City of Sandy Springs, Georgia - Community Development Department, Building Division

City of Sandy Springs, Georgia

city

Sandy Springs, GA

Not required

Required

Everything runs through Build Sandy Springs, the City's online permit portal, and registration on it is required before an application can be made; the same portal is used to pay invoices, submit drawings, request inspections and track status. The City publishes the process in eight steps - apply, pay the initial fee assessment, plan review, permit card issuance, inspections, plan modifications, as-built drawings, and the certificate of completion or occupancy - and states that "A permit must be obtained by the property owner or licensed trade professional responsible for the project before construction or site work begins." Applicants who want a person rather than a portal can book a Permit Technician appointment at City Hall through QLess or ask for a Developer Meeting with the Plan Review Team. Fees, from the City's Building and Development Fee Schedule: a $25 administrative fee on all new permit applications; residential permit fees at $5.00 per $1,000 of building valuation and commercial at $8.00 per $1,000, with building valuation taken from the International Code Council's Building Valuation Data table; and, where square footage is not a workable measure, a $50 minimum permit fee for a total job cost up to $5,000 and $50 plus $5.00 for each additional $1,000 or fraction of it above that. Card payments carry a 5 percent processing charge. A resubmittal fee of $200 is assessed on the third resubmission, a plan modification is $200, and the certificate of occupancy or completion fee is $50. Starting work before the permit issues costs a penalty of 100 percent of the usual permit fee on top of the fee. Three Sandy Springs particulars. First, the permit card and a copy of the permitted plans must be posted at the right of way, weather protected and readily available - the City's own checklist puts it in capitals, "NO PERMIT CARD = PROJECT IS IN VIOLATION = NO INSPECTIONS" - and section 105-46(f)(5) adds that a notice of the allowable work hours under the City noise ordinance must be posted at every primary point of construction access as well. Second, plans are cheap to submit for a house: section 105-46(b)(4) provides that "Single-family dwellings, regardless of size, shall require neither a registered architect nor engineer, nor a certification that an architect or engineer is not required", although the City's own site-plan requirement still calls for a sealed site plan from a Georgia-registered professional on major alterations and additions. Third, a permit goes stale quickly - section 105-46(f)(1) makes a permit invalid if the work is not commenced within six months of issuance or is suspended or abandoned for six months, with 90-day extensions available in writing for justifiable cause. One more Sandy Springs rule sits outside the building code and can decide what a roof is covered with. The Sandy Springs Development Code, Division 6.6 Design Standards, provides at section 6.6.2 B.3.c that "Sloped roofs (pitch greater than 2:12) must be standing seam metal, slate, concrete or metal roof tiles or composition shingles", and the same paragraph goes on to require a decorative parapet or cornice along all flat roof lines, which it defines as roofs with slopes under 2:12. Section 6.6.2 B.3.d allows the Director to approve alternate materials considered equivalent or better. Read the applicability first, because it is narrow: section 6.6.1 A applies those standards to all nonresidential buildings in Protected Neighborhoods, all buildings in the RT, RM- and RX-districts, all buildings in Corridors and Nodes districts, and all buildings in Perimeter Center districts - so a detached house in a Protected Neighborhood is outside it, while a townhouse or apartment building in the named districts is not. Check the district before specifying a covering on multifamily or attached-housing work.

Sandy Springs adopts by reference and lets the State set the edition, so there is no local edition to look up. Code of Ordinances section 105-19(a) declares "the intention of the council to enforce the latest edition of the following state minimum standard codes, as adopted and amended by the state department of community affairs", and lists the International Building Code, International Fuel Gas Code, International Mechanical Code, International Plumbing Code, National Electrical Code, International Fire Code, International Energy Conservation Code and International Residential Code. Section 105-19(c) adds the International Existing Building Code on the same footing. The City's own Building and Construction page says the same thing in plain words - "The City of Sandy Springs adheres to Georgia State Construction Codes" - and sends applicants to the Department of Community Affairs for the current list. That state list is the operative one. The International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments 2026 is a mandatory state minimum standard code adopted by the Department of Community Affairs, effective January 1, 2026, and under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) it applies to any structure built in Georgia whether or not the local government chooses to enforce it locally. What a Georgia local government chooses is enforcement, not applicability, and Sandy Springs has chosen to enforce. Do not carry the 2024 date across the whole suite: Georgia's energy code is off-cycle at the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code with Georgia supplements, and the electrical code is the 2023 National Electrical Code. Two Sandy Springs particulars are worth knowing. First, section 105-19(b) names the code appendices the City adopts, and for the residential code they are "International Residential Code appendices G, J, O" - Appendix U Disaster Resilient Construction, which the Department of Community Affairs adopts as optional, is not among them. Second, the City's own single-family plan-review checklist still recites the 2006 International Residential Code with Georgia State Amendments, and the form is marked "Revised 2007"; the state minimum code has moved on several editions since, so treat the checklist as a submittal list rather than as a statement of the current edition.

