City of Henderson Office of Code Enforcement

City of Henderson, Kentucky

city

100 Fifth Street, Henderson, KY 42420

Required

Required

THE 2015 INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE AS AMENDED BY THE 2018 KENTUCKY RESIDENTIAL CODE, THIRD EDITION (AUGUST 2024), MANDATORY STATEWIDE AND ALSO ENACTED AS THE CITY OF HENDERSON'S OWN ORDINANCE. 815 KAR 7:125 Section 2(1) provides: "the 2015 International Residential Code for One (1) and Two (2) Family Dwellings (IRC) shall be the mandatory state residential building code for all single-family dwellings, two (2) family dwellings, and townhouses constructed in Kentucky, except that the Kentucky amendments in the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code shall supersede any conflicting provision in the 2015 IRC." The code's own R101.3 adds: "Local governments shall not adopt or enforce any other building code for detached single family dwellings, two-family dwellings and townhouses." THE CITY OF HENDERSON HAS ALSO ENACTED THIS CODE AS ITS OWN LOCAL ORDINANCE: Code of Ordinances Sec. 7-16 provides, "The Kentucky Building Code, as promulgated in 815 KAR 7:010, 7:020 and 7:030 and the Kentucky Residential Code, as promulgated by 815 KAR 7:125 by the Board of Housing, Buildings and Construction, Commonwealth of Kentucky, is hereby adopted in full as an ordinance of the city as if set out at length herein," codified through Ordinance No. 39-25 (enacted December 16, 2025). No Henderson-specific technical amendment exists or could lawfully exist. ONE STATEWIDE CARVE-OUT APPLIES ON SOME HENDERSON-AREA PROPERTIES OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS: KRS 198B.010(4) excludes from the definition of "building" - and therefore from the code - "a farm dwelling or other farm buildings and structures incident to the operation and maintenance of the farm if the farm structures are located outside the boundary of a municipality" and are not retail, not a workplace for ten or more, and not timber storage; KRC R101.2 Exception 3 repeats it. This record does not decide whether any particular property qualifies. HENDERSON COUNTY, outside the city limits, is served by its own separate Codes Department and is not covered by this record.

Required — REQUIRED STATEWIDE BY KENTUCKY'S OWN ENACTED TEXT, WITH AN ALTERNATE-METHODS ALLOWANCE. The Kentucky Residential Code's Section R905.2.8.5, Drip edge, reads: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and gables of shingle roofs. Adjacent pieces of drip edge shall be overlapped a minimum of 2 inches. Drip edges shall extend a minimum of 0.25 inch below the roof sheathing and extend up the roof deck a minimum of 2 inches. Drip edges shall be mechanically fastened to the roof deck at a maximum of 12 inches on center... Alternate methods to the standard metal drip edge may include site formed coil stock that creates a drip line as intended by the code. Wood, composite, and manufactured trim installed on the fascia shall create a drip line to prevent water from running back under the shingles, which will meet the requirements of the drip edge." Because Kentucky bars a local government from adopting or enforcing any other building code for a one- or two-family dwelling (KRC R101.3), and Henderson's own Sec. 7-16 adopts the code without modification, this applies identically inside the city; no Henderson-specific amendment on the point was found or would be lawful. About drip edge

Not required — NOT REQUIRED BY KENTUCKY'S STATEWIDE RESIDENTIAL CODE, AND NO OTHER CODE MAY LAWFULLY IMPOSE ONE HERE. A full counted read of both the Kentucky Residential Code amendment packet and the Kentucky Building Code amendment packet returns zero occurrences of "UL 2218," "Class 4," "Class IV," "impact," and "hail." Because KRC R102.2 provides that "a local ordinance shall not establish any additional or contradictory building construction standard than those adopted in this code," and KRC R101.3 bars a local government from adopting or enforcing any other building code for a one- or two-family dwelling, this negative reaches the City of Henderson, whose own Sec. 7-16 adopts the state code without modification. An insurer's premium discount for an impact-rated shingle is not a code mandate.

NO ROOFING-SPECIFIC DOLLAR OR SQUARE-FOOTAGE THRESHOLD IS PUBLISHED BY THE CITY OF HENDERSON, AND KENTUCKY STATE LAW POINTS IN TWO DIRECTIONS AT ONCE. The City's own Building Codes & Permits page states plainly: "All construction (new and remodel) must have a permit issued by the Code Enforcement office and / or the State of Kentucky," and lists "Remodeling" among "The Following Require a Permit." Neither that page nor the City's own enacted fee ordinance (Code of Ordinances Sec. 7-19, echoed in the City's Building Permit Fee Schedule effective 3-23-2020) names a roofing-specific line item or a minimum-valuation exemption: the residential fee table starts at its lowest bracket, "$0 - $3,000.00 = $25.00," with no threshold below which a permit is not required. Separately, Kentucky's own statutes pull in opposite directions on whether a roof replacement is inside a permit requirement at all: KRS 198B.010(21) defines "ordinary repair" to include, by name, "the replacement or installation of nonstructural components of the building such as roofing... that does not alter the structural integrity," and KRS 198B.010(11) then excludes "ordinary repair" from the definition of "construction" - the term KRS 198B.060(8) attaches the permit requirement to. Against that, the Kentucky Residential Code's own scope at R101.2 reaches "alteration... replacement, repair," and neither the City's own exempt list nor the KRC's own R105.2 exempt list names roofing as excused. This record states both tests without deciding which one governs a particular reroof; call the City of Henderson Office of Code Enforcement at (270) 831-1277 to confirm treatment of a job at the margin.

