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Permitting Authorities / City of McCook - Building & Zoning Department

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in McCook, NE?

Adopted code

City of McCook - Building & Zoning Department

Yes — a permit is required to replace a roof in McCook, NE, issued by City of McCook - Building & Zoning Department. Permit and licence forms are printed from the City's Building & Zoning pages. The Building Permit Application is a single sheet asking for the job address, property owner and contractor details, the City of McCook Contractor License number, the type of work (new construction, addition, alteration, replacement or other), the category of construction, the type of occupancy, the zoning district, whether the site is in a flood zone, a description of the work including size or square footage, and the total project cost; it instructs the applicant to "Include a Drainage Plan, Erosion Control Plan and a Site Plan depicting the locations of the existing construction setbacks and the proposed construction setbacks." For a permit the City asks for a site plan showing the size and location of new construction and existing structures and distances from lot lines, a floor plan, exterior elevations, the method of construction, and the legal description of the property. The Building & Zoning Department is at 505 West C Street, McCook, NE 69001, open Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on (308) 345-2022 extension 232 or [email protected]. Contractor licence applications go to the same office and are reviewed by the Building Inspector and, where needed, the Building and Housing Code Advisory and Appeals Board. The City also runs an online payment portal for permit and licence fees.

Jurisdiction
City of McCook, Nebraska
Jurisdiction type
city
Address
505 West C Street, McCook, NE 69001
Contact
  • url: https://www.cityofmccook.com/88/Building-Zoning
  • phone: 308-345-2022
  • email: [email protected]
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Registration details
  • state_level: STATEWIDE, AND INDEPENDENT OF WHAT McCOOK REQUIRES. Neb. Rev. Stat. 48-2104(1), in the Contractor Registration Act: "Before performing any construction work in Nebraska, a contractor shall be registered with the department." The department is the Nebraska Department of Labor. A roofer is inside the definitions rather than at their edge: "Construction" means "work on real property and annexations, including new work, additions, alterations, reconstruction, installations, and repairs" (48-2103(2)), and "Contractor" means a person or firm "engaged in the business of the construction, alteration, repairing, dismantling, or demolition of buildings ... and every other type of structure" (48-2103(3)). Two exemptions, both in 48-2104(1): a person who performs work, or has work performed, on his or her own property; and "any person who earns less than five thousand dollars annually for construction services." That threshold is annual earnings for construction services, not the value of one job, so it will rarely reach a working roofer.
  • city_level: REQUIRED, AND ROOFING IS A NAMED LICENCE CLASS. The City publishes a Contractor's License Fees and Requirements sheet that lists seven licence classes, of which one is "ROOFING CONTRACTOR" at $120.00 for a new or nonconsecutive-renewal licence and $60.00 for a renewal. Its stated scope: "Unlimited in scope of roofing. Install, repair and replace residential and commercial roof coverings." Roofing also falls inside the "LIMITED CONTRACTOR" class, whose scope is "Concrete, demolition, excavation, fencing, roofing, sign installation and structure moving" at the same $120.00 / $60.00 fees, and on the City's application form the Roofing box is one of the tick-boxes under the heading "Limited Contractor License". Every class, roofing included, "Requires written certification by the applicant that he or she has worked in the trade and/or been licensed for the same by this or another city." The ICC-examination requirement on the application form - "Requires proof of passing the ICC exam (New license)." - is marked with an asterisk against the "Building Contractor License" and "Skilled Trade License" headings, NOT against the Limited Contractor block that carries roofing. Terms: "All licenses shall be valid for one (1) year beginning January 1st and ending December 31st of every year." Insurance is "$1,000,000 Per Occurrence" and "NO BOND REQUIRED."; "Proof of insurance must be provided in the form of an Acord Certificate of Insurance listing the City of McCook as the Certificate holder", and the application adds that the City must be listed as certificate holder "including projects and completed operations for one million ($1,000,000) dollars or more per occurrence, per license type" and that "If for any reason your Insurance is not current or has expired, your license with the City of McCook will be revoked." Applications are considered by the Building Inspector and, if necessary, by the Building and Housing Code Advisory and Appeals Board. The licence number is not optional paperwork: the City's Building Permit Application has a field reading "City of McCook Contractor License #". The City publishes an active Licensed Contractors report, so a homeowner or a general can check a roofer's standing before the job. The current-year fee schedule is Appendix M of the City's building regulation and zoning fees, carrying the ordinance history "Ord. 95-2335, passed 10-2-1995; Ord. 200-2544, passed 2-21-2000; Ord. 2004-2688, passed 3-15-2004; Ord. 2004-2703, passed 8-16-2004; Ord. 2016-2936, passed 8-15-2016; Ord 2022-3035, passed 3-7-2022; Ord. 2023-3063, passed 3-6-2023."
