6813 or
[email protected], and he is the person the roofing sheet asks for progress photographs. City Hall is at 1025 P Street, open Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Starting roofing work before the permit is issued adds a $50.00 late fee to the permit, and under 150.045 the Building Inspector may charge a re-inspection fee based on the original permit fee.
Inspection requirements
For a re-roof, the City runs three inspections: a pre-inspection after the existing materials are off and before any new covering goes down; a progress inspection during installation of the roof coverings; and a final inspection when the work is complete, with photographs taken during the job emailed to the Building Inspector. For a full building permit the City publishes a fifteen-stage sequence: footings; foundation/rebar; foundation sealing; underground plumbing with radon; framing; insulation and pre-drywall; above-ground plumbing, gas, water, DWV and radon; mechanical rough-in; roofing; electrical, which is called to the State of Nebraska Electrical Inspector rather than to the City; drywall; final plumbing; final mechanical; final signed-off state inspection; and final certificate of occupancy. Gering Municipal Code 150.044 sets the statutory minimum inspections - footing, foundation, frame "after the roof, all framing, fire blocking, and bracing are in place", and final - and lets the Building Inspector require others. Under 150.042 no successive step may be covered before the inspection for it has been made.
Adopted code
Gering is on the 2018 International Residential Code. Ordinance No. 2086, signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk under the City seal and recorded in the municipal code as passed February 10, 2020, rewrote Gering Municipal Code 150.001 to adopt by reference the International Building Code 2018 Edition including Appendix F, the International Residential Code One- and Two-Family Dwellings 2018 Edition, and the International Energy Conservation Code 2009 Edition adopted by the Nebraska legislature as the "Nebraska Energy Code." The ordinance excludes named portions of each. For the residential code it excludes "IRC Sections: 105.2, 107, 112, 113, 309.5, 313, Chapter 2904 Fire Sprinkler System and Chapters 11 thru 42, which are the energy, plumbing, mechanical and electrical sections". Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, and Chapter 8, Roof-Ceiling Construction, are NOT among the excluded portions, so the 2018 IRC roofing provisions apply in Gering as published. The City Engineering & Planning page lists the same package plus the 2018 IPC, 2018 IMC, 2021 NEC "per State Electrical Inspector", 2018 IGC, 2009 IEC and 2009 ISC. Note that the exclusion of IRC Section 105.2 removes the model code's list of work exempt from permit, so a roofer cannot rely on the standard IRC exemptions here - Gering's own permit rule in Municipal Code 150.020 governs instead. The codified municipal code the City publishes is the code book dated September 2023; the City also keeps the signed Ordinance 2086 on its Engineering & Planning page.
Drip edge
Required — Required by the code Gering has adopted, with no local change. The City adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by Ordinance No. 2086, which was read in full: it is a single-section ordinance rewriting Municipal Code 150.001, its exclusion list for the residential code names Sections 105.2, 107, 112, 113, 309.5, 313, Chapter 2904 and Chapters 11 through 42, and it touches nothing in Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The base 2018 IRC drip-edge provision for asphalt shingles, Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies in Gering unmodified. Note that the City's own roofing requirement sheet does not repeat the drip-edge rule but does require valley flashing "constructed in accordance with approved manufacturer's instructions", with a minimum 00.016-inch flashing extending at least 8 inches from the centerline of the valley for asphalt shingles and a minimum 28-gauge flashing extending at least 10 inches for wood shingles.
About drip edge
Ice & water shield
Required — Required, and Gering says so twice. Its Roofing Inspections and Requirements sheet, item 4, reads: "Ice barrier is required to be installed over solid sheet. This area is required to have ice barrier by code and must be solidly sheathe to the roof. All roofs are required to have ice and water barrier. Minimum of 24 inches inside of exterior walls." Separately, the climatic and geographic design criteria table the City publishes for its adopted code answers "Yes" in the ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED column, which is the entry the adopted code keys its ice-barrier provision to. Read the 24-inch figure as the City states it - measured to inside the exterior wall line, not from the eave edge.
