City of Ottumwa, Iowa - Building and Code Enforcement

City of Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa

city

105 East Third Street, Ottumwa, IA 52501

Not required

Required

Ottumwa Code of Ordinances Chapter 10 adopts the 2015 editions of the International Building Code (section 10-2), the International Residential Code (section 10-4), the International Existing Building Code (section 10-6) and the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (section 10-10), each with a following section of local amendments, modifications, deletions and additions. The residential amendments are at section 10-5 and were enacted by Ordinance No. 3096, section 1, on July 19, 2016. The adoption is by named, dated edition rather than a floating reference, so later editions do not reach Ottumwa without a further act of adoption. The codification carrying these sections is current through Ordinance No. 3258, enacted June 2, 2026 (Supplement No. 18). Iowa leaves this choice to the city: under Iowa Code section 103A.12 the state building code applies only where the governing body has adopted it by ordinance, and section 103A.22(1) preserves every subdivision power to enact its own building regulations.

Not required — Ottumwa imposes no impact-resistance or hail-rating requirement on roof coverings. Chapter 10 of the Code of Ordinances, the whole of the city building code chapter, was read in full - all twelve substantive sections, including the building code amendments at section 10-3, the residential code amendments at section 10-5, the existing building code amendments at section 10-7, the local requirements at section 10-8 and the commercial property maintenance code at section 10-9. The chapter makes no reference to UL 2218, to FM 4473, or to a Class 4 or Class IV impact classification, and imposes no requirement of that kind in any other wording. To disambiguate: the 115 mph three-second gust the city sets in Table R301.2(1) is a wind design figure established under a different standard, and it neither states nor implies anything about resistance to hail impact.

NOT A THRESHOLD BUT A CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION, and it is the single most important operational fact about roofing in Ottumwa. Section 10-5 of the Code of Ordinances, which carries the city amendments to the adopted residential code, provides at item (6): "In addition to section R105.2, Work Exempt from Permit, add the following: a. Re-roofing (including new sheeting). b. Residing with any type siding. c. Guttering. d. Soffits, fascia and same size window/door replacement." A re-roof in Ottumwa therefore requires no building permit at all, whatever its size or cost, because there is no dollar figure or square-footage figure at which the obligation begins - the obligation never begins for re-roofing. The parenthesis matters to a roofer pricing a job: the exemption reaches "new sheeting," so replacing deteriorated roof decking does not pull the work back under a permit either. Note two limits on what this exemption does. The amendment itself was enacted by Ordinance No. 3096 on July 19, 2016, and the same section opens by reciting the code own rule that exemption from permit requirements "shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provisions of this code" - the substantive roof assembly requirements of the adopted code still govern how the work is done. And the exemption is from the building permit specifically; work that goes beyond the covering and the sheeting into structural members is a different question and is worth a call before starting.

Section 10-5 of the Code of Ordinances specifies what Table R301.2(1), Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, "shall contain" for Ottumwa: ground snow load 20 lbs; wind speed 115 mph, stated expressly as a three-second gust; seismic design category A; weathering severe; frost depth 42 inches below grade; termite damage moderate to heavy; decay probability slight to moderate; winter design temperature -5 degrees; entry into the National Flood Insurance Program September 8, 1980; air freezing index 2000; mean annual temperature 50.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The ordinance stating the basis on its face is worth having, because a wind speed without its basis cannot be used safely: a nominal figure and an ultimate figure for the same site differ by roughly the square root of 0.6, and Fort Dodge publishes 90 mph for the same state on the older nominal basis.

Two layers maximum - one overlay is permitted, and a second existing layer requires a tear-off. Ottumwa adopts the 2015 International Residential Code at section 10-4 of its Code of Ordinances, and its local amendments at section 10-5 were read in full: they complete Table R301.2(1), set foundation and footing requirements, add to the permit exemption list, address garages and carports, and specify approved garage floor materials. None of them touches the reroofing provisions, so the adopted code text governs unchanged. Section R908.3.1.1 of that code bars a roof recover where any of three conditions occur, the third being "where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may therefore be recovered; a second forces removal of the existing covering. The other two conditions bite regardless of the count: a covering that is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing, and a covering of slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. Note that this rule governs the work itself and is not affected by the fact that Ottumwa requires no permit for re-roofing.

7% in Ottumwa, Wapello County - the 6% Iowa state sales tax plus a 1% local option sales tax, per the Iowa Department of Revenue local option sales tax tables effective July 1, 2026. HOW IOWA TAXES A ROOF IS UNUSUAL, AND IT CUTS BOTH WAYS. Iowa Code section 423.2(6) makes a list of enumerated services taxable at the state rate, and paragraph (l) of that list reads, in its entirety, "Roof, shingle, and glass repair." Against that, section 423.3(37) exempts "the sales price of services on or connected with new construction, reconstruction, alteration, expansion, remodeling." The materials side flips with the labour side. Under section 423.2(1)(b)(1), materials sold to a contractor "for the erection of buildings and other structures or for the reconstruction, alteration, expansion, or remodeling of buildings and other structures are retail sales of tangible personal property," on which the contractor pays the tax as consumer, while materials sold "for use in repairs to or for installation in existing buildings and other structures are purchases for resale." So a job characterised as a repair carries taxable labour and resale-purchased materials, and a job characterised as reconstruction or remodeling carries exempt labour and taxed materials. Which branch a particular tear-off and replacement falls into is a fact-specific question the statute does not answer, and it changes who owes the tax rather than only how much, so settle it with an accountant rather than assume it. One thing to watch on this rate that does not apply everywhere in Iowa: the Wapello County local option tax carries a sunset date of December 31, 2035 in the Department of Revenue tables, so the 1% component is authorised for a fixed term rather than indefinitely.