Required — STATE-GOVERNED, NOT LOCALLY SET, and it applies in Sandy Springs exactly as it applies everywhere else in Georgia. The International Residential Code is one of the codes Georgia designates as a mandatory state minimum standard, so under O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) it binds construction here whether or not the local government chooses to enforce it locally. Sandy Springs does enforce it, and its adoption floats with the State rather than naming an edition: Code of Ordinances section 105-19(a) declares "the intention of the council to enforce the latest edition of the following state minimum standard codes, as adopted and amended by the state department of community affairs" and lists the International Residential Code eighth of eight. The edition carried by that floating adoption is the 2024 International Residential Code with the Georgia Amendments 2026, effective January 1, 2026. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs amendment packet for the 2024 Residential Code carries no amendment to Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies: the packet was opened in full for this entry, all 43 pages of it, and measured rather than skimmed, at zero occurrences of any R9-hundred section number and zero of the phrase "Chapter 9". So the Chapter 9 drip-edge provision at Section R905.2.8.5 stands as written for Georgia. The City's own instruments were re-opened in full for this entry and not taken from an earlier report. Chapter 105 of the Code of Ordinances, Buildings and Building Regulations, was read in full, all four articles and all 54 documents of it, from section 105-19 through the multifamily rental housing division, codified through Ordinance No. 2026-03-006 enacted March 17, 2026; searched on anchored terms it returns zero hits for "drip", zero for "R905", zero for "shingle", zero for any 905-series section number and zero for the phrase "Chapter 9". The Sandy Springs Development Code, codified through Ordinance No. 2025-09-22, was also read in full, all twelve articles and the street framework map appendix, and it likewise carries no roof-covering rule: its only hit for "drip" is a tree protection provision measuring the radius of a tree's drip line, and every one of its "shingle" hits is the sign ordinance's shingle sign, a small sign hung below a second-storey window sill. The Development Code does set an architectural materials palette for certain districts, requiring sloped roofs over 2:12 to be standing seam metal, slate, concrete or metal roof tiles or composition shingles, but that is a choice-of-material design standard and not an amendment to the Residential Code roofing chapter. So the City amends nothing in Chapter 9. APPENDIX U IS NOT ADOPTED, and Sandy Springs answers the appendix question by enumeration rather than by silence. Section 105-19(b) provides that "The following appendices of said codes, as adopted and amended by the state department of community affairs, are hereby referenced as though they were copied herein fully", and for the residential code it names exactly three: "International Residential Code appendices G, J, O." Appendix U is not among them. Note what Appendix U is and is not: section AU101.3.1 provides that its provisions "are not mandatory unless specifically referenced in an adopting ordinance" and that where they are adopted "the provisions shall apply to all new development and to substantial improvements to existing development", so it is a new-development and substantial-improvement appendix rather than a rule about how an ordinary reroof is installed. The operative ICC text of R905.2.8.5, which sets the extent, lap and fastening specifics, sits behind the ICC paywall; this record does not restate it and does not rely on any third-party republication of it. What is recorded is the sourced fact that the requirement is in force in Sandy Springs unamended. ONE PRACTICAL WARNING, BECAUSE MOST SANDY SPRINGS REROOFS ARE NOT INSPECTED. The City lists "Roof replacement involving shingles only" among the projects that do not require a permit, and says of its residential roofing permit that it is "Not required for replacing individual shingles on pitched roofs." The ordinance behind that is section 105-46(a)(3): "Ordinary minor repairs may be made with the approval of the building official without a permit, provided that such repairs shall not violate any of the provisions of the construction codes." The exemption removes the inspection, not the requirement, and section 105-46(a)(3) says so in its own final clause. O.C.G.A. 8-2-25(a) says the same thing from the state side. Build the drip edge in whether or not anyone is coming to look at it. About drip edge