About ice & water barrier
Mid-roof inspection
Required — Required, and Gering runs three roofing inspections rather than one. The reverse of its Application for Roofing Permit lists them under "Inspections Required": "1. Pre-Inspection - After removal of existing materials and prior to installing new roof coverings"; "2. Progress Inspection - During installation of roof coverings"; and "3. Final Inspection - when all work is complete." The final-inspection entry adds that the City wants photographs taken as the job proceeds: "Need pictures during the process emailed to Jeff Vance at
[email protected]." Inspections are booked on 308-436-5096. Roofing also appears as a numbered stage in the City's general building-permit inspection sequence, between mechanical rough-in and the electrical inspection. Build the pre-inspection into the schedule - it lands after tear-off and before anything new goes down, which is the point in a re-roof where a crew would otherwise keep working.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Gering. The City's codified municipal code was read for impact-rating language and carries none: its only "Class IV" is a cardiac-severity classification in the handicapped-parking definitions and its only "Class 4" is a liquor-licence fee tier, and no UL 2218 or FM 4473 reference appears anywhere in it. Ordinance No. 2086, the instrument adopting the 2018 International Residential Code, was read in full and amends nothing in the roofing chapter. The City's own Roofing Inspections and Requirements sheet sets thirteen requirements covering sheathing, underlayment, valley flashing, ice barrier, ridge cap orientation, nailing, debris and ventilation, and imposes no impact or hail rating. The climatic and geographic design criteria table the City publishes records no windborne debris zone. Nebraska supplies no impact requirement either. Hail-resistant roofing is commonly an insurance-discount question in the Panhandle rather than a code question, and an insurer's requirement is not a building-code requirement.
Repair permit threshold
Gering publishes a standalone "APPLICATION FOR ROOFING PERMIT" among its Forms & Permits, so a re-roof is permitted work in its own right rather than something a roofer has to argue into or out of the general building permit. The form asks for the roofing contractor's name, address, phone and email, whether the work is NEW or EXISTING, the "PERCENT OF REPAIR" or "COMPLETE REMOVAL", the sheeting and covering type, the "NUMBER OF EXISTING LAYERS", the building type, whether the building is within the fire limits, and an estimated valuation including materials, labor "AND your own labor if you're doing the work yourself." The City publishes no square-footage, dollar or percentage floor below which a roofing permit is not needed. Two things close the gap that such a floor would otherwise leave. First, Gering Municipal Code 150.020 requires a permit of "Any person desiring to commence or proceed to erect, construct, repair, enlarge, demolish, or relocate any building or dwelling, or cause the same to be done", and adds that "Whenever there is a discrepancy between permit application procedures contained herein and those contained in any building code adopted by reference, the provisions contained herein shall govern." Second, Ordinance No. 2086 expressly excludes IRC Section 105.2 - the model code's "Work exempt from permit" list - from the code Gering has adopted, so the familiar IRC exemptions are not available in this city. The roofing permit form warns in bold: "NOTE!! You have NOT received your permit. Do NO work until it is issued." The City's inspection handout adds that "If you begin work without obtaining a permit, there will be a late fee of $50.00 added to the permit."
Wind design criteria
Gering publishes a filled-in climatic and geographic design criteria table on its Engineering & Planning page, and a roofer should read it with its irregularities in view. As printed, the table gives GROUND SNOW LOAD 20, wind design Speed (mph) "115r", Topographic effects "Enter text", Special wind region "Nor", Windborne debris zone "No", SEISMIC DESIGN CATERGORY "A-B", Weathering Severe, Frost line depth 36", Termite Slight, ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED "Yes", FLOOD HAZARDS "Yes", AIR FREEZING INDEX 1500 and MEAN ANNUAL TEMP 50.7. Three cautions. First, the 115 figure is printed with a trailing character as "115r" and the document states no basis for it - it does not say whether 115 mph is an ultimate (strength-design) or a nominal (allowable-stress) speed, and the two are not interchangeable, so confirm the basis with the Building Inspector before using the number in a design method that expects one or the other. The table's own footnote d says only that "The jurisdiction shall fill in this part of the table with the wind speed from the basic wind speed map [Figure R301.2(2)." Second, the Topographic effects cell still reads "Enter text" - it was never completed - and the Special wind region cell reads "Nor". Third, the sheet the City posts is headed "Chapter 3 Building Planning: Building Planning, Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) Residential Code 2021" even though Gering has adopted the 2018 International Residential Code, so it is a 2021-vintage template the City has filled in with its own local values. The values above are the City's; the heading is not evidence that Gering is on a 2021 code, and Ordinance No. 2086 is what states the edition in force.