BASIC ULTIMATE WIND SPEED 115 MPH FOR ALL KENTUCKY COUNTIES, INCLUDING HENDERSON COUNTY, WITH A 15 PSF GROUND SNOW LOAD. Kentucky replaces the model climatic table with its own "TABLE R301.2 (1) - DESIGN SNOW, CLIMATIC AND GEOMETRIC DESIGN CRITERIA FOR KENTUCKY COUNTIES." Its WIND DESIGN row reads: "Basic ultimate wind speed, V-ult shall be 115 mph (51.4 m/s) for all Kentucky counties. Topographic effects shall be investigated." Henderson County does not appear on the table's list of counties assigned the higher 20 psf ground snow load (Boone, Boyd, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Floyd, Gallatin, Grant, Greenup, Henry, Kenton, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Martin, Mason, Trimble), so it carries the table's default 15 psf figure. The same table lists WEATHERING as "SEVERE for all Kentucky counties," TERMITE PROTECTION as "MODERATE TO HEAVY for all Kentucky counties," and sends seismic design to Table R301.2.2.1. Footnote d warns that Section 301.2.1.3 converts this ultimate figure to a nominal design wind speed for methods that use one - do not apply 115 mph directly to a nominal-basis calculation. Kentucky bars a local government from adopting a different residential code, and the City of Henderson's own Sec. 7-16 adopts the state code without modification, so this table applies identically inside the city.

THIS RECORD DOES NOT STATE A LAYER CLASSIFICATION. Kentucky's statewide residential code amendment packet was read in full and amends nothing at an R908 section number or any other reroofing/recover provision - "R908" returns zero occurrences across the packet's text, and IRC Chapter 8 does not appear in the code's table of contents at all. The City of Henderson's own Code of Ordinances Chapter 7 was also read in full and contains no technical amendment of its own; Sec. 7-16 adopts the state code "as if set out at length herein" and Kentucky bars a local government from adopting or enforcing any other building code for a one- or two-family dwelling (KRC R101.3). Rather than borrow a layer count from the base 2015 IRC at its own R908.3.1.1 numbering, which nobody on this project has separately opened and captured for this record, this field leaves the question open and points to the unamended base code's roof-assemblies chapter as the place the answer would come from.

NO LOCAL RULE, AND THE STATEWIDE CODE MAKES NO AMENDMENT TO ROOF SHEATHING. Kentucky's residential code is the 2015 International Residential Code as amended by the 2018 Kentucky Residential Code, Third Edition (August 2024), mandatory statewide under 815 KAR 7:125 section 2(1), and local governments including the City of Henderson are barred from adopting a different building code for one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses (KRC R101.3, R102.2). The City's own Sec. 7-16 adopts the Kentucky Building Code and Kentucky Residential Code "in full as an ordinance of the city as if set out at length herein," with no local technical amendment of its own. The state's own amendment packet was read in full: IRC Chapter 8 (Roof-Ceiling Construction) does not appear anywhere in the Kentucky code's table of contents, and anchored counts for "R802" and "R803" both return zero across the amendment text. The packet's only "Chapter 8" hit is a cross-reference to "815 KAR Chapter 8" (HVAC contractor licensing), not IRC Chapter 8. So the base 2015 International Residential Code's roof-sheathing provisions apply in this jurisdiction unmodified - this record points to that chapter rather than restating span or fastening figures nobody on this project has read against a Henderson-specific instrument, because none exists to read.

6.00% STATEWIDE, WITH NO LOCAL COMPONENT ANYWHERE IN KENTUCKY, INCLUDING HENDERSON. KRS 139.200 provides: "A tax is hereby imposed upon all retailers at the rate of six percent (6%) of the gross receipts." Kentucky's Department of Revenue states plainly: "There are no local sales and use taxes in Kentucky," and no provision of KRS Chapter 139 authorizes a county, city or district sales tax. THE CONTRACTOR, NOT THE HOMEOWNER, OWES THE TAX ON MATERIALS. 103 KAR 26:070 Section 2(1) provides that "all sales to contractors, subcontractors, builders, or owners of building materials, fixtures, and supplies which are to be incorporated or fabricated into any structure or improvement to real estate by the process of erecting, remodeling, replacing, or repairing the structure or improvement are subject to the sales or use tax at the time of sale to the contractor" - roofing is named as trade item 8 and material item (k) in that same regulation's own enumerations. A roofing contractor working in Henderson pays the 6% tax when buying materials and does not separately charge sales tax to the homeowner on the finished job, which is realty rather than a retail sale.