City of Spearfish, South Dakota - Building Services Division

City of Spearfish, Lawrence County, South Dakota, together with the Lawrence County Joint Powers Area outside the city limits for which the City's Building Services Division issues building permits. Where an address sits relative to the city limit still matters for tax even though it does not change which desk issues the permit: the municipal sales and use tax applies inside the city and not in the surrounding unincorporated county.

city

625 N 5th Street, Second Floor, Spearfish, SD 57783

Not required

Required

Building Services is at 625 N 5th Street, Second Floor, Spearfish SD 57783, on 605-642-1335, with applications through the OpenGov portal at spearfishsd.portal.opengov.com. Inspections on an active permit are scheduled on a dedicated line, 605-722-2611, and the City states that an inspection "must be requested 24 hours in advance." Published plan review turnaround is "Residential: up to seven (7) full working days" and "Commercial/Industrial: up to twenty (20) full working days." Permit fees are not a flat charge: the City states they are "based off a sliding scale fee schedule from the valuation of the project, which includes the prices for materials and the cost of labor," set out in the Master Fee Schedule linked from the Building Services page. Two points specific to roofing work here. First, a like-for-like reroof needs no permit at all under Section 150.016(A)(1)(k), so none of the fee or review timing above applies to it - but a change of covering type, or work that reaches the deck or the structure, is outside that exemption and does. Second, a permit fee that is rebilled to a customer sits inside the contractors' excise tax base, so it should be priced with the 2.041% bid factor applied to it like the rest of the contract.

Spearfish Code of Ordinances Section 150.015, BUILDING CODES ADOPTED, provides in full: "The Common Council hereby adopts the 2021 International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, Chapters 1-24 and 44, and the 2021 International Building Code as published by the International Code Council. A copy of the Code shall be on file in the office of the City Building Official." The 2021 editions come in on Ordinance 1349, passed 11-15-2021, the most recent entry in that section's enactment history, and the section carries its own statutory reference: "Authority to adopt technical codes, see SDCL section 11-10-5." THE ADOPTED RANGE MATTERS FOR ROOFING: Chapters 1-24 includes Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, so the roof provisions of the 2021 International Residential Code are in force here. The City's own Design Criteria and Adopted Codes page completes the list: "The City of Spearfish has adopted the following codes: The 2024 South Dakota Plumbing Code[,] The 2021 International Building Code[,] The 2021 International Existing Building Code[,] The 2021 International Fire Code[,] The 2021 International Mechanical Code[,] The 2021 International Residential Code[,] The 2021 Property Maintenance Code." SOUTH DAKOTA'S PLACE IN THIS IS UNUSUAL AND WORTH STATING, because it is the opposite of the arrangement in most states. There is no statewide residential building code: SDCL 11-10-6 sets a statewide 2024 International Building Code default but says it does "not apply to any residential structure." Residential adoption is a municipal option, and SDCL 11-10-12 provides that "the governing body of a municipality may enact requirements for construction ... of a residential structure by adopting the 2024 edition of the International Residential Code," and that it "may not require the installation of a sprinkler system in a residential structure or impose any requirements that are more stringent than the requirements in the 2024 edition." That is a ceiling rather than a floor, and it is the inverse of the arrangement in states such as Tennessee. Two dates explain why Spearfish sits on the 2021 edition rather than the 2024 one: SDCL 11-10-12 did not exist at all before 2022-07-01, when SB 90 of 2022 created it naming the 2021 International Residential Code, and SL 2026 ch 59 raised the named edition to the 2024 code effective 2026-07-01. Spearfish adopted in November 2021, before either. Nothing in SDCL chapter 11-10 requires a municipality to keep its edition current and the chapter states no sanction for any departure, so the 2021 code is the law in Spearfish until the Common Council says otherwise.

Required — BASE-CODE GOVERNED, AND THE CITY DOES NOT AMEND IT. Spearfish adopts the 2021 International Residential Code, and its amendment list does not touch the drip-edge provision. IRC Section R905.2.8.5, Drip edge, reads in full: "A drip edge shall be provided at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs. Adjacent segments of drip edge shall be overlapped not less than 2 inches (51 mm). Drip edges shall extend not less than 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) below the roof sheathing and extend up back onto the roof deck not less than 2 inches (51 mm). Drip edges shall be mechanically fastened to the roof deck at not more than 12 inches (305 mm) o.c. with fasteners as specified in Section R905.2.5. Underlayment shall be installed over the drip edge along eaves and under the drip edge along rake edges." THE ANSWER DOES NOT TURN ON WHICH EDITION GOVERNS: that section was read in the 2018, 2021 and 2024 editions and its text is word-for-word identical in all three. South Dakota supplies no competing rule - SDCL 11-10-6's statewide default expressly does not apply to any residential structure, so there is no state residential amendment to displace the adopted edition, and SDCL 11-10-12 lets a municipality adopt the named IRC edition but not impose requirements more stringent than it. The drip-edge requirement here is therefore the adopted code's own, not a local addition. It matters here that Spearfish exempts like-material roof replacement from the permit requirement, because the exempting section itself states that "Exemption from the permit requirements of this code 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 drip-edge requirement therefore still binds the work even where no permit is pulled. About drip edge