Roof layer limit / recover
No overlay. Gering requires a full tear-off. The reverse of the City's Application for Roofing Permit, headed "Roofing Inspections and Requirements", carries thirteen numbered requirements that the applicant signs to comply with, and item 11 reads: "The roof must be stripped down to the decking before a new roof covering can be applied." The City reinforces it from the inspection side - item 1 of the same sheet requires a "Pre-Inspection - After removal of existing materials and prior to installing new roof coverings" - and the permit form still asks the applicant to state the "NUMBER OF EXISTING LAYERS", which is how the inspector confirms what has come off. This is stricter than the code Gering has adopted. The City is on the 2018 International Residential Code and Ordinance No. 2086, read in full, amends nothing in Chapter 9 or in Chapter 8, so the base 2018 IRC roof-recover provision at Section R908.3.1.1 would otherwise govern; the City's own roofing requirement sheet removes the recover option entirely. Plan a Gering re-roof as a tear-off.
Deck & sheathing requirements
Gering states its own sheathing rules on the roofing permit sheet, and they are unusually specific about what may be left in place. "The minimum requirement for roof sheathing thickness is 7/16" for new construction. Previous code editions allowed for 3/8" sheathing. If the existing roof sheathing is 3/8" and is still performing (No rotting, deterioration, delaminating or excessive deflection) it can stay in place and a new roof covering may be installed over it. If the 3/8" sheathing is not performing to code, it shall be replaced or overlaid with 7/16" sheathing." The same sheet adds "No gaps in sheathing larger than 1/8" shall be allowed", requires that "Asphalt shingles shall be installed on solid roof sheathing", requires the ice barrier to be "installed over solid sheet", and requires the underlayment to go over a dry deck: "Apply new, 15# (minimum) asphalt saturated felt underlayment over a DRY deck." Ventilation is stated on the same sheet: "For every 300 square feet of attic space, one (1) square foot of ventilation is required." Beyond these, Gering adopts the 2018 International Residential Code and Ordinance No. 2086 amends nothing in its roofing chapter, so the base code's sheathing provisions apply unmodified.
Sales & use tax
7.5% combined (.075) = Nebraska state rate 5.5% + City of Gering local-option rate 2.0%, effective July 1, 2026, per the Nebraska Department of Revenue's Local Sales and Use Tax Rates schedule. Gering sits at the top local-option tier; its neighbour Scottsbluff is on the same schedule at a different rate, so confirm which side of the river a job is on before quoting. Scotts Bluff County levies no county sales tax - Dakota County is the only Nebraska county on that schedule with a county rate, and its 0.5% applies only outside a municipality that imposes its own local tax. Nebraska's local sales tax is state-administered rather than self-collected by the city, and no separate construction or use tax deposit is taken at building-permit issuance in Gering.
Local roofing hub
Related guides
The permitting authority for the City of Gering, the Scotts Bluff County seat across the North Platte River from Scottsbluff in the Nebraska Panhandle. The City Building Inspector sits in the Engineering & Planning Department and issues building permits for the corporate limits and for the area over which the City has exercised its zoning jurisdiction. Gering is one of the most explicit jurisdictions in this corpus on roofing: it publishes a dedicated Application for Roofing Permit whose reverse side sets out thirteen numbered roofing requirements and three roofing inspections, it licenses roofing contractors by name in its own ordinance, and it requires a full tear-off to the decking before any new roof covering goes on.
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Roofing questions — Gering, NE
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Gering, NE?
Required. Gering publishes a standalone "APPLICATION FOR ROOFING PERMIT" among its Forms & Permits, so a re-roof is permitted work in its own right rather than something a roofer has to argue into or out of the general building permit. The form asks for the roofing contractor's name, address, phone and email, whether the work is NEW or EXISTING, the "PERCENT OF REPAIR" or "COMPLETE REMOVAL", the sheeting and covering type, the "NUMBER OF EXISTING LAYERS", the building type, whether the building is within the fire limits, and an estimated valuation including materials, labor "AND your own labor if you're doing the work yourself." The City publishes no square-footage, dollar or percentage floor below which a roofing permit is not needed. Two things close the gap that such a floor would otherwise leave. First, Gering Municipal Code 150.020 requires a permit of "Any person desiring to commence or proceed to erect, construct, repair, enlarge, demolish, or relocate any building or dwelling, or cause the same to be done", and adds that "Whenever there is a discrepancy between permit application procedures contained herein and those contained in any building code adopted by reference, the provisions contained herein shall govern." Second, Ordinance No. 2086 expressly excludes IRC Section 105.2 - the model code's "Work exempt from permit" list - from the code Gering has adopted, so the familiar IRC exemptions are not available in this city. The roofing permit form warns in bold: "NOTE!! You have NOT received your permit. Do NO work until it is issued." The City's inspection handout adds that "If you begin work without obtaining a permit, there will be a late fee of $50.00 added to the permit."
