City of Superior, Wisconsin - Building Inspection Division

City of Superior, Wisconsin

city

1316 N. 14th Street, Room 230, Superior, WI 54880

Required

Required

Applications and inspection requests both run through the City self-service portal, and the City asks for 10 business days for permit application review and approval once all required information is in. Plans must be submitted digitally in addition to paper - uploaded to the portal, supplied on disc, or emailed to the building safety address. The City states its own plan-check turnaround expectations: signs and nonengineered minor projects generally in 3 to 5 working days, single-family dwellings in 5 to 7, first come first served. Inspections are requested on 715-395-7288 with 24 hours notice, and the City asks for two business days lead where possible; requests are to go to the office line rather than to an inspector directly, and inspectors are generally at their desks 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. for code questions. Municipal Code Sec. 34-101 gives the contractor a timing backstop: work may not proceed until a required inspection has been approved, but "Construction may proceed on a one- or a two-family dwelling if an inspection has not been performed within two business days after proper notification has been given." WATCH THE EXPIRY, BECAUSE ROOFING HAS THE SHORT ONE. Sec. 34-91(e) provides that "Permits for residential roofing, siding, decks, accessory structures and other similar projects will expire after six months," against two years for a new dwelling, and the section carries an escalating penalty for letting one lapse: for that category the new or renewed permit fee "shall be double the fees of the last permit issued for the same project," and each subsequent permit runs for half the prior time limit. Sec. 34-91(j) adds that a permit expired more than 30 days cannot be renewed at all - the project needs a new permit and becomes subject to whatever codes are in force at that later date.

THE CITY ADOPTS THE STATE CODES BY REFERENCE, AND THE ADOPTION IS FLOATING RATHER THAN FROZEN TO AN EDITION. Municipal Code Sec. 34-6, "Construction standards; codes adopted," provides at (a) that "The administrative code provisions describing and defining regulations with respect to one- and two-family dwellings in Chapters SPS 320 through 325 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code are hereby adopted and by reference made a part of this chapter as if fully set forth herein," and adds that "Any future amendments, revisions or modification of the administrative code provisions incorporated herein are intended to be made part of this chapter to secure uniform statewide regulation of one- and two-family dwellings in this city." The same section adopts chs. SPS 360 to 366 and 375 to 379 for commercial work, chs. SPS 381 to 387 for plumbing, ch. SPS 316 for electrical and ch. SPS 327 for camping units. So for a house there is no local edition year to check - the currently published text of chs. SPS 320 to 325 governs. The City states the same list on its own Codes page: State Commercial Building Code SPS 361 to 366, State Uniform Dwelling Code SPS 320 to 325, State Plumbing Code SPS 381 to 385, State Electrical Code SPS 316. Sec. 34-6 also flags which codes the City does NOT administer, which saves a call: the state boiler code SPS 341, the state elevator code SPS 318 and the public swimming pool code SPS 390 are enforced by Wisconsin directly. Chapter 34 was enacted by Ordinance No. O13-3840 on July 2, 2013 and the gas-code subsection was last amended by Ordinance No. O25-4407 on November 18, 2025; the codification is current through Ordinance No. O25-4410, enacted December 2, 2025.

Not required — No drip edge is required by code here, and the reason is that Wisconsin never adopted the International Residential Code rule that most other states rely on for it. SPS 321.28, "Weather protection for roofs," was read in full - general drainage and fasteners, underlayment for shingles, asphalt shingles, ice dam protection, other roof coverings, reroofing, and every flashing paragraph - and no provision requires a drip edge at an eave or a rake. The only drip-edge language anywhere in the Wisconsin dwelling construction chapter is a masonry chimney cap rule, which is not a roof-edge requirement. PRACTICAL POINT FOR A BID: drip edge may still be required as a matter of the shingle manufacturer's printed instructions, and SPS 321.28(3)(a)3. makes those instructions binding for asphalt shingles, so read the wrapper before leaving it off. On the City side, Chapter 34 of the Municipal Code was read in full and the words drip edge do not appear in it, and neither does any other roof-edge requirement. What Superior does address at the eave is gutters, and only to say they are permit-free: the Permits Not Required document lists "Install roof gutters" among the items needing no permit. About drip edge

