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Permitting Authorities / Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County, Tennessee - Department of Codes and Building Safety (Codes Administration)

Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County, Tennessee - Department of Codes and Building Safety (Codes Administration)

Adopted code

The construction permitting and building-code enforcement authority for the consolidated Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Metro Codes adopts and enforces its own building codes under the local-enforcement exemption in Tennessee's statewide residential building code program, and is currently operating on the 2024 family of International Codes.

Jurisdiction
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee
Jurisdiction type
city
Address
800 President Ronald Reagan Way, Nashville, TN 37210
Contact
  • url: https://www.nashville.gov/departments/codes
  • phone: 615-862-6500
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Registration details
  • license: STATE licensing is the operative requirement, and Davidson County sits in the narrower of Tennessee's two license tracks, so a roofer working in Nashville faces a state licence at a much lower dollar threshold than in most of the state. Tier 1 -- a full Contractor's License from the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors (T.C.A. Title 62, ch. 6) is required anywhere in Tennessee for construction or improvement work with a total project cost (materials plus labor) at or above $25,000; roofing is licensed as a specialty under the Building classification rather than as a freestanding statewide "roofing licence." Tier 2 -- a separate Home Improvement License (T.C.A. § 62-6-501 et seq.) is required for residential remodeling/improvement work valued from $3,000 up to but not including $25,000, and this second track applies in only nine named Tennessee counties: Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Knox, Marion, Robertson, Rutherford and Shelby. DAVIDSON COUNTY (Nashville) IS ON THAT LIST. "Home improvement" is defined at T.C.A. § 62-6-501(4)(A) to include "repair, replacement, remodeling, alterations, or additions to any land or residential building," and the Board's guidance enumerates roofing by name among the covered work. Net effect in Nashville: roofing jobs at or above $25,000 total cost need a full BLC Contractor's License; roofing jobs from $3,000 to just under $25,000 need a Home Improvement License, which is a real separate state licence and not a mere local registration; jobs under $3,000 trigger neither state licence. This is a state licensing regime, not a Metro Nashville one -- no additional Metro-issued roofing-contractor registration on top of the state licence was identified. Contractors do need to be registered with Metro Codes to use the ePermits portal to pull residential building permits, which is a permitting-system account rather than a separate trade licence.
Permit process note
Residential building permits are applied for through Metro Codes' ePermits portal by registered contractors, or in person via the Zoning Help Desk; re-roofs are issued as a distinct permit type. Metro Codes is at 800 President Ronald Reagan Way, Nashville, TN 37210 (615-862-6500). Separate trade permits and fees (plumbing, electrical, gas/mechanical) apply to those trades and are not part of a roofing permit.
Adopted code
CITY-SET, NOT STATE-GOVERNED. Metro Nashville & Davidson County is a locally-exempt jurisdiction under Tennessee's state residential building code program (T.C.A. § 68-120-101), so it adopts and enforces its own building codes rather than defaulting to the State Fire Marshal's statewide residential code. The current adopted residential code is the 2024 International Residential Code, adopted as the "Nashville and Davidson County Residential Code 2024" by Metro Council Ordinance BL2025-898, approved on final reading July 15, 2025 and signed by Mayor Freddie O'Connell July 16, 2025; all plans and applications are subject to the new code as of the July 16, 2025 effective date, with a 180-day grace period offered by Metro Codes for projects whose preliminary design had been done under the prior 2018 code. BL2025-898 adopted a family of 2024 I-Codes together: 2024 IBC, 2024 IRC, 2024 IEBC, 2024 IFGC, 2024 IMC, 2024 IPC, 2024 ISPSC and 2024 IECC, plus the 2023 National Electrical Code and ICC A117.1-2017. This SUPERSEDES the earlier "Nashville and Davidson County Residential Code 2018" (2018 IRC), which many third-party roofing guides still cite. EDITION NOTE: Tennessee's statewide rule chapter (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0780-02-23) adopts the 2018 IRC, but that statewide standard is the fallback only for jurisdictions the State Fire Marshal's Office still enforces directly -- it is not what governs in Nashville, which enforces its own, more recent adoption. Local Metro amendments to the adopted I-Codes are codified at Metropolitan Code of Laws Title 16 (Buildings and Construction), ch. 16.08 (Building Codes), with the residential amendments at § 16.08.014.
Ice & water shield
