Rockford Building and Development Services

City of Rockford, Illinois

city

Rockford, IL 61101

Required

Required

The 2021 International Residential Code, adopted by reference at City of Rockford Code of Ordinances section 105-84 (Ordinance No. 2024-169-0, effective January 1, 2025 for permits submitted on or after December 31, 2024). Section 105-85's 46 numbered amendment items were read in full: they touch Chapter 1 administration (permit exemptions, fees, inspections, appeals), Table R301.2(1) climatic and geographic design criteria, Section R313 fire sprinklers, Section R322 flood provisions, Section R403 foundations, Chapter 11 energy, and the mechanical, fuel gas and plumbing chapters. None of the 46 items amends Chapter 8 (roof-ceiling construction) or Chapter 9 (roof assemblies), so the base 2021 IRC governs a reroof unmodified. The City separately adopted the 2021 International Building Code by the same mechanism at section 105-54 (commercial), which does not reach a one- or two-family dwelling.

Required — Rockford's amendment ordinance (read in full) leaves Chapter 9 of the 2021 IRC unmodified, so the base code's drip edge requirement at eaves and rakes for asphalt shingle roofs (2021 IRC R905.2.8.5) applies unmodified citywide. About drip edge

Required — The City's own Table R301.2(1), as adopted at Section 105-85 item (19), prints "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required: YES" for Rockford. Ground snow load is listed as 30 pounds per square foot and winter design temperature as -4°F on the same table. About ice & water barrier

The City's own Table R301.2(1) (Section 105-85 item (19)) states a basic wind design speed of 115 mph, with topographic effects, special wind region, and wind-borne debris zone each marked "NO." Seismic design category is listed as A.

Rockford's own FAQ states: "No more than 2 layers of any kind of roofing, other than wood shake, slate, clay or cement, which permit only 1 layer." That matches the unamended base 2021 IRC. Section R908.3.1.1, Roof recover not allowed, bars a recover where "the existing roof covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile" (condition 2) and where "the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering" (condition 3) — one existing layer may be recovered, a second forces tear-off. Rockford's amendment ordinance (read in full) does not touch this section, so the FAQ's number corroborates the base rule rather than supplying it.

Illinois taxes the roofing contractor as the end user of materials, not the homeowner's contract price: under 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.1940(c), a construction contractor incurs no Retailers' Occupation Tax on labor or materials incorporated into a structure — including named "roofing materials" — but owes Use Tax on the cost of those materials, and repair and replacement are taxed identically (130.1940(a)(3) defines "construct" to include "repair"). The rate that applies is the one where the materials are purchased or the contractor's place of business is located (86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.2075), not the job address. The combined rate for the City of Rockford is commonly reported as 8.75% (6.25% State of Illinois, 1.5% Winnebago County, 1% City of Rockford home-rule tax); the State's authoritative lookup is the Illinois Department of Revenue's MyTax Illinois Tax Rate Finder, a JavaScript tool this record cannot open directly, so the aggregator figure is reported with that tool named as the authority it mirrors.