Required — STATE-SET AND SLOPE-CONDITIONED - read the trigger carefully, because it is narrower than the International Residential Code rule used in most other states. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.28(4)(a) requires that "Shingled or shake roofs that extend over a heated area of a dwelling or attached garage and that have a slope of 4:12 or less shall be provided with ice dam protection in the form of sheet metal or a product labeled as meeting the requirements of ASTM D 1970." SPS 321.28(4)(b) sets the extent: the protection "shall extend at least 30 inches up the roof slope from the roof edge and at least 12 inches up the roof slope beyond the inner face of the exterior wall." The trigger is the roof slope, not the climate zone or a design temperature, so a roof steeper than 4:12 is not covered by the requirement at all - although the shingle manufacturer's instructions may still call for it, and SPS 321.28(3)(a)3. makes those instructions binding for asphalt shingles. Superior adds nothing to the requirement itself - Chapter 34 of the Municipal Code was read in full and contains no ice barrier or ice dam provision - but its Sec. 34-7(4) decides when the state standard attaches to an existing dwelling: more than 45 percent of the roof covering replaced in any 12-month period. Given the City position on Lake Superior, the slope test is the one to check on site rather than assumed away. About ice & water barrier

Not required — NO MID-ROOF OR ROOF-COVERING INSPECTION STAGE EXISTS HERE, AND SUPERIOR PRINTS ITS LIST IN THE ORDINANCE SO IT CAN BE CHECKED RATHER THAN ASSUMED. Municipal Code Article VI, "INSPECTIONS REQUIRED," runs from Sec. 34-101 to Sec. 34-115 and enumerates the stages by trade. The construction stages, at Sec. 34-104, are, in full: foundation reinforcement, drain tile, footing and foundation, under slab or under floor, rough framing, insulation and energy, and final. Separate sections cover erosion control (34-103), HVAC (34-105), electrical (34-106), plumbing (34-107) and manufactured or modular home installation (34-109). None of those is a tear-off, underlayment, deck or roof-covering stage, and on a reroof the final at Sec. 34-104 is the operative inspection. TWO THINGS TO PLAN ROUND ANYWAY. The City states a general rule of thumb in its own FAQ - "before any phase of construction is covered or concealed by a subsequent phase of construction, an inspection is required" - so a job that opens the deck may attract a look before it is sheathed over. And Sec. 34-110 provides for re-inspections, which are chargeable under the fee schedule adopted by council resolution.

Not required — No impact-resistance or hail-rating mandate applies here. The statewide Wisconsin uniform dwelling code carries none: ch. SPS 321, which holds the construction standards for one- and two-family dwellings, contains no occurrence of UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 anywhere, roof coverings included, and SPS 321.28(5) sends any covering the section does not otherwise address to "the manufacturer's instructions or a national standard recognized by the department," which sets no impact class. Impact-resistant shingles are an insurer-driven upgrade in this market, not a code obligation. ONE CAUTION FOR READING PAPERWORK ON A WISCONSIN JOB: a Class A, B or C designation, or a reference to ASTM E108 or UL 790, is a FIRE rating and says nothing about hail, and ASTM D3161 or D7158 is a WIND rating. Only UL 2218 or FM 4473 answers impact. On the City side, Chapter 34 of the Municipal Code was read in full and contains no UL 2218, Class 4, Class IV or FM 4473 requirement, and neither the published permit list nor the Permits Not Required document sets a shingle rating. Note that hail is named in Superior only in the exemption - "Repair or replace storm, wind, or hail damaged shingles if under 250ft2 of the total roof" - which is a permit rule, not a materials rule.

SUPERIOR PUBLISHES A SQUARE-FOOT LINE FOR ROOF REPAIR, WHICH IS RARE IN WISCONSIN AND IS THE SINGLE MOST USEFUL NUMBER ON THIS RECORD. The City maintains a document headed "Permits Not Required - 1 & 2 Family Dwellings," revised October 7, 2025, and under its heading "Roofing, Siding, and exterior Coverings" the first item is: "Repair or replace storm, wind, or hail damaged shingles if under 250ft2 of the total roof." Three neighbouring items on the same list are worth knowing on a roofing job: "Repair roof flashing when applying new siding," "Repair or replace soffit or fascia," and, under Alterations, "Install roof gutters." So gutter work, soffit and fascia work and a hail patch under 250 square feet are permit-free, and anything past that line is not. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE IS EQUALLY PLAIN. The City FAQ, under "When do you need a permit?", lists as item 4 "Roof or reroof your home, business, or other building." The ordinance behind that is Sec. 34-13, "Permits required," which reads: "No person shall excavate for, erect or construct any building or structure whatever or add to, enlarge, move, improve, alter, extend, convert, repair, remove or demolish any building or structure or cause the same to be done ... without first obtaining a permit therefore from the city building inspector." Sec. 34-13 also gives the exemption list its legal footing, providing that the chief building inspector "shall provide a written list or description of construction projects commonly considered repair or maintenance not requiring a construction permit" - which is exactly what the Permits Not Required document is. TWO CONDITIONS ON THE EXEMPTION, PRINTED ON THE DOCUMENT ITSELF: work that does not need a permit must still be "in substantial compliance with the Superior Municipal Code of Ordinances and the Wisconsin adopted building code," and the City notes that "Lead Safe practices may be required" for any of the listed items, which on a pre-1978 house is a real cost. And note the shape of the exemption - it is written for storm, wind or hail damage, not for a voluntary partial reroof.

