Borough of Spring Lake - Regional Construction Department

Borough of Spring Lake, Borough of Brielle, Borough of Sea Girt and Borough of Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey

district

423 Warren Avenue, Spring Lake, NJ 07762

Not required

Required

No permit is needed under state law to reroof a detached one- or two-family house; a townhouse, other attached dwelling or any other building needs one from the Regional Construction Department, 423 Warren Avenue, PO Box 638, Spring Lake, NJ 07762, (732) 449-0800 ext. 609, [email protected], open Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm (Construction Official Robert Mazzarisi). The office states: "The Regional Construction Department provides Construction Code Services for Brielle, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, & Spring Lake Heights," and Brielle's own staff directory lists its Construction Department at [email protected], 732-449-0800 ext. 5. Permit packages are picked up at the office or printed from the Department of Community Affairs website; "Reviews may take up to 20 business days," the listed contractor is emailed when the permit is ready, and "Checks should be made payable to the town the work is being completed in." Where a roof permit is required, the fee comes from Spring Lake's Master Fee Schedule, which Spring Lake Code Section 156-2D says "may be amended by resolution of the Mayor and Council"; Brielle Section 9-1.3 and Sea Girt Section 12-1.6 both say "all fees shall be in accordance with the master fee schedule as established by the community hosting the regional Construction Office. Currently that community is the Borough of Spring Lake," and Spring Lake Heights Section 10-1.2a uses the fees "established by resolution of any designated host community in a regional construction office." Section 156-2 adds a plan review fee of 20 percent of the permit fee; the Master Fee Schedule is not part of the Borough Code, so ask the office for the current roofing fee. Inspections are requested in writing through the SDL portal; building inspections in all four towns run "Mon-Thurs 12:00-5:00PM & Mon/Wed 4:30-7:00PM & Fri 6:00-8:00AM." Construction hours differ by town: Brielle, Monday to Friday 8:30AM to 5:00PM and Saturday 9:30AM to 3:00PM; Sea Girt, Monday to Friday 8:00AM to 6:00PM and Saturday 9:00AM to 5:00PM, with "No Saturday Construction from Memorial Day Weekend - Labor Day"; Spring Lake, Monday to Saturday 8:00AM to 6:00PM, with "No Saturday Construction from Memorial Day Weekend - October 1st"; Spring Lake Heights, Monday to Friday 8:00AM to 8:00PM and Saturday 8:00AM to 6:00PM; no Sunday work in any of the four. In Spring Lake, Code Section 162-8 says "No dumpster or other container for the collection of trash, debris or construction material waste shall be placed upon or adjacent to any construction site within the Borough of Spring Lake without having procured a permit from the Construction Official"; Section 162-10 sets the fee at $100 for 120 days and says "If the dumpster or other container is upon the construction site for 21 days or less the fee is waived. However, the permit must still be procured." In a mapped flood hazard area in any of the four boroughs, roofing is also reviewed by the Floodplain Administrator through a floodplain development permit (see the repair permit threshold).