Permit process note
Permit and licence forms are printed from the City's Building & Zoning pages. The Building Permit Application is a single sheet asking for the job address, property owner and contractor details, the City of McCook Contractor License number, the type of work (new construction, addition, alteration, replacement or other), the category of construction, the type of occupancy, the zoning district, whether the site is in a flood zone, a description of the work including size or square footage, and the total project cost; it instructs the applicant to "Include a Drainage Plan, Erosion Control Plan and a Site Plan depicting the locations of the existing construction setbacks and the proposed construction setbacks." For a permit the City asks for a site plan showing the size and location of new construction and existing structures and distances from lot lines, a floor plan, exterior elevations, the method of construction, and the legal description of the property. The Building & Zoning Department is at 505 West C Street, McCook, NE 69001, open Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on (308) 345-2022 extension 232 or [email protected]. Contractor licence applications go to the same office and are reviewed by the Building Inspector and, where needed, the Building and Housing Code Advisory and Appeals Board. The City also runs an online payment portal for permit and licence fees.
Inspection requirements
The City's permit brochure lists four inspections under the heading "INSPECTIONS REQUIRED": "Footings and foundations prior to pouring concrete."; "Framing inspection prior to covering any structural members."; "Plumbing rough-in and HVAC inspection prior to covering deck."; and "Final inspection after construction is completed, prior to occupying structure." That list is written for a whole-building permit and names no roofing stage. It is not a statement that a re-roof goes uninspected - the City's codified Municipal Code has not been read here, and the Building Inspector sets the inspection schedule - so call the Building & Zoning Department on (308) 345-2022 and ask what inspections a permitted re-roof will draw before you schedule the crew.
Adopted code
McCook is on the 2018 International Residential Code. The City states its own adopted package in two of its own documents. Its permit brochure, headed "PERMIT REQUIREMENTS, PERMIT FEES, BUILDING CODES" and marked "Revised: April 5, 2022", carries a section headed "CODES ADOPTED AND REFERENCED BY THE CITY OF MCCOOK:" listing the 2018 International Building Code, 2018 International Residential Code, 2018 International Plumbing Code, 2018 International Mechanical Code, 2018 International Fuel Gas Code, 2018 International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 International Existing Building Code and 2018 International Energy Conservation Code. The City's own 2026 Contractor's License Application repeats it under a heading "Adopted Model Codes" as "2018 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, IEBC, IECC", which confirms the 2018 package is what the City is licensing and permitting against in the current licence year. What this record does NOT establish is McCook's local amendments. The City's codified Municipal Code is published on a third-party code library that refuses automated access, so the adopting ordinance and any local changes to the residential code have not been read here. Ask the Building & Zoning Department for the building-code chapter of the Municipal Code before relying on any base 2018 IRC roofing provision in McCook.
Repair permit threshold
McCook publishes a percentage floor, which is unusual and worth planning around. Its permit brochure opens the point at large: "In general, all construction, alteration and repair or demolition of buildings in the City of McCook requires building permits. Examples of required permits are:", and "Roofing" is on that list. The same brochure then carries a second list headed "WORK EXEMPT FROM PERMITS:", and one of its entries is "Roof repair and replacement if less than 25% of roof". Read the two together. A full tear-off and re-cover, or any job touching a quarter or more of the roof, is permitted work in McCook. A patch or a partial replacement under a quarter of the roof is not. The City states no dollar figure and no square-footage figure for roofing - the test it publishes is the share of the roof area. Note also that "Gutters" and "Siding and glass repair" sit on the same exempt list, so gutter work carried out alongside a re-roof does not itself pull a permit. Minimum building permit fee is $25.00; above $5,000 of project value the City's Appendix M fee schedule steps the fee up by project cost. A permit expires "if work is not started within 180 days or if work is suspended or abandoned for 180 days after the time the work is commenced."
Sales & use tax
7.5% combined (.075) = Nebraska state rate 5.5% + City of McCook local-option rate 2.0%, effective July 1, 2026, per the Nebraska Department of Revenue's Local Sales and Use Tax Rates schedule. McCook sits at the top local-option tier; several nearby Red Willow and Frontier County towns are at 1.5% or levy nothing at all, so confirm the jurisdiction of the job site rather than assuming the county rate. Red Willow County levies no county sales tax - Dakota County is the only Nebraska county on that schedule with a county rate, and its 0.5% applies only outside a municipality that imposes its own local tax. Nebraska's local sales tax is state-administered rather than self-collected by the city, and no separate construction or use tax deposit is taken at building-permit issuance in McCook.

