City of Hamilton, Ohio - Building Department

City of Hamilton, Ohio

city

345 High Street, 3rd Floor, Hamilton, OH 45011

Required

Not required

Hamilton's Building Department is at 345 High Street, 3rd floor, Hamilton, OH 45011 (513-785-7360, [email protected]). The city's own "Roofing Permit (Existing Building)" application requires the applicant to identify the property type (1-, 2- or 3-family dwelling, over 3-family, commercial, or accessory building), state the estimated construction value, state whether the job is a complete tear-off and replacement (capped at two total layers -- see roof_layer_limit), state roof pitch, describe attic ventilation (minimum 1 sq ft per 150 sq ft of attic space), describe the roof covering material, and -- if that material is not Class A -- describe how Class A fire performance will otherwise be achieved. All roofing permits require inspection approval, including verification of ice guard and underlayment installation as well as final roof completion (see midroof_inspection_required); failure to obtain the required inspection can require removal of materials. The Building Department's own fee schedule (effective 05-24-2019) prices reroofing of an existing 1-, 2- or 3-family residence at a flat $100.00 (all other buildings $200.00), plus an up-front plan-review application fee ($10.00 for 1-, 2- or 3-family residences) and a 1% state surcharge on the permit fee for 1-, 2- or 3-family residences. A $50.00 reinspection fee applies to 1-, 2- or 3-family residences.

SET BY STATE RULE, with a Hamilton-specific administrative layer confirmed and Hamilton's own full codified Building Code chapter not opened this session. Ohio regulates one-, two- and three-family dwelling construction statewide through the Residential Code of Ohio (RCO), adopted by the Ohio Board of Building Standards under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3781 and codified at Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4101:8. The roof-assembly rule (OAC 4101:8-9-01) and the climatic/geographic design-criteria rule (OAC 4101:8-3-01) were both read in full this session from the state's own codes.ohio.gov copies; both carry an effective date of July 1, 2019. Ohio Rev. Code 3781.01(B) lets a municipal legislative authority add non-conflicting local building regulations. The City of Hamilton administers its own residential permitting through its own Building Department (345 High Street, 3rd floor) rather than through Butler County, and enforces this through its own permit forms (Roofing Permit application, requiring Class A roof covering materials and a two-layer maximum) and its own Building Department fee schedule, both read directly this session. Hamilton's codified ordinances (the city's own municipal-code library) were not located and opened this session, so whether a distinct codified Building Code chapter adds further roofing-specific technical provisions beyond what Hamilton's own permit forms already establish has not been fully determined in this record.

Not required — SET BY STATE RULE, and a genuine deviation from most other IRC-based states -- confirmed this session from the state's own copy. The entire text of RCO Section 905.2.8.5 (OAC 4101:8-9-01, effective 7/1/2019) is: "905.2.8.5 Drip edge. Refer to Sections 903.1 and 905.1." Section 903.1 (General) requires only that roof coverings be secured "in accordance with the provisions of this chapter" and the manufacturer's instructions, and Section 905.1 (Roof covering application) is a general application/wind-load provision -- neither imposes a drip-edge mandate. There is therefore no numbered Ohio provision requiring a drip edge at eaves and rakes with dimensional or fastening specifications. Hamilton's own roofing permit application does not separately address drip edge, and Hamilton's codified Building Code chapter -- which could add a local drip-edge requirement under ORC 3781.01(B) -- was not located or opened this session (see adopted_code), so this record states only the confirmed state floor, not necessarily the complete picture for Hamilton. About drip edge

Required — CITY-CONFIRMED, and consistent with the statewide RCO floor. The City of Hamilton's own "Roofing Permit (Existing Building)" application states, verbatim: "NOTICE: ALL ROOFING PERMITS REQUIRE INSPECTION APPROVAL! INSPECTION IS REQUIRED TO VERIFY THE ICE GUARD AND UNDERLAYMENT INSTALLATION AS WELL AS THE ROOF COMPLETION." The form does not itself state a coverage distance. Ohio's statewide floor (RCO Table 301.2(1), OAC 4101:8-3-01, effective 7/1/2019) pre-fills "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required" as "Yes" for the entire state, with RCO Section 905.1.2 (OAC 4101:8-9-01) requiring the ice barrier to extend from the lowest roof edge to a point not less than 24 inches inside the exterior wall line (36 inches on slopes at or above 8:12). About ice & water barrier

Required — CITY-CONFIRMED. The City of Hamilton's own "Roofing Permit (Existing Building)" application states, verbatim: "ALL ROOFING PERMITS REQUIRE INSPECTION APPROVAL! INSPECTION IS REQUIRED TO VERIFY THE ICE GUARD AND UNDERLAYMENT INSTALLATION AS WELL AS THE ROOF COMPLETION. FAILURE TO OBTAIN THE REQUIRED INSPECTION APPROVAL WILL REQUIRE IN REMOVAL OF MATERIALS." This names a distinct pre-covering inspection stage (ice guard and underlayment) in addition to the final roof-completion inspection.