The 2024 International Residential Code, New Jersey edition, adopted by the State, with the Rehabilitation Subcode for work on existing buildings. New Jersey has one construction code, the Uniform Construction Code (N.J.A.C. 5:23), which every municipality enforces; municipalities do not adopt building codes of their own (N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123.1 and 52:27D-139). N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21(a)1 adopts the International Code Council's "2024 International Residential Code known as the IRC/2024 as the one- and two-family dwelling subcode in New Jersey subject to the modifications stated at (c) below," and 3.21(b) applies it to "detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories above grade plane in height." The section was rewritten by R.2026 d.086, "effective August 17, 2026," in the Department of Community Affairs' print of the rules "adopted and published through the New Jersey Register, Vol. 58 No. 16," and the Department's Current Construction Codes page lists the "International Residential Code/2024, NJ ed" with an adoption date of Aug 17, 2026. Other buildings fall under the building subcode, the International Building Code/2024, NJ edition (N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.14). Roof work on an existing building is held to the Rehabilitation Subcode: "Existing structures, when repaired, renovated, altered or reconstructed, shall conform to the requirements of N.J.A.C. 5:23-6, Rehabilitation Subcode" (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.4(a)). A six-month grace period follows the adoption. N.J.A.C. 5:23-1.6(a): "For a period of six months following the operative date of a subcode revision, applicants may submit a complete permit application, including all prior approvals, to be reviewed under the code in force immediately preceding the subcode revision." The rule history gives R.2026 d.086 no date other than its effective date, so on that reading the window runs from August 17, 2026 until about February 17, 2027: a complete application filed inside it may be reviewed under either the prior edition or the 2024 edition, at the applicant's choice, and one filed after it closes is reviewed under the 2024 edition. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, the Regional Construction Department page says the office enforces "the state's Uniform Construction Code (UCC) and local ordinances" and names no code edition; neither do the construction chapters of the four borough codes read on October 2, 2026 (Spring Lake Chapter 156, Brielle Section 9-1, Sea Girt Chapter 12 and Spring Lake Heights Chapter 10).

Not required — No mid-roof inspection under state law. Reroofing a detached one- or two-family house is ordinary maintenance, and N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(c) says "No permit for, inspections of, or notice to the enforcing agency of ordinary maintenance shall be required." Where a reroof does need a permit, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.18(b)1 says "Inspections of one- and two-family dwellings for which construction must cease until the inspection is made shall be limited to the following": footing trenches, foundations, utility services and a mid-point inspection, whose building item is "All structural framing, connections, wall and roof sheathing, and insulation." The list names no roof-covering or underlayment stage, and the rule does not say whether its sheathing item reaches a permitted reroof that replaces sheathing. Any further inspection a municipality requires "shall be of the type and nature that construction may continue without interruption" (5:23-2.18(b)3). Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, the Regional Construction Department page says "all inspection requests must be submitted in writing at least 24 hours prior to requested inspection date" through the SDL portal. Its Required Inspections handout covers "New Single Family / Addition" work, says "Inspections will not be conducted unless a building permit is posted on the building and a set of approved plans are on site," and names no inspection stage for a reroof.

Not required — No impact-resistant roofing requirement under state law. The New Jersey Uniform Construction Code rules that reach a house reroof (the administrative rules in N.J.A.C. 5:23-1 and 5:23-2, the State's amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code at 5:23-3.21, and the Rehabilitation Subcode at 5:23-6) contain no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement for roof coverings. A municipality cannot add one: N.J.S.A. 52:27D-123.1 says "Any law or regulation to the contrary notwithstanding," the "alteration, renovation, rehabilitation, repair, maintenance, removal, or demolition of all buildings or structures already erected shall be regulated pursuant to the 'State Uniform Construction Code Act,'" and under 52:27D-139 local construction regulations were "deemed repealed and superseded" once the state code was promulgated. An owner may still choose an impact-rated roof covering. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Regional Construction Department page, its handouts and the construction chapters of the four borough codes state nothing further on roof covering ratings.

