City of Kenosha, Wisconsin - Department of City Inspections, Building Inspection Division

City of Kenosha, Wisconsin

city

625 52nd Street, Room 100, Kenosha, WI 53140

Required

Required

Roofing permits in Kenosha are issued by the Building Inspection Division of the Department of City Inspections at 625 52nd Street, Room 100, reachable on (262) 653-4263. The City publishes a dedicated Application for Roof Permit rather than folding a roof into a general alteration permit, and the same form serves residential and commercial work. Completed applications may be emailed to the building permits address the City publishes on its Permit Applications page, mailed, or delivered in person; the City states that faxing is no longer an option, and that where full-sized plans are submitted a PDF copy must be emailed as well. Commercial and multi-family roof applicants are told not to send payment with the application and to wait to be notified that the permit is ready, and to submit two full-size sets of plans plus one 8 1/2 by 11 inch or 11 by 17 inch set. A permit becomes null and void unless construction commences within sixty days of issuance or if the work is suspended for sixty days, and a residential addition or alteration permit must be completed within six months, with a one-year extension available from the Code Official for work that has proceeded in a professional and workmanlike manner. Kenosha permits cover work inside the city limits only; the City directs applicants for addresses elsewhere in Kenosha County to the County's own permitting portal, so confirm which jurisdiction an address sits in before applying. Wisconsin also requires the City to use the standard building permit form prescribed by the Department of Safety and Professional Services and to give an owner applying for a permit the statutory cautionary statement about hiring an unbonded or uninsured contractor, which is printed on the second page of Kenosha's roof permit form.

One- and two-family dwellings in Kenosha are built to the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code, chs. SPS 320 to 325 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, which is Wisconsin's own text rather than an adoption of the International Residential Code, and that is why its roofing rules differ from the IRC's. There is no International Residential Code edition year to quote for a Kenosha dwelling. Kenosha has adopted that code by ordinance. Code of General Ordinances Sec. 9.03 C, Adoption of Codes, provides that "[t]he following Wisconsin Administrative Codes and National Codes, including all referenced codes, statutes, and standards, and future amendments thereto, are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein," and the list includes "SPS 320-325 Uniform Dwelling Code And Appendices," "SPS 305 Licenses, Certifications And Registrations," "SPS 328 Smoke Detectors And Carbon Monoxide Detectors" and "SPS 361-366 Commercial Building Code And Appendices." Because that adoption reaches future amendments, there is no frozen edition to look up. A Wisconsin municipality that exercises jurisdiction adopts the dwelling code in its entirety and may not add requirements within the scope of that code without the approval of the Department of Safety and Professional Services. The City also keeps its own Building Code at Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances, and Sec. 9.03 A gives its scope as "all Dwellings, Public Buildings, places of employment and Accessory Buildings." That chapter carries permits, fees, inspections and enforcement rather than roofing technical standards. Sec. 9.03 B.2 states that plan review and on-site inspections are provided "by inspectors certified by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services." One separate change a roofer may hear about is electrical rather than structural: the City adopted the 2023 National Electrical Code effective September 1, 2026. One wording point is worth knowing before an argument starts on site: Sec. 9.03 C incorporates the dwelling code together with future amendments, while Sec. 9.10 A applies "[t]he State Uniform Dwelling Code in effect on June 1, 1980" to all one- and two-family dwellings, which is the date the code took effect for chs. SPS 320 and 321. This record reproduces both provisions and does not choose between them.