Not required — Sandy Springs answers this one itself. The International Residential Code leaves the ice barrier to the local jurisdiction to fill in on Table R301.2(1), and the City has filled it in: its Single Family Residential Building Permit Checklist publishes a table headed "Sandy Springs' Table R301.2(1) Climatic and Geographic Design Data" whose "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required" column reads "No". The same row gives a ground snow load of 5 psf, a winter design temperature of 22 degrees F, a frost line depth of 12 inches, moderate weathering, a very heavy termite exposure, an air freezing index of 102 and a mean annual temperature of 59.4 degrees F. Two limits on that. The checklist is a submittal document for major alterations, building additions, new buildings and decks more than six feet above grade, so it is the City's design data for plan-reviewed work rather than a rule written for a re-roof. And it is an old form: it recites the 2006 International Residential Code with Georgia State Amendments and is marked "Revised 2007", while Georgia's mandatory residential code is now the 2024 edition. Neither the City's building chapter nor the Georgia amendment packet adds an ice barrier requirement, so nothing contradicts the City's "No", but confirm it with the Community Development Department before leaving an ice barrier out of a specification. About ice & water barrier

Not required — Sandy Springs publishes a closed list of required inspections and no roofing stage is on it. Code of Ordinances section 105-46(h)(6) provides that "The building official, upon notification from the permit holder or his agent, shall make the following inspections and such other inspections as necessary", then lists them by trade: Building - footing, foundation, underslab, slab, rough framing and final; Electrical - underground, underslab, wall cover, ceiling cover, temporary power pole and temporary power; Plumbing - underground, rough-in and final; Mechanical - underground, rough-in, wall cover and ceiling cover; Gas - rough piping, final piping, wall cover and ceiling cover; and Energy - foundation, frame and final. There is no roof-sheathing, roof-nailing, in-progress or mid-roof inspection anywhere in it. The City's Residential Building Permits page lists the same set as the common residential inspections and again names no roofing stage. The rough framing inspection is taken "after the roof, all framing, fire blocking, and bracing are in place", which is a framing stage on new construction rather than a check on a re-roof in progress. Where a roofing permit is required, the work still ends in the final inspection - the City's rule is that no work goes beyond the point of each successive inspection without a written release from the building official.

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement applies in Sandy Springs. The City's Code of Ordinances chapter 105, Buildings and Building Regulations, was read in full - all four articles, sections 105-19 through 105-134, as codified through Ordinance No. 2026-03-006 - and it contains no roofing provision of any kind, let alone one on impact, hail, UL 2218, Class 4 or Class IV; its local code amendments reach only the International Property Maintenance Code. The Georgia State Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, effective January 1, 2026, were also read in full and make no change to the Code's roofing chapter and contain no reference to UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473. Note that impact resistance is a different rating from fire and from wind - a Class A fire rating to ASTM E108 or UL 790 and a wind rating to ASTM D3161 or D7158 say nothing about hail - and an insurer's discount for impact-resistant shingles is not a code requirement.

Sandy Springs draws its roofing line by roof type and covering, not by a dollar figure or a square-foot figure, and it says so on two City pages that should be read together. The Construction Permit Types page opens its list of "Projects That Do Not Require a Permit" with "Projects that do not require permitting are typically cosmetic upgrades that do not involve licensed trades or alter the footprint of the property. Examples include:", and the list runs "Painting", "Flooring installations (carpet, tile, hardwood)", "Trim and baseboards", "Wall mounting for decorative items or televisions", "Door and window replacements within the existing framework", "Exterior siding replacement", "Roof replacement involving shingles only" and "Gutter replacement". The Residential Building Permits page then describes the roofing permit itself, and it is narrower than the name suggests - "Residential - Roofing" is "Required for flat roof replacement projects" and "Not required for replacing individual shingles on pitched roofs". Read the two limits, because they are where a job crosses back over. First, the carve-out is for shingle work: a flat roof replacement is named as needing the permit. Second, the City states that "A Building Permit is required for projects involving" "Multiple licensed trades" or "Structural work", so once a job goes past the covering into decking, framing or other structural repair it is building work and needs a permit. Note also that the two pages are not phrased identically - one says roof replacement involving shingles only, the other says replacing individual shingles on pitched roofs - so on a full tear-off of a pitched roof it is worth a call to the Community Development Department before assuming the exemption. Behind the City pages, the Code of Ordinances is stricter than either. Section 105-46(a)(1) requires any owner, authorized agent or contractor who desires to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure" to apply to the building official and obtain the required permit first, and the only general relief in that section is discretionary: section 105-46(a)(3) provides that "Ordinary minor repairs may be made with the approval of the building official without a permit, provided that such repairs shall not violate any of the provisions of the construction codes." Starting work that does need a permit is expensive - section 105-46(g)(2) adds a penalty of 100 percent of the usual permit fee on top of the fee itself.