Required — Required, and stated twice in first-party sources that agree exactly. The Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria table published inside Section 150.016(A) of the codified ordinance, headed "Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria / City of Spearfish, SD," carries the row "Ice shield under-underlayment required Yes" - the doubled "under-" is verbatim in the City's own codified text and is reproduced here rather than tidied. The City's separate Design Criteria and Adopted Codes web page states the same row as "Ice Shield Underlayment Required - Yes." The adopted 2021 International Residential Code conditions its ice barrier requirement on the designation made in Table R301.2, and Spearfish has made that designation in the affirmative, so Section R905.1.2 applies: an ice barrier of at least two layers of underlayment cemented together, or a self-adhering polymer modified bitumen sheet, extending from the eave edge to a point at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line of the building. The requirement attaches to the work and not to the permit, so it applies to a reroof that is exempt from permit under Section 150.016(A)(1)(k) exactly as it applies to permitted work. About ice & water barrier

Not required — Not required. Spearfish imposes no impact resistance rating, no Class 4 requirement and no hail rating on roof coverings. Section 150.016 is the entire building-code amendment list in the Spearfish Code of Ordinances, and it was read in full and then measured: UL 2218 occurs zero times, "Class 4" zero times, "Class IV" zero times, FM 4473 zero times. The Chapter 150 table of contents was also read in full and no other section touches roofing. The base 2021 International Residential Code imposes no impact requirement either. This is a fire, wind and impact distinction worth keeping straight: Spearfish does publish a wind speed and does require an ice barrier, and neither of those is an impact requirement. A hail-rated shingle may still be worth specifying on its own merits or for an insurance discount, but the City does not require one.

NOT A VALUATION THRESHOLD BUT A MATERIALS TEST, and it is the single most important thing a roofer can know about Spearfish. Section 150.016(A)(1) amends Chapter 1, Section R105.2 of the adopted International Residential Code, and the amended section is headed "Work exempt from building permit." Its item (k) reads, in full: "Replacement of similar roofing materials." There is no dollar figure and no square footage figure at which a permit obligation begins; a like-for-like reroof needs no building permit at all. THE HEADING IS WHAT CONFIRMS THE SIZE OF THIS EXEMPTION. Roofing carve-outs elsewhere in this reference sit under headings about sealed drawings or alarm retrofits and remove something other than the permit; this one sits under "Work exempt from building permit," so a permit is what it removes. Item (j) immediately above it treats siding the same way, and item (l) exempts "Gutters, downspouts, and storm windows." READ THE WORD SIMILAR CAREFULLY, BECAUSE IT IS THE WHOLE OF THE LIMIT. The exemption reaches replacement of similar roofing materials. A change of covering type, and work that reaches the roof deck or the structure beneath it, is not what item (k) describes, and falls back under the general rule in the amended R105.2. THE CODE STILL BINDS EITHER WAY: the same amendment opens "Building Permits shall not be required for the following. Exemption from the permit requirements of this code shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provisions of this code or any other laws or ordinances of this jurisdiction." AND A CITY CONTRACTOR LICENCE IS STILL REQUIRED, naming roofing expressly - see the contractor registration entry, which is what keeps this exemption from meaning that the City has no interest in the work. THE CITY'S OWN FAQ SAYS THE OPPOSITE OF ITS ORDINANCE and a roofer is more likely to read the FAQ than the code. The Building Services page states that "A building permit is required for new construction, additions, alterations, remodeling, repairs and demolition," which would catch a reroof, and its offer of "A full list of exceptions is listed here" links to a page of application forms rather than to the exemption list. The codified ordinance governs; the FAQ is a summary that never absorbed it. Where a job is close to the line, confirm it with Building Services on 605-642-1335 before starting.

Design wind speed 115 mph. The full Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria table for the City of Spearfish, as published inside Section 150.016(A) of the codified ordinance and confirmed cell for cell against the City's own Design Criteria and Adopted Codes web page: ground snow load 43; seismic design category A; wind speed 115 mph; air freezing index 2,500; decay none to slight; flood hazards NFIP; frost line depth 42 inches; ice shield under-underlayment required yes; mean annual temperature 42; termite none to slight; weathering moderate; winter design temperature minus 7. The City's Building Services FAQ states the two headline figures in plain words as well: "Wind speed requirements are 115 mph and snow load is 43 psf." THE SAME TABLE PUBLISHED IN TWO INDEPENDENT FIRST-PARTY PLACES, MATCHING, IS WHY THESE FIGURES CAN BE RELIED ON without a separate render of the source document. A WARNING THAT MATTERS WHEN COMPARING SOUTH DAKOTA CITIES: a wind speed means nothing without the basis it is stated in. The 2021 International Residential Code states wind speed as an ultimate design wind speed, which is the basis of the 115 mph figure here, while older editions state a nominal or basic wind speed for the same physical loading. The two differ by roughly the square root of 0.6, so 115 mph ultimate and about 89 mph nominal describe the same wind. Nearby records in this reference print 112 mph and 90 mph for exactly that reason. Do not average them, do not treat a lower neighbouring figure as a disagreement, and do not apply a figure stated in one basis to a design method that expects the other.

