City of Kingsport, Tennessee - Building and Codes Division

City of Kingsport, Sullivan and Hawkins Counties, Tennessee

city

415 Broad Street, Kingsport, TN

Required

Required

Kingsport City Code section 22-96, Codes adopted by reference, adopts at subsection (a) "the International Building Code, 2018 edition, including appendices B, C, J, and K, published by the International Code Council" and at a later subsection "the International Residential Code, 2018 edition," each with local amendments set out in the same section. The city amendments run to flood-hazard references, the definition of townhouse, permit exemptions, and the sprinkler provisions, several of which are expressly made "pursuant to TCA section 68-120-101(a)(8)(C)(i)(a)" - the state statute under which Tennessee exempts one- and two-family dwellings from the model code sprinkler requirement. The codification carrying these provisions is current through Ordinance No. 7223, adopted September 16, 2025. Kingsport sits exactly at the Tennessee statewide minimum, which is the 2018 International Residential Code.

Not required — Kingsport imposes no impact-resistance or hail-rating requirement on roof coverings. Article III of City Code Chapter 22, Building Code, was read in full - the adoption of the building and residential codes at section 22-96 together with every local amendment to each. It contains no reference to UL 2218, to FM 4473, or to a Class 4 or Class IV impact classification, and no requirement of that kind in any other wording. Nor does it amend any provision of the roof assemblies chapter of the adopted residential code.

Kingsport sets no dollar or square-footage threshold for roofing. It keeps the adopted code structure - work regulated by the code needs a permit unless the exemption list at section R105.2 reaches it - and its two amendments to that list are narrow and unrelated to roofing: section R105.2 "is amended by deleting the phrase '200 square feet' and in lieu thereof substituting the phrase '120 square feet'", which shrinks the exempt detached accessory structure, and it is separately amended by deleting "Fences not over 7 feet (2133 mm) high" and substituting "Fences not over 8 feet high." Nothing in the exemption list as amended reaches roof coverings, so roofing work stays on the permit side of the line. Permit fees are charged on total construction cost, beginning at a $30.00 minimum fee for work up to $2,000 and running at $30.00 plus $4.50 per thousand from $2,001 to $50,000, with a $7.00 permit technology fee applied to all permits. ONE LINE ON THE FEE SCHEDULE IS WORTH READING TWICE: "Working without a permit is DOUBLE the permit fee."

Two layers maximum - one overlay is permitted, and a second existing layer requires a tear-off. Kingsport adopts the 2018 International Residential Code at City Code section 22-96, and Article III of Chapter 22, which carries the adoption and the whole of the city amendment list for both the building and the residential code, was read in full. It contains no amendment to section R908 or to any part of the roof assemblies chapter, so the adopted code text governs unchanged. Section R908.3.1.1 of the 2018 International Residential Code provides that a roof recover shall not be permitted where any of three conditions occur, the third being "where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second forces removal. The other two conditions apply whatever the layer count: a covering that is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing, and a covering of slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. TENNESSEE PUTS A FLOOR UNDER THIS THAT IS WORTH KNOWING: the statewide minimum for one- and two-family dwellings is the 2018 International Residential Code, and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0780-02-23-.12(2) provides that "no city, county, town, municipal corporation, metropolitan government, or political subdivision of the State of Tennessee shall adopt or enforce any ordinance prescribing less stringent standards ... than those established hereunder" without the state fire marshal's written approval. A Tennessee jurisdiction may therefore be stricter than the two-layer rule but cannot be more permissive than it.

9.25% or 9.75% depending on the address in the City of Kingsport - the 7% Tennessee state sales tax plus the local tax levied by the county the address sits in. Tennessee sets the state rate and lets each county or incorporated city levy its own local tax on top: the Department of Revenue states that "any county or incorporated city, by resolution or ordinance, may levy the local sales and use tax on the same privileges that are subject to the state's sales or use tax," and that "the local tax rate may not be higher than 2.75% and must be a multiple of .25." THAT CAP IS WHY A CITY RATE IS NOT ADDED TO ITS COUNTY RATE: several Tennessee cities levy the full 2.75% while sitting in a county that levies less, and stacking the two would exceed the statutory maximum. Where an incorporated city has its own rate, that rate is the local rate inside the city; where it has none, the county rate applies. The figures here are from the Department of Revenue's own machine-readable rate file for the third quarter of 2026, which the Department publishes for use in tax calculation applications. KINGSPORT LIES IN TWO COUNTIES AND THE RATE GENUINELY DIFFERS BETWEEN THEM, WHICH IS THE UNUSUAL CASE. The city itself levies no local sales tax - it has no entry of its own in the Department of Revenue rate file - so the county rate applies, and the two counties are not the same: Sullivan County levies 2.25%, for a combined 9.25%, while Hawkins County levies 2.75%, for a combined 9.75%. Establish which county a particular address sits in before quoting; the difference is half a point on the whole job. For contrast, Spring Hill in Middle Tennessee also spans two counties but both of its counties levy 2.75%, so there the straddle makes no difference to the rate.