STATE-SET, AND WISCONSIN STATES IT AS A PRESSURE RATHER THAN AS A WIND SPEED - do not go looking for a mph figure, because the uniform dwelling code does not publish one. Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.02(1)(c) provides that "Dwellings shall be designed and constructed to withstand either a horizontal and uplift pressure of 20 pounds per square foot acting over the surface area or the wind loads determined in accordance with ASCE 7-05, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures," and the code adds its own note that ASCE 7-05 "allows for substantial reduction from 20 psf as applied to the surface area." The roof-specific figures are in SPS 321.27(3), "UPLIFT AND SUCTION FORCES": roofs "shall withstand a pressure of at least 20 pounds per square foot acting upward normal to the roof surface," and "Roof overhangs, eaves, canopies and cornices shall withstand an upward wind pressure of at least 20 pounds per square foot applied to the entire exposed area." SPS 321.27(3)(b) adds the anchorage rule that roof framing members spanning more than 6 feet from the outermost edge of the roof "shall be permanently fastened to the top plate of load bearing walls using engineered clips, straps or hangers." For the shingles themselves the code sets a fastening count rather than a wind class: SPS 321.28(3)(a)4. requires at least 4 fasteners per strip shingle or 2 per interlocking shingle unless the manufacturer specifies otherwise, and SPS 321.28(3)(a)1. requires a self-sealing adhesive strip with an average bond strength of at least 1.5 pounds per 3.75 inches of shingle width at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Superior publishes no local wind figure and Chapter 34 of the Municipal Code contains none. Sec. 34-8 does set the tie-break rule for overlapping standards: "In case of conflicts among such regulations, the most restrictive standard shall apply."

STATE-SET AS TO THE LAYER COUNT, WITH A LOCAL RULE ON WHEN IT BITES. The statewide rule is SPS 321.28(6), "REROOFING," which provides that new roof coverings may not be installed over existing roof coverings where any of three conditions exist: the existing roof or roof covering "is water-soaked or has deteriorated such that it is inadequate as a base for additional roofing"; the existing roof "is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile"; or the existing roof "has 2 or more applications of any type of permanent roof covering." So the ceiling is two total layers, and fewer than that where the deck is wet or deteriorated or the existing covering is one of the listed materials. A complete tear-off to the deck is not restricted by that rule at any layer count. Superior writes no layer rule of its own: Municipal Code Chapter 34, the Construction Code, was read in full - all thirteen articles and every numbered section from 34-1 through 34-230 - and it contains no layer limit, no recover rule and no shingle provision. There is no local route past two layers, so a roof already carrying two applications is a tear-off in Superior. AND SUPERIOR HAS WRITTEN ITS OWN ANSWER TO THE SCOPE QUESTION THAT HANGS OVER MOST WISCONSIN REROOFS - WITH A PERCENTAGE, WHICH NO OTHER JURISDICTION IN THIS DIRECTORY DOES. Statewide, SPS 320.05(1) takes dwellings begun before the code took effect on June 1, 1980, and alterations to them, outside the uniform dwelling code, and SPS 320.05(3) takes "repairs or maintenance" outside it as well, while SPS 320.07(61) defines a repair to include "the replacement of existing fixtures, systems or equipment with the equivalent fixture, system or equipment." Municipal Code Sec. 34-7, "Existing structures," pulls a large reroof back in by name: the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code "shall also apply to buildings and conditions where," among other cases, "(4) Roof coverings. Whenever more than 45 percent of the roof covering of a dwelling is replaced in any 12-month period, all new roof covering shall be in conformity with applicable sections of this chapter." READ THE 12-MONTH WINDOW CAREFULLY - it aggregates. Two half-roof jobs inside a year cross the line even though neither does on its own. Sec. 34-7 also brings in an alteration or repair whose cost "exceeds 50 percent of the equalized value of the structure" as determined by the city assessor, and gives the building inspector discretion to require compliance for alterations "regardless of cost." ONE CONCESSION RUNS THE OTHER WAY AND IT MATTERS ON SUPERIOR HOUSING STOCK: the same section closes by providing that the state standards "shall be reasonably applied by the building inspector to the alterations and remodeling of existing one-family and two-family dwellings constructed before 1951," with the stated intention of applying the safety and energy standards to those older dwellings "in those instances where such standards can be applied without unreasonable expense to the applicant." So on a pre-1951 house the answer is a conversation with the inspector rather than a flat rule.

