City of La Crosse, Wisconsin - Department of Planning and Development, Building and Inspections

City of La Crosse, Wisconsin

city

400 La Crosse Street (City Hall), La Crosse, WI 54601

Required

Required

La Crosse issues roofing permits through Building and Inspections, in the Department of Planning and Development at City Hall, 400 La Crosse Street; the Chief Building Inspector is David Reinhart. Apply either on paper, using the Re-Roof Permit (All Re-Roofing) fillable application emailed to [email protected], or through the City's online self-service portal. The application asks for the roofing material and underlayment material to be installed, whether the existing roofing is being removed or applied over, the number of existing layers of roofing material, the roof slope and the type of flashing, and a copy of the manufacturer's specifications where required. Inspectors are allowed 10 business days to review a permit application, and an expedited review is available for a doubled permit fee. Permit fees are tripled where work is commenced before the permit is obtained, and there is a 150 dollar re-inspection fee for a missed appointment or for an extra inspection caused by non-compliance with an inspector's orders. A dumpster placed on a public right-of-way, street or public property needs a separate Dumpster Permit from the Engineering Department. Where the homeowner does not hire a bonded and insured contractor, a signed Cautionary Statement must be submitted with the application. One point of possible confusion worth knowing before you telephone: the City publishes this work under Building and Inspections, while the codified ordinance text in Municipal Code chapter 103 still assigns administration and enforcement to the Fire Department Division of Fire Prevention and Building Safety.

STATE-GOVERNED FOR DWELLINGS, ADOPTED LOCALLY BY REFERENCE. La Crosse Municipal Code section 103-63, State Code adopted, provides that the administrative code provisions describing and defining regulations with respect to one- and two-family dwellings in Wis. Admin. Code chs. SPS 320 to 325 and 327 are hereby adopted and by reference made a part of this chapter as if fully set forth herein, and that a copy of these Administrative Code provisions and any future amendments shall be kept on file. That is a floating adoption: the City takes future state amendments as they come rather than freezing an edition. The Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code is Wisconsin's own text, not an adoption of the International Residential Code, which is why its roofing rules do not read like the IRC and why an IRC edition year is the wrong answer for a La Crosse house. For buildings outside the dwelling code, section 103-33 and section 103-65(a) adopt Wis. Admin. Code chs. SPS 361 to 366 together with the current version adopted by the State of Wisconsin of the International Existing Building Code and the International Building Code, so commercial and three-or-more-unit work runs on a different code set from the roofing rules recorded here. The codification read for this record is current through Ordinance No. 5354, enacted December 11, 2025.

Required — STATE-SET AND SLOPE-CONDITIONED - it is narrower than the International Residential Code ice-barrier rule, and the difference matters in western Wisconsin. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.28(4)(a) requires that shingled or shake roofs that extend over a heated area of a dwelling or attached garage and that have a slope of 4:12 or less shall be provided with ice dam protection in the form of sheet metal or a product labeled as meeting the requirements of ASTM D 1970. SPS 321.28(4)(b) sets the extent: the ice dam protection shall 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. Three conditions therefore have to be met together - shingled or shake, over a heated area, and 4:12 or shallower - so on a steeper La Crosse roof the dwelling code itself imposes no ice barrier, even though the city sits in heavy snow and ice country. The shingle manufacturer's own installation instructions may still require one, and SPS 321.28(3)(a) makes those instructions binding for asphalt shingles. Wisconsin's 30 inches up the slope and 12 inches past the inner face of the exterior wall is also a different measurement convention from the IRC 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. 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. In La Crosse the first of those two questions is answered by the City itself. La Crosse Municipal Code section 103-64, headed Application to existing buildings, provides that the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code shall also apply to a list of buildings and conditions, and its item (4), Roof coverings, reads: Whenever more than 25 percent of the roof covering of a building is replaced in any 12-month period, all roof coverings shall be in conformity with applicable sections of this chapter. Item (5) adds that any addition or alteration to a building, regardless of cost, shall be made in conformity with the chapter, and item (2) reaches an alteration or repair whose cost over the life of the structure exceeds 50 percent of the equalized value. So La Crosse has closed the pre-1980 gap for roof coverings by its own ordinance, and a reroof here that replaces more than a quarter of the roof in a year is expected to meet these rules on an older house as well as a new one. About ice & water barrier

Required — CITY-SET, AND STATED AS A REQUIREMENT ON THE CITY'S OWN RE-ROOFING PACKET. Under the heading When must I call for building inspections? the packet reads: Inspections are required: After underlayment and flashing are installed, prior to installing roofing materials. When the project is complete. So a La Crosse reroof carries a genuine mid-roof hold point - the underlayment and flashing have to be looked at before any roofing material covers them - and then a final inspection. The same packet lists no underlayment and flashing inspection and no final inspection as the two problems the department most frequently encounters, and the City charges a 150 dollar re-inspection fee for missed appointments or for an extra inspection needed because of non-compliance with an inspector's orders. Schedule the mid-roof stage into the job rather than around it. Inspections are requested from Building and Inspections at (608) 789-7530 or [email protected].