Two layers maximum - one overlay is permitted, and a second existing layer forces a tear-off to the deck. Spearfish adopts Chapters 1-24 of the 2021 International Residential Code, which puts Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, inside the adopted range, and it makes no amendment to that chapter. The whole of Section 150.016, which is the entire building-code amendment list in the Spearfish code, was read and then measured: R908 occurs zero times, R905 zero times, R903 zero times. The Chapter 150 table of contents was fetched and read in full - twenty-two sections across five article groups - and no other section of the chapter touches roofing. The base code text therefore governs unchanged. Section R908.3.1.1 of the 2021 International Residential Code provides that a roof recover shall not be permitted where any of three conditions occur, the third being "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." The other two conditions bite whatever the layer count: a covering that is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that it is not an adequate base for additional roofing, and an existing covering of slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. NOTE THE INTERACTION WITH THE PERMIT EXEMPTION, because it is easy to get wrong. Spearfish requires no permit for replacement of similar roofing materials, but the layer rule is a rule about the work rather than about the paperwork, and it applies to an exempt job exactly as it applies to a permitted one. The amended R105.2 says so itself: an exemption from the permit requirement "shall not be deemed to grant authorization for any work to be done in any manner in violation of the provisions of this code."

SOUTH DAKOTA DOES NOT PUT A SALES TAX ON THE ROOFING CONTRACT, and the figure a customer sees on the invoice is 2.041%, not a municipal rate. SDCL 10-45-12.1 exempts construction services from the retail sales tax. In their place SDCL 10-46A-1 imposes "an excise tax upon the gross receipts of all prime contractors engaged in realty improvement contracts, at the rate of two percent," and SDCL 10-46A-3 applies that two percent to "the total contract price including all labor and materials. Materials include those purchased by the contractor and those purchased by the person who let the contract or his designee" - so a homeowner who buys their own shingles does not shrink the base. SDCL 10-46A-12 lets a contractor list the tax as a separate line item and makes that line "collectible from all entities," public and private. THE BILLED FIGURE IS 2.041% AND NOT 2%, because the tax is charged on gross receipts and the tax collected is itself part of those receipts. The Department of Revenue publishes a bid factor of 2.041% for use "when preparing a bid or bill," while "a straight 2% is used when calculating tax due on the excise tax return." The arithmetic is 0.02 divided by 0.98, which is 2.0408%. Both numbers are correct and they are not interchangeable. THE EXCISE IS IN ADDITION TO, NEVER INSTEAD OF, TAX ON MATERIALS. ARSD 64:07:01:13 makes the contractor the consumer of its own materials: contractors "are the consumers of materials and supplies purchased by them for use in their contract work ... the contractor may not purchase for resale supplies and materials and must pay sales or use tax on the purchases." So the roofer pays the 4.2% state rate plus Spearfish's 2.00% municipal sales or use tax on what it buys, 6.2% in total, as a cost of goods rather than as a line on the customer's bill. DO NOT READ THAT 6.2% AS A TAX ON THE REROOF; it is what the roofer pays on materials, and the customer's invoice carries a 2.041% excise line instead. Note that the material rate follows where the material is used rather than where it was bought, so buying outside the city and installing inside it saves nothing. THE MUNICIPAL FIGURE, read cell exact from the Department of Revenue's own municipal tax schedule for the edition effective July 1 to December 31, 2026: Spearfish 2.00% municipal sales and use tax, city code 334-2. The city also levies a 1.00% municipal gross receipts tax, code 334-1, AND THAT TAX DOES NOT REACH ROOFING: SDCL 10-52A-2 enumerates a closed list of lodging, alcoholic beverages, eating establishments and admissions, and the Department's own rate table carries exactly those four columns and no construction column. A roofer who adds that one percent overcharges the customer. SOUTH DAKOTA LEVIES NO COUNTY SALES TAX, so there is no county component to add here. The local hazard is the city limit instead: the Building Services Division issues permits in the Lawrence County Joint Powers Area outside Spearfish as well as inside it, and the 2.00% municipal rate does not follow the permit out of the city. THE STATE RATE IS SCHEDULED TO RISE AND THAT IS ALREADY LAW RATHER THAN A PROPOSAL: SDCL 10-45-2 is codified in two versions, the current one imposing "a tax of four and two-tenths percent" and a second headed "Effective July 1, 2027" imposing "a tax of four and one-half percent," both sourced to SL 2023 ch 32, which is HB 1137. Material costs rise by three tenths of a point on that date. ON PROVENANCE, one thing is worth stating plainly: no Department of Revenue publication names roofing. The determination runs through law rather than guidance - SDCL 10-46A-2 reaches contractors "enumerated in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual of 1987 ... construction (division c)," and ARSD 64:07:01:01.01 provides that "the gross receipts resulting from the services performed by a contractor listed in Division C of the SIC manual are subject to the contractor's excise tax, whether or not the results of such services constitute a fixture."