No permit and no size limit for reroofing a detached one- or two-family house; a permit for every other building. N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(c) lists items that "are ordinary maintenance and shall be treated as such by every enforcing agency" and says "No permit for, inspections of, or notice to the enforcing agency of ordinary maintenance shall be required." Item 1.x is "The repair or replacement of existing roof covering on detached one- and two-family dwellings," with no square-footage or percentage cap. N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14(b)1 carries this into the permit rule: "Ordinary maintenance as defined in N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7 shall not require a permit or notice to the enforcing agency." Two limits apply. First, the item covers only detached one- and two-family dwellings. Reroofing a townhouse or other attached dwelling, or any other building, falls under the general permit rule, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14(a): "It shall be unlawful to construct, enlarge, repair, renovate, alter, reconstruct or demolish a structure ... without first filing an application with the construction official." Some of that work may be "minor work" under N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.17A, which still needs a permit, but "work may proceed, upon notice to the enforcing agency, before the permit is issued" (5:23-2.14(b)2). The fee is municipal: "The municipality, in accordance with this chapter, shall establish by ordinance enforcing agency fees" (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.25; fee standards at 5:23-4.18). Second, ordinary maintenance does not include "Any work affecting structural or fire safety" (5:23-2.7(b)4), so roof work that reaches rafters, trusses or other structure needs a permit even on a detached house. The rule does not say whether replacing roof sheathing alone is such work. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, the Regional Construction Department's handout "Ordinary Maintenance - No Permit Required" lists "Roof covering" among building items needing no permit; the handout does not repeat the state rule's limit to detached one- and two-family dwellings. All four boroughs' flood damage prevention ordinances (Spring Lake Section 186-1.5, Brielle Section 19-101.5, Sea Girt Section 14-1.5 and Spring Lake Heights Section 17-1.5, each adopted or rewritten in 2022) add a step in flood hazard areas: "Improvements defined as ordinary building maintenance and minor work projects by the Uniform Construction Code including nonstructural replacement-in-kind of windows, doors, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, decks, walls, partitions, new flooring materials, roofing, etc. shall be evaluated by the Floodplain Administrator through the floodplain development permit" to check the substantial damage and substantial improvement rules. On the terms of those ordinances, a reroof in a mapped flood hazard area is reviewed through a floodplain development permit even where no construction permit is needed.

Two layers maximum, by state rule. Roof work on an existing building is held to the Rehabilitation Subcode (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.4(a)), whose repair section, N.J.A.C. 5:23-6.4(e)7, reads: "Existing roof covering shall be removed before installing new roof covering when any of the following conditions occur: i. The existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that the existing roof or roof covering is not adequate as a base for additional roofing; ii. The existing roof covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile; or iii. The existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." So one existing layer of asphalt shingles may be covered once; a roof that already has two layers, a wet or deteriorated roof, or a wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile roof must be torn off first. The answer is the same if a reroof is treated as renovation rather than repair: for work other than repair, N.J.A.C. 5:23-6.8(h)7 applies "All of Chapter 9 entitled 'Roof Assemblies', except Section R907" of the 2024 International Residential Code, and its reroofing section, R908.4, Exceptions, bars a recover "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." New Jersey's Chapter 9 amendments at N.J.A.C. 5:23-3.21(c)8 change only R903.4.1 and R905.1.2 and leave R908 as published. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Regional Construction Department page, its handouts and the construction chapters of the four borough codes state nothing further on roof layers.

6.625% New Jersey Sales Tax; whether the roofing bill is taxed depends on the job. The Division of Taxation's guide Contractors and New Jersey Taxes (S&U-3, Rev. 5/25) refers to "New Jersey's 6.625% Sales Tax rate." A new roof is an exempt capital improvement: "New roof" is on the guide's list of "Exempt capital improvements," and "If the work results in an exempt capital improvement to real property, the contractor does not charge Sales Tax on the bill"; the owner gives the contractor a Certificate of Exempt Capital Improvement (Form ST-8). The roofer still pays tax on materials: "The contractor pays the Sales Tax on the cost of materials and supplies at the time of purchase." A repair is taxable. The guide lists "Fixing a leaky roof" among repairs and says "replacing a few loose bath tiles or a portion of a leaky roof is a repair to the existing real property. However, replacing all of the tiles or the entire roof with upgraded or improved materials would be an exempt capital improvement." On a taxable job the only deduction is a separately stated cost of materials, and "If the contractor does not itemize the materials and the labor for a taxable job, the entire receipt is subject to tax." Work for an exempt organization, a government agency or a qualified business in an Urban Enterprise Zone follows separate exemption rules. Everything above is New Jersey state law, the same in every municipality. The Regional Construction Department page states nothing further on sales tax.