Permitting Authorities / City of McAllen - Building Permits & Inspections Department
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in McAllen, TX?
Adopted code
City of McAllen - Building Permits & Inspections Department
Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in McAllen, TX, issued by City of McAllen - Building Permits & Inspections Department. McAllen has published no re-roofing rule of its own: neither the City's building regulations (Code of Ordinances Chapter 22), its permit fee schedule, nor its permit applications and checklists name roof work as either needing or not needing a permit, and the department's web pages say nothing about permits for re-roofing. The permit requirement comes from the general permit provision of the 2024 International Residential Code (Section R105.1), which the City adopts at Sec. 22-290 without amending its permit or ordinary-repair provisions (Section R105.2.2). The online permit portal's building permit types include "Residential Alteration" and "Residential New or Addition" but no separate roofing type, and the Residential Permit Application offers "REPAIR" as a scope of work. Permits are obtained through the online permit portal; the department's page says "Please call our office if you need assistance. 956-681-1300". Inspections are requested on the 24-hour request line, 956-681-1328; a failed inspection carries a $48.00 re-inspection fee, due before the next inspection is scheduled.
Roof code checklist: McAllen, TX
Each row comes from the sourced record on this page; full wording is in the table below. "Not published" means no official source for that item was found when the record was last verified.
Jurisdiction
City of McAllen, Texas
Address
311 N. 15th Street, McAllen, TX 78501
Contact
- url: https://www.mcallen.net/departments/permits
- phone: 956-681-1300
Roofing permit required
Required
Registration details
- state_level: Texas issues no state roofing contractor licence; the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's program list contains no roofing program.
- city_level: The City's online permit portal lists a "Contractor Registration" guide among its help documents, and its licensed-professional search includes a "Contractor" type. Chapter 22 of the McAllen Code of Ordinances sets registration requirements for electrical contractors (Sec. 22-71), plumbers (Sec. 22-138), air conditioning and refrigeration contractors (Sec. 22-192) and irrigation contractors (Sec. 22-201); it contains no roofing-contractor registration.
Permit process note
McAllen has published no re-roofing rule of its own: neither the City's building regulations (Code of Ordinances Chapter 22), its permit fee schedule, nor its permit applications and checklists name roof work as either needing or not needing a permit, and the department's web pages say nothing about permits for re-roofing. The permit requirement comes from the general permit provision of the 2024 International Residential Code (Section R105.1), which the City adopts at Sec. 22-290 without amending its permit or ordinary-repair provisions (Section R105.2.2). The online permit portal's building permit types include "Residential Alteration" and "Residential New or Addition" but no separate roofing type, and the Residential Permit Application offers "REPAIR" as a scope of work. Permits are obtained through the online permit portal; the department's page says "Please call our office if you need assistance. 956-681-1300". Inspections are requested on the 24-hour request line, 956-681-1328; a failed inspection carries a $48.00 re-inspection fee, due before the next inspection is scheduled.
Adopted code
2024 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, including appendices BA, BF, BO, BG, BD, BH, CF and BB, adopted by McAllen Code of Ordinances Sec. 22-290 (as amended by Ordinance 2025-117, adopted 10/27/2025), with Section 313 (automatic fire sprinkler system) and Section P2904 (dwelling unit fire sprinkler system) excluded; the 2024 International Building Code is adopted by Sec. 22-26 under the same ordinance. The ordinance, which replaced the City's 2018 codes, took effect January 1, 2026. Sec. 22-291, the City's only residential code amendment, removes dwelling fire-sprinkler requirements (Section P2904). The department's Residential Building Permit Checklist (REV 01/2026) lists the current residential codes as "International Residential Code 2024" and "International Energy Code 2024". For context, Texas Local Government Code Sec. 214.212(a) adopts the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012 as the statewide municipal residential code and lets each city adopt local amendments by ordinance after a public hearing.