Is ice & water shield required in Gering, NE?
Required — Required, and Gering says so twice. Its Roofing Inspections and Requirements sheet, item 4, reads: "Ice barrier is required to be installed over solid sheet. This area is required to have ice barrier by code and must be solidly sheathe to the roof. All roofs are required to have ice and water barrier. Minimum of 24 inches inside of exterior walls." Separately, the climatic and geographic design criteria table the City publishes for its adopted code answers "Yes" in the ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED column, which is the entry the adopted code keys its ice-barrier provision to. Read the 24-inch figure as the City states it - measured to inside the exterior wall line, not from the eave edge..
Is drip edge required?
Required — Required by the code Gering has adopted, with no local change. The City adopts the 2018 International Residential Code by Ordinance No. 2086, which was read in full: it is a single-section ordinance rewriting Municipal Code 150.001, its exclusion list for the residential code names Sections 105.2, 107, 112, 113, 309.5, 313, Chapter 2904 and Chapters 11 through 42, and it touches nothing in Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies. The base 2018 IRC drip-edge provision for asphalt shingles, Section R905.2.8.5, therefore applies in Gering unmodified. Note that the City's own roofing requirement sheet does not repeat the drip-edge rule but does require valley flashing "constructed in accordance with approved manufacturer's instructions", with a minimum 00.016-inch flashing extending at least 8 inches from the centerline of the valley for asphalt shingles and a minimum 28-gauge flashing extending at least 10 inches for wood shingles..
Is a mid-roof inspection required?
Required — Required, and Gering runs three roofing inspections rather than one. The reverse of its Application for Roofing Permit lists them under "Inspections Required": "1. Pre-Inspection - After removal of existing materials and prior to installing new roof coverings"; "2. Progress Inspection - During installation of roof coverings"; and "3. Final Inspection - when all work is complete." The final-inspection entry adds that the City wants photographs taken as the job proceeds: "Need pictures during the process emailed to Jeff Vance at [email protected]." Inspections are booked on 308-436-5096. Roofing also appears as a numbered stage in the City's general building-permit inspection sequence, between mechanical rough-in and the electrical inspection. Build the pre-inspection into the schedule - it lands after tear-off and before anything new goes down, which is the point in a re-roof where a crew would otherwise keep working..
Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Gering, NE?
Required.
What building code does Gering, NE use?
Gering is on the 2018 International Residential Code. Ordinance No. 2086, signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk under the City seal and recorded in the municipal code as passed February 10, 2020, rewrote Gering Municipal Code 150.001 to adopt by reference the International Building Code 2018 Edition including Appendix F, the International Residential Code One- and Two-Family Dwellings 2018 Edition, and the International Energy Conservation Code 2009 Edition adopted by the Nebraska legislature as the "Nebraska Energy Code." The ordinance excludes named portions of each. For the residential code it excludes "IRC Sections: 105.2, 107, 112, 113, 309.5, 313, Chapter 2904 Fire Sprinkler System and Chapters 11 thru 42, which are the energy, plumbing, mechanical and electrical sections". Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, and Chapter 8, Roof-Ceiling Construction, are NOT among the excluded portions, so the 2018 IRC roofing provisions apply in Gering as published. The City Engineering & Planning page lists the same package plus the 2018 IPC, 2018 IMC, 2021 NEC "per State Electrical Inspector", 2018 IGC, 2009 IEC and 2009 ISC. Note that the exclusion of IRC Section 105.2 removes the model code's list of work exempt from permit, so a roofer cannot rely on the standard IRC exemptions here - Gering's own permit rule in Municipal Code 150.020 governs instead. The codified municipal code the City publishes is the code book dated September 2023; the City also keeps the signed Ordinance 2086 on its Engineering & Planning page.