Do you need a permit to replace a roof in New London, WI?

Roofing questions: New London, WI

Is ice & water shield required in New London, WI?

Yes. STATE-GOVERNED, NOT LOCALLY SET, but SCOPE-LIMITED BY ROOF SLOPE -- read the trigger before pricing the job. Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 321.28(4)(a) requires ice dam protection on shingled or shake roofs that extend over a heated area of the dwelling or an attached garage AND that have a slope of 4:12 or less; the protection must be sheet metal or a product labeled as meeting ASTM D1970. Wisconsin's UDC therefore does not impose the IRC's across-the-board cold-climate ice barrier on steeper roofs -- it is a Wisconsin-drafted rule, not an IRC clone. Extent, verbatim, SPS 321.28(4)(b): 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." That is a different measurement convention from the IRC's 24-inches-inside-the-exterior-wall-line rule -- do not substitute IRC ice-barrier language on a Wisconsin job. New London may not impose a different ice-barrier rule on a one- or two-family dwelling (Wis. Stat. § 101.65(1c)). The mandate genuinely exists in Wisconsin code, but it is the 4:12-or-less slope condition described here, not the bare yes-or-no answer, that governs a given roof. SCOPE -- the same Uniform Dwelling Code limits that govern the layer rule govern this one, because Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.05 exempts work from the code as a whole rather than from any single section. SPS 320.05(1) excludes dwellings whose construction commenced before the code's effective date, and additions or alterations to such dwellings, unless the municipality has adopted chs. SPS 320 to 325 for that purpose -- whether New London has done so is NOT established by this record. That date is June 1, 1980 for chs. SPS 320, 321, 323, 324 and 325 under SPS 320.03. Wis. Stat. 101.615 states December 1, 1978, but SPS 320.03 assigns that date to ch. SPS 322, the energy chapter; for a reroof, which is governed by chs. SPS 320 and 321, June 1, 1980 is the date that governs. SPS 320.05(3) further excludes "repairs or maintenance to dwellings or dwelling units," and SPS 320.07(61) defines "repair" to include "the replacement of existing fixtures, systems or equipment with the equivalent" fixture, system or equipment. On a dwelling built before 1980, confirm with the City of New London Community Development Department that the ice dam rule applies before pricing it in or out.

Is drip edge required in New London, WI?

No. STATE-GOVERNED, NOT LOCALLY SET, and a genuine Wisconsin/IRC divergence rather than a research gap. Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 321.28 ("Weather Protection for Roofs"), subsections (1) through (7) read in full, contains no drip-edge-at-eaves-or-rakes requirement anywhere. Wisconsin's UDC is Wisconsin-drafted, not an IRC clone, and it has no counterpart to IRC R905.2.8.5. The only occurrence of "drip edge" in all of ch. SPS 321 is inapplicable to roof edges: SPS 321.30(8), a chimney-cap detail ("Chimney caps shall have a minimum thickness of 2 inches, shall slope outwards away from the flue, and shall provide a one-inch overhang and drip edge on all sides"). Manufacturer instructions can still require drip edge as a condition of the shingle warranty, and SPS 321.28(3)(a) requires asphalt shingles to be installed per those instructions; but there is no code mandate as such, and New London may not add one for a one- or two-family dwelling (Wis. Stat. § 101.65(1c)).

Can you roof over an existing roof in New London, WI?

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT LOCALLY SET -- the rule is the same in New London as everywhere else in Wisconsin, for the one- and two-family dwellings the Uniform Dwelling Code reaches -- which is not all of them; read SCOPE below before applying it to an older house. Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 321.28(6) prohibits re-covering (i.e., forces a full tear-off) when any of the following is true: the existing roof covering is water-soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing; the existing roof covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos-cement tile; or the existing roof already has two or more applications of roofing. Practical effect: at most one overlay over one existing layer, for a maximum of two total applications of roofing, and only when the existing covering is sound and is not shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos-cement tile. New London cannot impose a different layer limit for a one- or two-family dwelling (Wis. Stat. § 101.65(1c)). SCOPE -- the Uniform Dwelling Code does not reach every dwelling, and the rule above governs only the ones it does reach. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.05(1) provides that the code "shall not apply to dwellings and dwelling units, the construction of which was commenced prior to the effective date of this code, or to additions or alterations to such dwellings." SPS 320.03 fixes that effective date for chs. SPS 320, 321, 323, 324 and 325 at June 1, 1980. The enabling statute carries its own date: Wis. Stat. 101.615 applies the subchapter to "a dwelling the initial construction of which was commenced on or after December 1, 1978." Those two dates are assigned to different chapters rather than standing against one another: SPS 320.03 gives December 1, 1978 as the effective date of ch. SPS 322, the energy chapter, and June 1, 1980 as the effective date of chs. SPS 320 and 321, which carry these roofing rules. For a reroof, June 1, 1980 is the date that governs. A municipality may close the gap itself -- the note to SPS 320.05(1) states that chs. SPS 320 to 325 "may be adopted by a municipality to apply to any additions or alterations to existing dwellings" -- and whether New London has done so is NOT established by this record. Separately, SPS 320.05(3) provides that the code does "not apply to repairs or maintenance to dwellings or dwelling units," and SPS 320.07(61) defines "repair" to include "the replacement of existing fixtures, systems or equipment with the equivalent" fixture, system or equipment, which is a fair description of a like-for-like tear-off and replacement -- while SPS 321.28(6) regulates reroofing by name. Those two provisions are in genuine tension; this record states both and does not adjudicate between them. On a dwelling built before 1980, or on a like-for-like replacement, confirm scope with the City of New London Community Development Department before relying on the layer rule.

What building code does New London, WI use?

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT LOCALLY SET. The City of New London may not adopt a different residential building code for one- and two-family dwellings. Wisconsin's residential code is not a straight IRC adoption: it is the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code (UDC), Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 321, drafted by Wisconsin and promulgated by the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) under Wis. Stat. ch. 101, subch. II. SPS 321.01 (Scope): "The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the design and construction of all one- and 2-family dwellings." The roof-coverings section, SPS 321.28 (Weather Protection for Roofs), was most recently amended by CR 15-041, effective 2016-01-01. Preemption: Wis. Stat. § 101.65(1)(a) lets a municipality "[s]ubject to sub. (1c), exercise jurisdiction over the construction and inspection of new dwellings by passage of ordinances," and § 101.65(1c) provides that a municipality "[m]ay not make or enforce an ordinance under sub. (1) that is applied to a dwelling and that does not conform to this subchapter and the uniform dwelling code adopted by the department under this subchapter." The Department's own rule adds that a municipality exercising jurisdiction shall "adopt this code in its entirety" (SPS 320.06(1)(a)2.) and that "No additional requirements within the scope of this code may be adopted by a municipality unless approved by the department" (SPS 320.06(1)(a)3.). That is a conformity test, not a minimum floor, so New London applies SPS 321 as written for one- and two-family dwellings. Note that SPS 321 governs one- and two-family dwellings only. Roofing on buildings of three or more units, and other commercial work, falls under the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code (Wis. Admin. Code chs. SPS 361-366, adopting the IBC), a different chapter that this record does not cover. Everything above is Wisconsin state law, the same in every Wisconsin municipality. The City of New London Community Development Department issues building permits and administers the Uniform Dwelling Code in New London (https://www.newlondonwi.org/departments/building_inspector.php). This record did not read New London's own building ordinance.