Permitting Authorities / City of Shawnee - Building Codes Division
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Shawnee, KS?
Adopted code
City of Shawnee - Building Codes Division
No — Shawnee, KS does not require a permit for like-for-like roof replacement (City of Shawnee - Building Codes Division). Per the City's FAQ page: "A permit is required only if the sheathing needs to be added to or replaced," meaning ordinary roof-covering replacement over sound, unaltered sheathing is exempt, while any reroof involving added or replaced sheathing requires a building permit. Building permits generally expire if work is not started within six months, or if no inspection is obtained within any six-month period, and expire outright two years after issuance.
Jurisdiction
City of Shawnee, Kansas
Address
11110 Johnson Drive, Shawnee, KS 66203
Contact
- url: https://www.cityofshawnee.org/212/Building-Permits-Inspections
- phone: 913-742-6010
- email: [email protected]
Roofing permit required
Not required
Contractor registration required
Registration details
- license: The City of Shawnee's Single Family/Townhome Residential Building Permit Guidelines state: "Building Codes Division must have on file a completed, notarized Contractor Registration Form," and "the permit applicant must have a valid class A, B, or C Johnson County contractors license... In addition, a valid Shawnee Business license is required for all contractors working in the City of Shawnee." The city's own Contractor Registration Form (Residential Construction) requires each builder/contractor seeking a building permit to have a current, notarized registration on file with the Code Official, identifying the business and all owners/principals who accept legal responsibility for permit compliance.
Permit process note
Per the City's FAQ page: "A permit is required only if the sheathing needs to be added to or replaced," meaning ordinary roof-covering replacement over sound, unaltered sheathing is exempt, while any reroof involving added or replaced sheathing requires a building permit. Building permits generally expire if work is not started within six months, or if no inspection is obtained within any six-month period, and expire outright two years after issuance.
Adopted code
The residential code is the 2018 International Residential Code, and both of the city's own sources agree on that. Municipal Code Sec. 15.06.010 ("Incorporated by Reference"), as repealed and replaced by Ordinance No. 3646 (April 27, 2026), incorporates by reference "the International Residential Building Code of One- and Two-Family Dwellings, 2018 Edition, including Appendices E, H and Q." The Building Permits & Inspections page lists the codes the city enforces as of April 1, 2026 as the 2024 International Building, Fire, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes, the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code, and — for residential work — the 2018 International Residential Code. So Shawnee runs the 2024 editions for the commercial code family while holding the residential code at the 2018 edition.
Impact-resistant roofing
Not required — City of Shawnee Municipal Code Chapter 15.06, "International Residential Code Adopted," as repealed and replaced in its entirety by Ordinance No. 3646 (adopted April 27, 2026). Read in full: Section 15.06.010 (incorporation by reference of the IRC, 2018 Edition, including Appendices E, H, and Q) and Section 15.06.020 (Amendments and Additions, its full lettered list from Section R101.1 through Section E3902.2). None of the ordinance's amendment items touches IRC Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies, Sections R901 through R908); Chapter 9 is adopted unamended. No UL 2218, Class 4, or impact-resistance provision appears anywhere in the ordinance.
Wind design criteria
115 mph wind speed; topographic effects No; special wind region No; windborne debris zone No; Seismic Design Category A. ("Amend by omitting Table R301.2(1) Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria, of the IRC, and amend by adding in lieu thereof a new Table R301.2(1) Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria," Shawnee Municipal Code Sec. 15.06, Chapter 15.06 "International Residential Code Adopted," amending the 2018 IRC.)
Deck & sheathing requirements
"Do I have to get a permit to re-roof my house? A permit is required only if the sheathing needs to be added to or replaced." (City of Shawnee official FAQ page, "Community Development - Building Permits & Inspections" category.) No solid-sheathing material/gap specification (IRC R803-type language) was located; Shawnee Municipal Code Chapter 15.06 (International Residential Code Adopted) does not amend R803, so this FAQ answer -- a permit-trigger statement, not a sheathing material spec -- is the only official-source statement found on deck sheathing for this jurisdiction.
Sales & use tax
The City of Shawnee (Johnson County, KS -- distinct from Shawnee County KS/Topeka and from Shawnee, OK) has a combined sales tax rate of 9.6% (KS state 6.5% + Johnson County 1.475% + City of Shawnee 1.625%). KDOR Pub. 1700 lists 3 special districts: Plaza TDD (10.6%) and Westbrooke Village CID (11.1%). Per Kansas DOR Pub. KS-1525 "Sales & Use Tax for Contractors, Subcontractors, and Repairmen" (Rev. 7-29-25): "Services performed to install or apply tangible personal property are exempt from sales tax when the services involve the original construction, reconstruction, restoration, remodeling, renovation, repair or replacement of a residence" -- so residential re-roof LABOR is exempt, but materials are not: contractors "are considered to be the final user or consumer of the materials they install for others, and must pay Kansas sales or use tax on them" at the time of purchase (or self-assessed compensating use tax on out-of-state materials, via Form CT-10U, per the same publication's Compensating Use Tax section). Commercial re-roof labor is taxable ("roofing, siding and guttering" is listed as a taxable labor service on commercial projects). Pub. KS-1525 describes only two collection points for contractor materials tax -- retailer sale or self-assessed use tax -- with no mechanism tied to building-permit issuance anywhere in the publication; Kansas sales/use tax is administered centrally by KDOR, not self-collected by home-rule cities as in Colorado.
Local roofing hub
Related guides
The building permitting authority for the City of Shawnee, Kansas, a Johnson County suburb in the Kansas City metro area (a different jurisdiction from Shawnee County, the Topeka-area county already covered separately in this corpus). The Building Codes Division, within the Community Development Department, issues building permits, requires contractor registration, and performs inspections for one- and two-family, townhome, and commercial construction within city limits; ordinary roof-covering replacement is permit-exempt unless sheathing is added or replaced.
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