Drip edge
Required — McAllen adopts the 2024 International Residential Code at Sec. 22-290 (Ordinance 2025-117, adopted 10/27/2025). Its only amendment, Sec. 22-291, concerns dwelling fire sprinklers (Section P2904); nothing in Chapter 9 is amended, so the code's drip-edge provision for asphalt shingle roofs (2024 IRC Section R905.2.8.5) stands as enacted local law.
About drip edgeImpact-resistant roofing
Not required — Neither Sec. 22-290 (adopting the 2024 International Residential Code, Ordinance 2025-117) nor Sec. 22-291, whose only amendment removes dwelling fire-sprinkler requirements at Section P2904, amends Chapter 9's roof-covering provisions; no UL 2218 or Class 4 impact requirement appears in the City's residential code adoption or its amendments.
Repair permit threshold
No roof-specific threshold is set. McAllen's own ordinances name no roof work either way: the City adopts the 2024 International Residential Code at Sec. 22-290 and its only amendment, Sec. 22-291, concerns dwelling fire sprinklers, so the code's list of work exempt from permit (Section R105.2) and its repairs provision (Section R105.2.2) are adopted without local change. The department's Permit Fee Schedule (effective October 1, 2016) has no roofing line or square-count limit; residential remodel work is priced at "New Construction/ Addition/ Remodel =.16 sq ft" with a "Min. Permit Fee = $48" on the Residential Building Permit Checklist. The department has published no statement applying the repairs provision to roofing; its page says "Please call our office if you need assistance. 956-681-1300".
Roof layer limit / recover
McAllen adopts the 2024 International Residential Code (Sec. 22-290, Ordinance 2025-117, adopted 10/27/2025), and its amendment section, Sec. 22-291, read in full, touches only dwelling fire sprinklers (Section P2904); it neither amends, deletes nor excepts the reroofing section. Texas law (Local Government Code Sec. 214.212) sets a statewide default edition of the International Residential Code and leaves amendments to each city; it makes no reroofing amendment of its own. The 2024 IRC Section R908.4, Roof recover, Exceptions, therefore applies: "A roof recover shall not be permitted where any of the following conditions occur: ... 3. Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be recovered; a second existing layer requires tear-off (publisher's text, codes.iccsafe.org/content/IRC2024P1/chapter-9-roof-assemblies).
Deck & sheathing requirements
McAllen adopts the 2024 International Residential Code (Sec. 22-290, Ordinance 2025-117); its amendment section, Sec. 22-291, read in full, touches only dwelling fire sprinklers (Section P2904) and amends nothing in Chapter 8 or Chapter 9, so the base 2024 IRC provisions on roof sheathing (Section R803) and on the deck required under asphalt shingles (Section R905.2.1) apply unmodified.
Sales & use tax
8.25% combined (6.25% state + 2.00% City of McAllen), the Texas local-rate cap; Hidalgo County levies no county sales tax and no special-purpose or transit district rate applies on the McAllen row (Texas Comptroller city-rates file, July 2026 quarter). Under Comptroller guidance for real property repair and remodeling, "Labor to repair, remodel, or restore residential real property is not taxable"; on the lump-sum contract typical of residential re-roofing, "you pay tax on all your supplies, materials, equipment, and taxable services when you buy them. You don't charge your customer tax" (Comptroller Pub. 94-116, Real Property Repair and Remodeling, comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/94-116.php) -- so the combined rate above is the roofer's own cost basis on materials purchased, not a rate charged to the homeowner.
Local roofing hub
More roof permit pages in Texas
Related guides
The permitting authority for the City of McAllen. The Building Permits & Inspections Department, made up of plan review, permitting and inspections divisions, issues residential and commercial building permits through the city's online permit portal and enforces the city's adopted construction codes.
Hail reports near McAllen, TX
- Reports, last 24 months
- 11
- Largest, last 24 months
- 3.00 in May 8, 2025
- Most recent
- May 8, 2025 3.00 in
- Reports, last 5 years
- 26
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database and daily storm reports (reports since the start of the current year are preliminary), within 10 miles of McAllen, TX (Census point). Data through Sep 30, 2026. A report is an observation, not a damage record.
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