Sandy Springs publishes its own climatic and geographic design data, and the figure a roofer needs comes with a warning attached. The City's Single Family Residential Building Permit Checklist carries a table headed "Sandy Springs' Table R301.2(1) Climatic and Geographic Design Data" giving a wind speed of 90 mph, seismic design category B, a ground snow load of 5 psf and a winter design temperature of 22 degrees F. The checklist introduces the table with the statement that the project "has been designed and will be constructed in accordance with the 2006 International Residential Code with Georgia State Amendments, including the additional criteria established by the City of Sandy Springs", and the form is marked "Revised 2007". That edition matters, because the residential code changed the BASIS on which wind speed is expressed. A 2006-era Table R301.2(1) wind speed is a nominal three-second gust, the speed an allowable-stress design method expects; later editions state an ultimate design wind speed, which is a larger number for the same actual loading. The two are not interchangeable and must not be averaged or substituted for one another. So use the City's 90 mph only with a method that expects a nominal speed, and ask the Community Development Department for the current basic design wind speed and exposure category before designing a fastening schedule or an uplift connection to a modern edition. Sandy Springs publishes no wind exposure category and no separate roofing wind figure.

No Sandy Springs rule and no Georgia rule - the base code governs. The City's Code of Ordinances chapter 105, Buildings and Building Regulations, was read in full, all four articles from section 105-19 through section 105-134, and it states no overlay, recover or layer limit of its own; it adopts the state minimum standard codes by reference at section 105-19 and its only local code amendments are to the International Property Maintenance Code. The Georgia State Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code, effective January 1, 2026, were also read in full and make no change to the Code's roofing chapter. So the recover and re-roofing limits that apply in Sandy Springs are the base International Residential Code provisions in Chapter 9 as published, unmodified by either the state or the city. That base text sits behind the International Code Council's paywall and is not restated here, so ask the Community Development Department for the operative layer count before quoting a recover rather than a tear-off - and note that in Sandy Springs a shingle-only roof replacement is outside the permit system altogether, so nobody at the counter will check the layer count for you.

Neither Sandy Springs nor Georgia writes its own roof-deck rule. The City's Code of Ordinances chapter 105 was read in full and contains no sheathing provision, and the Georgia State Amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code contain no amendment to the Code's roofing chapter, so the base International Residential Code sheathing provisions apply as published. Sandy Springs also has not adopted Appendix U Disaster Resilient Construction, which the Department of Community Affairs adopts as optional and which carries enhanced roof-deck sealing and shingle fastening - section 105-19(b)(2) names the residential appendices the City does adopt and they are G, J and O. What the City does require, on plan-reviewed work only, is that the drawings show the roof: its Single Family Residential Building Permit Checklist calls for the size and spacing of all framing members for floors, ceilings and roofs, floor and roof framing notes and details, truss drawings, and the location of exterior and interior load-bearing and shear walls supporting floors and roofs. That is a submittal requirement for major alterations, additions, new buildings and decks more than six feet above grade, not a rule about what a re-roof deck must be.

7.75% combined in Sandy Springs. The Georgia Department of Revenue's Sales and Use Tax Rate Chart effective July 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026 lists jurisdiction code 060, "Fulton*", at 7.75%, and the chart's own footnote defines that row as "Fulton County outside of Atlanta, Hapeville, College Park, and East Point". Sandy Springs is a Fulton County city and is none of those four, so 7.75% is the whole-city figure. That is the 4% Georgia state rate plus the local components the chart marks M (MARTA), L (LOST), E (Educational) and Tf (Fulton TSPLOST). This is the same rate that applies in Alpharetta and the rest of Fulton outside the four named cities, and it is lower than the 8.9% that applies inside the City of Atlanta, which the chart carries as its own code 060A - so a roofer buying material in Sandy Springs and a roofer buying it a few miles south inside Atlanta pay different rates. The Department has already published the chart effective October 1, 2026 and Fulton stays at 7.75% on it, so nothing is scheduled to change for Sandy Springs; the October chart's only Fulton movement is the addition of a separate jurisdiction code, 805 Fulton (S. Downtn) at 3.9%, alongside the existing 803 Fulton (Cent. Yards), and neither changes the county row that covers Sandy Springs. Under Georgia Department of Revenue rule 560-12-2-.26(1) a contractor who furnishes materials and performs services in improving real property "is deemed to be the consumer of all tangible personal property used or consumed in performing such contract and shall pay the tax thereon at the time of purchase, use, storage or consumption", so the tax on the shingles is the roofer's own cost rather than a line the homeowner is charged. The same rule requires every contractor improving real property in Georgia to file for a Certificate of Registration on Form CRF-002 before its first construction activity in the state; that is a tax registration, not a contractor credential. Whether a separately stated roofing labour charge is taxable is not addressed by that rule and is not stated here.