Not required — Table R301.2 of Metro Ordinance BL2025-898 (Metropolitan Code of Laws Title 16, ch. 16.08, Sec. 16.08.014, item F, Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code) lists "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required" as "No" for Nashville and Davidson County. No separate ice barrier provision appears elsewhere in Metro's local IRC amendments (Sec. 16.08.014, items A through P, read in full). About ice & water barrier
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — Metro Ordinance BL2025-898's codified local amendments to the 2024 IRC (Metropolitan Code of Laws Title 16, ch. 16.08, Sec. 16.08.014, items A through P) were read in full: they amend only Sections R101.1, R102.1-R106.5, R107.1, R108.1-R114.4, R202 (definitions), Table R301.2 (climatic and geographic design criteria), R302.13 (floor fire protection), R306.1-R306.3.10, R308 (address identification), R309.1-R309.2 (townhouse sprinklers), R310.2.2 (smoke alarms), a new Section R333 (house moving), R403.1 (footings), and Chapter 11 energy sections. No provision addresses roof coverings, roof assemblies, or fire/impact/wind roof-covering classification. No UL 2218 or Class 4 impact-rating requirement appears among Metro's local IRC amendments.
Repair permit threshold
CITY-SPECIFIC. Metro Codes' own current permit-requirements guide for renovating a single-family or two-family residence lists "Roofing, New Layer or Replacing More Than 1/3 of The Roof" as work requiring a permit (marked "Yes" in the guide's Required column, meaning a building or rehab permit applies). The same guide separately lists "Carpentry Replacing Any Structural Element, Joist, Rafter, Stud, Etc. Roof Decking More Than 64 Sq. Ft." as also requiring a permit. The guide does not state what happens below those two thresholds (a like-for-like re-roof adding no new layer and not exceeding roughly a third of the roof, or decking repair under 64 square feet); it is written only as a "does this trigger a permit" chart, not a full code text. Metro's Code of Laws Title 16, ch. 16.08 (Building Codes), § 16.08.014 contains the codified local IRC amendments referenced by this guide, but the only publicly readable copy of that section found in this pass predates the city's 2024 IRC adoption by more than a decade (it is written throughout in terms of the "2012 Edition" of the IRC) and should not be relied on for the current text.
Wind design criteria
Per Table R301.2, Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, as amended by Metro Ordinance BL2025-898 (Sec. 16.08.014, item F, Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code -- the same ordinance that adopted the 2024 IRC family for Nashville and Davidson County, final reading 2025-07-15, Mayor-approved 2025-07-16): the wind design speed is 115 mph, with topographic effects, special wind region, and windborne debris zone all marked "No." The same table shows a 10 lb ground snow load, Seismic Design Category C, severe weathering, a 12-inch frost line depth, heavy termite risk, a 14 degrees F winter design temperature, and confirms no ice barrier underlayment is required (consistent with the ice-and-water-shield finding elsewhere in this record). The table also sets flood hazard provisions "in accordance with" Metro's adopted flood ordinance. The table does not assign a single jurisdiction-wide exposure category.
Deck & sheathing requirements
Metro Codes' own current permit-requirements guide for renovating a single-family or two-family residence lists "Carpentry Replacing Any Structural Element, Joist, Rafter, Stud, Etc. Roof Decking More Than 64 Sq. Ft." as work requiring a permit. The guide does not state what threshold applies below 64 square feet, and does not give sheathing material, thickness, or gap-tolerance specifications comparable to Memphis/Shelby County's published policy -- only that a permit is triggered once structural roof-decking repair or replacement exceeds 64 square feet. Metro's own adopting ordinance (BL2025-898, Metropolitan Code of Laws Title 16, ch. 16.08, Sec. 16.08.014, Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code) has now been read in full: its complete, self-contained list of IRC amendments (items A through P) does not touch roof sheathing or roof-deck material specifications, so no city-specific sheathing spec exists beyond the unamended 2024 IRC's own text, which was not accessible in this pass.
Sales & use tax
Nashville and Davidson County's combined general sales and use tax rate is 9.75%: the Tennessee state rate of 7.00% plus a Davidson County local rate of 2.75%. The 2.75% local rate is the 2.25% base local-option rate plus a 0.5% local-option transit surcharge that Davidson County voters approved on November 5, 2024 to fund Metro Nashville's transit improvement program, effective February 1, 2025. The Tennessee Department of Revenue's Local Sales Tax Rates Map states that the surcharge "effectively increases the local sales and food tax rates to 2.75%," and the Department's Notice #24-11 confirms the City of Nashville is among the Davidson County sellers required to collect and remit it, effective for sales of tangible personal property (including roofing materials) on or after February 1, 2025. There is no separate city-level sales tax row for Nashville distinct from the Davidson County rate, consistent with Nashville and Davidson County being a consolidated city-county government with one local tax layer rather than a city rate stacked on top of a county rate.

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