Not required — Neither layer of the roofing law that applies in Kenosha requires a drip edge. The Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code roofing section, Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.28, Weather protection for roofs, was read in full, subsections (1) through (7) including every flashing paragraph of (7), and it imposes no drip edge at eaves or rakes; the only drip edge anywhere in that chapter is the chimney cap rule at SPS 321.30(8), which is not a roofing requirement. On the city side, Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances was read in full, Secs. 9.01 through 9.30, and it sets no roof covering or roof edge standard at all. Kenosha is also not free to add one: under Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.06(1)(a)3. no additional requirement within the scope of the dwelling code may be adopted by a municipality unless the Department of Safety and Professional Services approves it. Practical note: a drip edge may still be mandatory on a given job as a matter of the shingle manufacturer's installation instructions, which SPS 321.28(3)(a) makes binding for asphalt shingles. About drip edge

Required — Required on shingled or shake roofs that extend over a heated area of the dwelling or an attached garage and that have a slope of 4:12 or less. It must be sheet metal or a product labelled as meeting ASTM D1970, and it must extend at least 30 inches up the roof slope from the roof edge and at least 12 inches up the roof slope beyond the inner face of the exterior wall. Wisconsin's trigger is the roof slope, not the climate zone, so it is narrower than the International Residential Code's ice barrier rule and a steeper roof is not covered by it; Wisconsin's measurement convention differs too, so do not substitute IRC ice barrier language on a Kenosha job. Kenosha adds nothing here - Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances was read in full and sets no ice barrier requirement of its own. The Wisconsin uniform dwelling code sets these roofing rules statewide, but does not reach every house. It does not apply to a one- or two-family dwelling whose construction began before June 1, 1980, or to additions or alterations to one, unless the municipality has adopted chs. SPS 320 to 325 for that purpose — ask the building inspector before assuming it governs an older home. The code also states that it does not apply to repairs or maintenance, and it defines a repair to include replacing existing equipment with the equivalent, while a separate section regulates reroofing by name. Wisconsin has not resolved which of those two provisions governs a like-for-like tear-off, so confirm with the authority issuing the permit. Kenosha answers the first of those questions in its own ordinance, and the answer is unusually direct. Code of General Ordinances Sec. 9.10 A, headed Application of State Uniform Dwelling Code to One- and Two-Family Dwellings, provides that "[t]he State Uniform Dwelling Code in effect on June 1, 1980, shall apply to all one and two family Dwellings, and shall also apply where Alterations and/or repairs in excess of fifty (50) percent of the value thereof are made thereto within any period of twelve (12) consecutive months," the value being taken as of the date the building permit is applied for and without deduction for damage caused by the catastrophe that made the repairs necessary. The same subsection then adds that where a portion of the dwelling is damaged or out of repair, or an alteration of a portion is sought, and the cost does not exceed fifty percent of the value, "the State Uniform Dwelling Code shall be applicable only to the portion of the Dwelling which is damaged, out of repair, or which is sought to be Altered." So the City applies the dwelling code to all one- and two-family dwellings rather than only to those built after June 1, 1980, and on a partial job it applies to the part being worked on. That is the City taking a position on the state code's age carve-out; it is not a position on the repair-versus-alteration question, which remains open. About ice & water barrier

Not required — Kenosha does name a roofing inspection stage, and it expressly excludes the ordinary reshingle. Code of General Ordinances Sec. 9.08 B, Required Inspections, lists twenty stages, and item 14 is "Roofing (other than shingle replacement)." That stage is a hold point rather than a formality: Sec. 9.08 E provides that "Work shall not be done beyond the point indicated in each successive inspection without first obtaining the approval of the Code Official." So a reroof that stays above the deck carries no city inspection at all, because it carries no permit; a roof job that reaches the sheathing or the structure is permitted and does have to stop for the roofing inspection before it is covered. The twenty-item list contains no separate mid-roof, tear-off or roof-deck stage beyond that single roofing entry. Reinspection fees run $90.00 for a second reinspection, $180.00 for a third and $360.00 for each one after that, so it is worth a call to Building Inspection at (262) 653-4263 to confirm what a particular job needs before scheduling.