STATE-SET. The statewide rule is Wis. Admin. Code SPS 321.27(9), "ROOF SHEATHING, BOARDS AND PLANKING," read in full. For structural panels, SPS 321.27(9)(a) provides that "The allowable loads and spans for structural sheathing shall be in accordance with the grade stamp on the panel" - Wisconsin sets no minimum panel thickness of its own and defers to the stamp, so a roofer replacing decking should match the stamp to the rafter spacing rather than to a table. For board decking, SPS 321.27(9)(b) allows roof boards at least 5/8 inch thick for solid sheathing and 3/4 inch for spaced sheathing where rafters are 24 inches on centre or closer, and requires tongue-and-groove boards at least 1.5 inches thick where rafter spacing is greater than 24 inches on centre. SPS 321.27(9)(c) covers roof planks, which must be tongue-and-groove or splined and at least 2 inches nominal. Nothing in the section states a trigger for replacing sound decking on a reroof; what forces sheathing off is the separate reroofing rule, SPS 321.28(6)(a), which bars covering a deck that is water-soaked or deteriorated. Superior adds no sheathing or decking specification of its own - Chapter 34 of the Municipal Code was read in full and contains none - but it does decide WHEN the state standard attaches to an existing house, through the 45 percent roof-covering rule in Sec. 34-7(4) described under the layer limit on this record. ONE FURTHER LOCAL STANDARD SITS OUTSIDE THE CONSTRUCTION CODE AND APPLIES WHETHER OR NOT ANY WORK IS BEING DONE. Chapter 104 of the Municipal Code, the Property Maintenance and Housing Code, requires that "The roof and flashing shall be sound, tight, and not have defects that admit water," and that "Roof drainage shall be adequate to prevent dampness or deterioration in the walls or interior portion of the structure. Roof drains, gutters, and downspouts shall be maintained in good repair and free from obstructions." It also regulates where roof water may be discharged. That is a maintenance duty on the owner rather than a construction specification, but it is the provision a Superior inspector would cite on a failing roof, and it reaches a house on which no permit has ever been pulled.

5.5% on materials. Wisconsin state sales and use tax is 5%, and Douglas County levies the half-point county tax on top of it, at 0.50% with an effective date of April 1991 - county code 16 on the chart. The figures are from the Department of Revenue sales tax rate chart, Guidance Document Number 100047, dated January 16, 2026. No municipal sales tax applies here - the Department states that "The city of Milwaukee is the only municipality that imposes a city sales and use tax" - and no premier resort area tax applies, because this municipality is not among the ten the Department lists as having adopted one. Superior lies wholly within Douglas County, so one rate applies across the city. ONE CROSS-BORDER POINT THAT MATTERS MORE HERE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN WISCONSIN: Superior sits across the harbour from Duluth, and Minnesota is a different tax jurisdiction with a different rate and a different treatment of construction contracts. Where the material is delivered and where the job is decides which state applies, so do not carry a Duluth supplier figure into a Superior bid. HOW THE TAX FALLS ON A ROOFING JOB MATTERS MORE THAN THE RATE. Wisconsin treats a roof as real property: the Department of Revenue contractor guidance, Publication 207, answers it by name in its item chart, listing "Roofs" as real estate for residential installation, residential repair, commercial installation and commercial repair alike. The roofing contractor is therefore the consumer of what it installs. It pays sales or use tax when buying shingles, underlayment and other materials, and the same publication states that a contractor performing a real property construction activity "is not permitted to collect sales tax from its customers on its sales price from sales of real property construction activities," so neither labour nor materials are taxed on the reroofing contract itself. The exception runs the other way: Publication 207 lists "Selling lumber, roofing materials or other tangible personal property, without installation" as an example of the contractor acting as a retailer, which is a taxable retail sale. So the rate is a cost input on the material purchase rather than a line on the homeowner invoice.