Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Jackson County, CO?

Jackson County, Colorado

county

Walden, CO

Required

Building permit applications and a building permit fee schedule are published by the county Building Inspector's office in Walden (P.O. Box 1019, Walden, CO 80480). Electrical permits are handled through the State of Colorado; plumbing permits are handled by the county.

Jackson County enforces the 2018 International Building, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Energy Conservation, Fire, and Property Maintenance codes along with the 2017 National Electrical Code, and has published local amendments to the 2018 International Building Code.

Required — Jackson County's amendment document does not touch 2018 IRC Section R905.2.8.5, Drip Edge, so the unamended base requirement governs: a drip edge is required at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs, with adjacent segments overlapped not less than 2 inches, extending not less than 1/4 inch below the roof sheathing and not less than 2 inches back onto the roof deck, and mechanically fastened at not more than 12 inches on center. About drip edge

Required — Jackson County's amendment to the 2018 IRC, Section R905.1.2, repeals and reenacts the ice barrier requirement: an approved self-adhering polymer modified bitumen sheet must be used in lieu of normal underlayment on all sloped roofs, installed from the eaves to a point 6 feet inside the exterior wall line and 24 inches from the center line of all valleys, fully adhered to the substrate, on all habitable structures. Detached accessory structures with no conditioned floor area are excepted. About ice & water barrier

Not required — Jackson County adopted the 2018 International Building, Residential, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Energy Conservation, Existing Building, Fire and Property Maintenance Codes and the 2017 National Electrical Code for the unincorporated county, certified by Resolution 2020-VII-9(c) of July 9, 2020, and its 59-page amendment document was read in full. That document amends Chapter 15 of the Building Code and Chapter 9 of the Residential Code extensively: it requires a self-adhering polymer modified bitumen ice barrier in place of normal underlayment on all sloped roofs (Sections 1507.1.1 and R905.1.2), mechanical snow-shed barriers on metal roofing (Sections 1507.4.1.1, R905.4.7 and R905.10.5.1), snow-shed barriers, fall-protection anchors and valley outlets under Section 1503, sidewall flashing under Section R905.2.8.3, and a recovering-versus-replacement rule at Section R907.3 that requires removal of all existing layers before a new covering is installed where the roof is water-soaked or deteriorated, is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile, already has more than one layer, or, for asphalt shingles, lies in an area the Residential Code's hail map shows as subject to moderate or severe hail damage. That last rule governs tear-off, not the covering's rating. None of the amendments imposes an impact-resistance rating on roof covering materials, and neither the adopted codes nor any County amendment names a UL 2218 or Class 4 standard. The only statewide instrument reaching reroofing is the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code, 8 CCR 1507-39, effective July 1, 2026 in areas designated wildland-urban interface under that code, which requires a Class A roof covering tested to ASTM E108 or UL 790 where 25 percent or more of the roof surface is replaced, at Sections 101.6 and 403.2; that is a fire classification independent of impact rating, and the code sets no impact-resistance requirement.

Jackson County's amendment to the 2018 IRC, Table R301.2(1), sets a design wind speed of 90 mph, Exposure Category C, and Seismic Design Category B for the unincorporated county. The same table also sets a frost line depth of 48 inches, a winter design temperature of -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and directs ground snow load to the Colorado Design Snow Loads Report and Map, published by the Structural Engineers Association of Colorado in April 2016, rather than a single fixed figure.

Jackson County's amendment to the 2018 International Residential Code, Section R907.3, Recovering Versus Replacement, requires removal of all existing roof covering layers before a new covering is installed if any of the following apply: the existing roof or covering is water- soaked or too deteriorated to serve as a base for additional roofing; the existing covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos- cement tile; the existing roof already has more than one application of any type of roof covering; or, for asphalt shingles, the building is located in an area the county's hail map, Figure R903.5, shows as subject to moderate or severe hail damage. Where none of those conditions applies, a new covering may be installed over the existing one.

Jackson County's amendment to the 2018 IRC, Section R803.2.1.3, requires a minimum 5/8-inch plywood, particle board, or waferwood roof sheathing panel on roof rafters or trusses spaced 24 inches on center in any snow load area, and requires wood structural panel roof sheathing to be bonded by exterior glue. The same rule is separately codified on the county's building code track at amended Sections 2304.8.2 and 2308.7.10.

Unincorporated Jackson County's combined sales tax rate is 6.9 percent: 2.9 percent state plus 4 percent Jackson County. Jackson County is state-collected, not home-rule, and lies outside the RTD and SCFD special-district boundaries, so no district add-on applies, and there is no municipal layer for an unincorporated-county address.