Not required — No impact-resistance mandate applies in Kenosha. The Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code roofing section, Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.28, carries no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 impact requirement, and no such requirement appears anywhere in chs. SPS 320 or SPS 321. On the city side, Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances, the City Building Code, was read in full, Secs. 9.01 through 9.30, and it sets no impact rating for roof coverings; the City's Property Maintenance Code at Chapter XVI carries roof provisions but they are maintenance duties rather than rating requirements. Kenosha could not add such a requirement even if it wished to, because Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.06(1)(a)3. bars a municipality from adopting an additional requirement within the scope of the dwelling code without the approval of the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Impact-resistant shingles remain a voluntary, insurer-driven upgrade in this market rather than a code obligation. Note that any Class A, B or C designation encountered on a Wisconsin job is a fire classification under ASTM E108 or UL 790 and is not evidence of an impact requirement.

Kenosha draws its permit line by scope of work rather than by a dollar figure or a square-foot figure, and the line falls between the shingles and the deck. The City's own Do I Need a Permit table gives two roofing rows and answers them differently: "Roof - Full Replacement" needs a building permit, and "Roof - Shingle Only Repair or Replacement" does not. The City's homeowner guide for one- and two-family dwellings puts the same split more sharply in its Who Can Do This Work table, where "Roof Re-shingling" is listed as needing no permit and "Roof - new plywood" is listed as needing a Roof permit. The Roof permit application itself carries the note "A PERMIT IS NOT NEEDED FOR RESHINGLING ONLY ON A ONE- OR TWO-FAMILY DWELLING," and the City repeats it beside the form on its Permit Applications page. The exemption is in the ordinance too. Code of General Ordinances Sec. 9.06 H is headed Exemptions from Permit and provides that "Permits shall not be required for the following," listing at item 1.c "Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops and similar finish work, siding, window or door replacement or reshingling." So a tear-off and reshingle that leaves the sheathing alone needs no permit in Kenosha, while replacing sheathing, altering the roof structure or a full roof replacement does. Note that Sec. 9.06 H opens by saying an exemption from the permit "shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any Work to be done in any manner in violation of the provisions of this Code or any other State or local laws, rules and regulations" - the code still applies to work that needs no permit. Getting the call wrong is expensive rather than free: Sec. 9.07 C trebles the fees where work requiring a permit is started before the permit is obtained, quintuples them for a second offence within twelve months, and lets the Code Official bar the contractor from work in the City for one year on a third. An owner who self-reports before the City makes contact is absolved of the increased fees. The published Roof permit fees are $60.00 residential and $180.00 commercial, the commercial figure being a $120.00 permit fee plus a $60.00 plan review fee.

State-set, and expressed as a prescriptive pressure rather than as an International Residential Code style design wind speed. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.02(1)(c) requires that dwellings "be designed and constructed to withstand either a horizontal and uplift pressure of 20 pounds per square foot acting over the surface area or the wind loads determined in accordance with ASCE 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures," and the code's own note adds that ASCE 7-05 allows for substantial reduction from 20 psf as applied to the surface area. Snow load is the one geographically varying input: SPS 321.02(1)(b)2. provides that roofs "shall be designed and constructed to support the minimum snow loads listed on the zone map," a statewide zone map at Figure 321.02, so a Kenosha design snow load is read off that figure rather than stated as a single statewide number. Because Wisconsin uses a pounds-per-square-foot and zone-map system, there is no ultimate design wind speed in miles per hour to quote for a Kenosha dwelling, and the 20 psf figure must not be translated into one. Kenosha sets no wind or uplift criterion of its own; Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances was read in full and contains none.