CITY-SPECIFIC: no minor-repair or minimum-valuation exemption was identified for reroofing. The Building Department's own fee schedule ("Building Department Fee Schedule Summary," effective 05-24-2019) prices "Reroofing of existing building (1-, 2- or 3-family residences)" as a flat $100.00 fee-bearing permit category, with no minimum-valuation or minor-repair carve-out listed for it anywhere in the two-page schedule. The same schedule also lists a separate "Alterations, repairs or remodeling of existing building (1-, 2- or 3-family residence)" category at a flat $200.00, again with no minimum-valuation exemption for residential work.

SET BY STATE RULE. RCO Table 301.2(1) ("Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria"), OAC 4101:8-3-01 effective 7/1/2019, read in full this session from the state's own copy, pre-fills a Wind Design Speed of 115 mph (ultimate design wind speed) for the entire state -- the value is printed directly in the table rather than left blank for local fill-in -- along with Weathering "severe," Termite "Moderate to heavy," and Ice Barrier Underlayment Required "Yes." Wind exposure category is determined site-specifically per Section 301.2.1.4, not by state or city rule. Ground snow load is the one geographically-varying cell in the table and is NOT pre-filled statewide: footnote (o) directs, verbatim, "The jurisdiction shall fill in this section of the table using the Ground Snow Loads in Figure 301.2(6)." No Hamilton- or Butler-County-specific reading of that figure was obtained from a Hamilton or Butler County primary source this session, so no ground snow load figure is stated here.

CITY-SPECIFIC. The City of Hamilton's own "Roofing Permit (Existing Building)" application (Building Department, 345 High Street, 3rd floor) states, verbatim, next to the tear-off question: "NOTE: NO MORE THAN TWO LAYERS ARE PERMITTED FOR ANY ROOF." The form applies to 1-, 2- or 3-family dwellings (among the property types the applicant circles) and requires the applicant to state whether the job is a complete tear-off and replacement.

SET BY STATE RULE. RCO Section 905.2.1 (OAC 4101:8-9-01, effective 7/1/2019), read in full this session from the state's own copy, states verbatim: "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks." No Hamilton-specific deck-sheathing provision was found: Hamilton's own Building Department permit materials (the roofing permit application and the fee schedule) do not address deck sheathing, and Hamilton's codified Building Code chapter -- which could add a local sheathing requirement under ORC 3781.01(B) -- was not located or opened this session (see adopted_code).

SET BY STATE RULE. RCO Section 905.2.5 (OAC 4101:8-9-01, effective 7/1/2019), read in full this session, requires fasteners for asphalt shingles to be galvanized steel, stainless steel, aluminum, or copper roofing nails, minimum 12-gage shank with a minimum 3/8-inch-diameter head, complying with ASTM F1667, of a length to penetrate through the roofing materials and not less than 3/4 inch into the roof sheathing (through the sheathing where it is thinner than 3/4 inch). Section 905.2.6 requires not less than four fasteners per strip shingle or two fasteners per individual shingle, per the manufacturer's approved installation instructions. Hamilton's own roofing permit application does not itself specify a fastener type, gauge, or count. About roofing nails

Butler County's combined state-and-local sales and use tax rate is 6.50%, per the Ohio Department of Taxation's Sales and Use Tax Rate Map (dated March 31, 2026, reflecting rates in effect as of October 2025): a 5.75% state rate (per the map's own note, "The current state rate is 5.75%") plus a 0.75% Butler County permissive rate and no transit permissive rate, printed in the map's own county table as "Butler 0.75% N/A 6.50%." The map's narrative separately states, verbatim, "The lowest rate of 6.50 percent is found in Butler, Lorain, Stark, and Wayne Counties" -- tied for the lowest combined county rate in Ohio.