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The permitting authority for the City of McCook, the Red Willow County seat in southwest Nebraska on US 6/34 near the Kansas line. The City runs its own Building & Zoning Department out of City Hall at 505 West C Street, and the Building Inspector enforces the building provisions of the municipal code under the direction of the City Manager. McCook matters to roofers for two reasons. First, it licenses roofing contractors as a named class, publishes the fee and the scope of that class, and keeps a public list of every active licence holder, so a roofer can check standing before bidding. Second, its published permit guidance draws an unusually clear line for re-roofs: roofing is on the list of work that needs a permit, but roof repair and replacement of less than 25% of the roof is on the list of work exempt from permit.

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Roofing questions — McCook, NE

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in McCook, NE?

Required. McCook publishes a percentage floor, which is unusual and worth planning around. Its permit brochure opens the point at large: "In general, all construction, alteration and repair or demolition of buildings in the City of McCook requires building permits. Examples of required permits are:", and "Roofing" is on that list. The same brochure then carries a second list headed "WORK EXEMPT FROM PERMITS:", and one of its entries is "Roof repair and replacement if less than 25% of roof". Read the two together. A full tear-off and re-cover, or any job touching a quarter or more of the roof, is permitted work in McCook. A patch or a partial replacement under a quarter of the roof is not. The City states no dollar figure and no square-footage figure for roofing - the test it publishes is the share of the roof area. Note also that "Gutters" and "Siding and glass repair" sit on the same exempt list, so gutter work carried out alongside a re-roof does not itself pull a permit. Minimum building permit fee is $25.00; above $5,000 of project value the City's Appendix M fee schedule steps the fee up by project cost. A permit expires "if work is not started within 180 days or if work is suspended or abandoned for 180 days after the time the work is commenced."

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in McCook, NE?

Required.

What building code does McCook, NE use?

McCook is on the 2018 International Residential Code. The City states its own adopted package in two of its own documents. Its permit brochure, headed "PERMIT REQUIREMENTS, PERMIT FEES, BUILDING CODES" and marked "Revised: April 5, 2022", carries a section headed "CODES ADOPTED AND REFERENCED BY THE CITY OF MCCOOK:" listing the 2018 International Building Code, 2018 International Residential Code, 2018 International Plumbing Code, 2018 International Mechanical Code, 2018 International Fuel Gas Code, 2018 International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 International Existing Building Code and 2018 International Energy Conservation Code. The City's own 2026 Contractor's License Application repeats it under a heading "Adopted Model Codes" as "2018 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, IEBC, IECC", which confirms the 2018 package is what the City is licensing and permitting against in the current licence year. What this record does NOT establish is McCook's local amendments. The City's codified Municipal Code is published on a third-party code library that refuses automated access, so the adopting ordinance and any local changes to the residential code have not been read here. Ask the Building & Zoning Department for the building-code chapter of the Municipal Code before relying on any base 2018 IRC roofing provision in McCook.