The Wisconsin uniform dwelling code bars installing a new roof covering over the existing covering in three situations: where the existing roof or roof covering is water-soaked or has deteriorated such that it is inadequate as a base for additional roofing; where the existing roof is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile; or where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of permanent roof covering. So at most two total layers, and fewer than that where the deck is wet or deteriorated or the existing roof is one of the listed materials. A complete tear-off to the deck is not restricted by this rule. Kenosha sets no layer rule of its own. Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances, the City Building Code, was read in full, Secs. 9.01 through 9.30, and it contains no reroofing, recover or overlay provision and no roof covering standard of any kind; its only roofing references are a required inspection stage and the exterior building variation rules on roof style and slope. So the state layer rule is the whole of the answer in Kenosha. The Wisconsin uniform dwelling code sets these roofing rules statewide, but does not reach every house. It does not apply to a one- or two-family dwelling whose construction began before June 1, 1980, or to additions or alterations to one, unless the municipality has adopted chs. SPS 320 to 325 for that purpose — ask the building inspector before assuming it governs an older home. The code also states that it does not apply to repairs or maintenance, and it defines a repair to include replacing existing equipment with the equivalent, while a separate section regulates reroofing by name. Wisconsin has not resolved which of those two provisions governs a like-for-like tear-off, so confirm with the authority issuing the permit. Kenosha answers the first of those questions in its own ordinance, and the answer is unusually direct. Code of General Ordinances Sec. 9.10 A, headed Application of State Uniform Dwelling Code to One- and Two-Family Dwellings, provides that "[t]he State Uniform Dwelling Code in effect on June 1, 1980, shall apply to all one and two family Dwellings, and shall also apply where Alterations and/or repairs in excess of fifty (50) percent of the value thereof are made thereto within any period of twelve (12) consecutive months," the value being taken as of the date the building permit is applied for and without deduction for damage caused by the catastrophe that made the repairs necessary. The same subsection then adds that where a portion of the dwelling is damaged or out of repair, or an alteration of a portion is sought, and the cost does not exceed fifty percent of the value, "the State Uniform Dwelling Code shall be applicable only to the portion of the Dwelling which is damaged, out of repair, or which is sought to be Altered." So the City applies the dwelling code to all one- and two-family dwellings rather than only to those built after June 1, 1980, and on a partial job it applies to the part being worked on. That is the City taking a position on the state code's age carve-out; it is not a position on the repair-versus-alteration question, which remains open.

State-set for one- and two-family dwellings, and Kenosha adds nothing of its own. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.27(9) sets the roof deck standard. For structural sheathing, "[t]he allowable loads and spans for structural sheathing shall be in accordance with the grade stamp on the panel." Where the rafter spacing is 24 inches on center or less, roof boards may be used that have a minimum thickness of 5/8-inch for solid sheathing and 3/4-inch for spaced sheathing; where the rafter spacing is greater than 24 inches on center, roof boards shall be tongue and groove, at least 1.5 inches thick. Roof planks, as the alternative, shall be tongue and groove or splined and at least 2 inches nominal in thickness, shall terminate over beams unless the joints are end matched, shall be laid so that no continuous line of joints will occur except at points of support, and shall be nailed or fastened to each beam. Wisconsin expresses this as a board thickness and span rule keyed to the panel grade stamp rather than in the International Residential Code's solidly sheathed formulation, so do not carry IRC deck language onto a Wisconsin job. The practical point for a Kenosha reroof is that deck work is exactly what moves the job from the no-permit side of the City's line to the permit side: the City's own homeowner guide lists "Roof - new plywood" as requiring a Roof permit while "Roof Re-shingling" requires none.

5.5% on materials - the Wisconsin state sales and use tax of 5% plus Kenosha County's 0.5% county sales and use tax, which the Department of Revenue's rate chart dates to April 1991. The City of Kenosha imposes no municipal sales tax; the Department states that Milwaukee is the only Wisconsin municipality that imposes a city sales and use tax. The city lies within Kenosha County, and the City's own permit pages send applicants for addresses elsewhere in the county to Kenosha County, so there is no cross-county rate split to check at the address level. Wisconsin treats a roof as real property, so a roofing contractor is the consumer of the materials it installs: the contractor pays sales or use tax when buying shingles and underlayment, and does not charge the customer sales tax on the reroofing contract, for labour or for materials. The Department of Revenue's contractor publication answers the point by name, listing Roofs as real property for installation and for repair, residential and commercial alike. Selling roofing materials without installation is a retail sale and is taxable. So the county rate reaches a Kenosha roofer as a cost on the material purchase rather than as a line on the homeowner's invoice.