NO DOLLAR OR AREA THRESHOLD IS PUBLISHED FOR RE-ROOFING, AND THE CITY ANSWERS THE QUESTION DIRECTLY. The City's own Re-Roofing permit packet opens: Do I need a building permit? Yes. The permit itself is listed as the Re-Roof Permit (All Re-Roofing), a flat 75 dollar permit fee plus a 50 dollar property records maintenance fee, and the codified fee schedule carries the same figure as a flat roofing permit fee including plan review and a land use and occupancy permit. General permit liability sits in Municipal Code section 103-34(a)(1), under which no building or any part thereof shall be erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, remodeled, moved, or wrecked, nor shall any person make any repairs to buildings or structures damaged by fire or otherwise, unless a permit is first obtained. The code does carry a minor repair carve-out, but it is a character test rather than a dollar test: section 103-61 defines a minor repair as repair performed for maintenance or replacement purposes on an existing one- or two-family dwelling which does not affect room arrangement, light, and ventilation, access to or efficiency of any exit stairways or exits, fire protection or exterior aesthetic appearance and which does not increase a given occupancy and use, and states that no building permit is required for work deemed to be a minor repair. The City does not publish any list placing re-roofing inside that carve-out, and its re-roofing packet answers the permit question yes without qualification, so treat a reroof as permitted work and take any minor-repair question to Building and Inspections before starting. Permit fees are tripled where work is commenced before the permit is obtained.

STATE-SET, AND EXPRESSED AS PRESSURES RATHER THAN AN IRC-STYLE DESIGN WIND SPEED IN MILES PER HOUR. 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. The roof-specific figures sit in SPS 321.27(3), Uplift and suction forces: roofs shall withstand a pressure of at least 20 pounds per square foot acting upward normal to the roof surface, and roof overhangs, eaves, canopies and cornices shall withstand an upward wind pressure of at least 20 pounds per square foot applied to the entire exposed area. The same subsection requires roof framing members spanning more than 6 feet measured from the outermost edge of the roof to be permanently fastened to the top plate of load bearing walls using engineered clips, straps or hangers. Snow is the one input that varies by location: 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, which is Figure 321.02, so a La Crosse design snow load is read off that map rather than stated as a single statewide number. Because Wisconsin works in pounds per square foot and a zone map, there is no ultimate design wind speed in miles per hour for La Crosse - do not convert the 20 psf figure into an mph value.

STATE-SET, NOT CITY-SET, AND ADOPTED BY THE CITY BY REFERENCE. Wisconsin's 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 2 or more applications of any type of permanent roof covering. So at most two total applications, and fewer than that where the existing roof is wet or deteriorated or is one of the listed materials, which can bar an overlay over even a single layer. A complete tear-off to the deck is not restricted by this rule at any layer count. 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. In La Crosse the first of those two questions is answered by the City itself. La Crosse Municipal Code section 103-64, headed Application to existing buildings, provides that the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code shall also apply to a list of buildings and conditions, and its item (4), Roof coverings, reads: Whenever more than 25 percent of the roof covering of a building is replaced in any 12-month period, all roof coverings shall be in conformity with applicable sections of this chapter. Item (5) adds that any addition or alteration to a building, regardless of cost, shall be made in conformity with the chapter, and item (2) reaches an alteration or repair whose cost over the life of the structure exceeds 50 percent of the equalized value. So La Crosse has closed the pre-1980 gap for roof coverings by its own ordinance, and a reroof here that replaces more than a quarter of the roof in a year is expected to meet these rules on an older house as well as a new one.

STATE-SET, NOT CITY-SET. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.27(9), Roof sheathing, boards and planking, governs the deck under a La Crosse reroof. For structural sheathing, the allowable loads and spans shall be in accordance with the grade stamp on the panel. For roof boards, 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 an 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 grade-stamp rule rather than the International Residential Code formulation used in IRC states, so do not substitute IRC sheathing language on a Wisconsin job. Separately, SPS 321.28(6) bars recovering a roof whose existing roof or covering is water-soaked or has deteriorated such that it is inadequate as a base for additional roofing, which is the practical deck test on a reroof.

5.5 percent on materials: the Wisconsin state sales and use tax of 5.0 percent plus La Crosse County's 0.5 percent county sales and use tax, which has been in place since April 1990. The City of La Crosse lies wholly within La Crosse County and imposes no municipal sales tax - Milwaukee is the only Wisconsin city that levies one - and neither the City nor the County is on the Department of Revenue's list of municipalities that have adopted the premier resort area tax. The baseball stadium tax ended on March 31, 2020 and never reached this part of the state. How the tax actually lands on a roofing job is the part worth knowing: Wisconsin treats a roof as real property for both installation and repair, so a roofing contractor is the consumer of the materials it installs. The contractor pays sales or use tax when it buys shingles, underlayment and flashing, and does not charge the customer sales tax on the reroofing contract, for labour or for materials. The rate is therefore a cost input rather than a line on the homeowner's invoice. The exception runs the other way: selling roofing materials without installation is a retail sale and is taxable. Note that a job across the river in Minnesota is under an entirely different tax and code regime; this figure is for work in the City of La Crosse, Wisconsin.