Permitting Authorities / City of Waco - Inspection Services
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Waco, TX?
Adopted code
City of Waco - Inspection Services
Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Waco, TX, issued by City of Waco - Inspection Services. Waco issues a dedicated Roofing permit for residential re-roofs. The city's "Do I Need a Permit?" guide lists "4. Roofing / Permit Type: Roofing permit" and states: "A Roofing permit covers replacing shingles, felt flashing, and decking (32 square feet or less). Any work beyond the 32 square feet of decking requires a Repairs and Alterations permit. The scope of work will be provided when filling out the permit application." The permit fee schedule prices "Roofing" at $125 under "Repairs & Alterations to Existing Residential Structures." Applications, fees and inspection requests all go through the city's Citizen Self Service Portal; once the fee is paid the permit status changes from "Payment Pending" to "Issued", "signifying that you may begin work." "All permitted work must be inspected to close out the permit. All required inspections, including any document review, are listed on the permit in the required sequence." Inspections must be requested online by 4 p.m. the day before. For work started before a required permit is obtained, "the fees above shall be doubled.".
Roof code checklist: Waco, TX
Each row comes from the sourced record on this page; full wording is in the table below. "Not published" means no official source for that item was found when the record was last verified.
Jurisdiction
City of Waco, Texas
Address
Dr. Mae Jackson Development Center, 401 Franklin Ave., Waco, TX 76701
Contact
- url: https://www.waco-texas.com/Departments/Development-Services/Inspection-Services
- phone: 254-750-5612
- email: [email protected]
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Not required
Registration details
- state_level: Texas issues no state roofing contractor licence; the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation's program list includes no roofing program (tdlr.texas.gov).
- city_level: Waco's Code of Ordinances Chapter 6 (Buildings and Building Regulations) and Chapter 13 (Licenses, Permits and Business Regulations) create contractor licences or registrations only for electrical, plumbing, gas appliance installation, air-conditioning and mechanical, landscape irrigation and house-moving work; neither chapter contains a roofing or general building contractor registration. Inspection Services states: "Before building permits can be issued for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical work, the contractor must be registered with our office. Please note that there is no registration fee for contractors. Contractors must show proof of their state licensing for mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and irrigation work." Any applicant, including a roofer, must still create an account and "register your company" on the Citizen Self Service Portal to apply for permits and schedule inspections.
Permit process note
Waco issues a dedicated Roofing permit for residential re-roofs. The city's "Do I Need a Permit?" guide lists "4. Roofing / Permit Type: Roofing permit" and states: "A Roofing permit covers replacing shingles, felt flashing, and decking (32 square feet or less). Any work beyond the 32 square feet of decking requires a Repairs and Alterations permit. The scope of work will be provided when filling out the permit application." The permit fee schedule prices "Roofing" at $125 under "Repairs & Alterations to Existing Residential Structures." Applications, fees and inspection requests all go through the city's Citizen Self Service Portal; once the fee is paid the permit status changes from "Payment Pending" to "Issued", "signifying that you may begin work." "All permitted work must be inspected to close out the permit. All required inspections, including any document review, are listed on the permit in the required sequence." Inspections must be requested online by 4 p.m. the day before. For work started before a required permit is obtained, "the fees above shall be doubled."
Adopted code
Code of Ordinances Sec. 6-26 adopts the 2024 International Residential Code "including appendices BB, BD, BO, and NE", together with the 2024 International Building, Plumbing, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Fire, Existing Building, Property Maintenance, and Swimming Pool and Spa Codes, the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, and the National Electrical Code as adopted by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (as amended by Ord. No. 2025-813, 11-4-25). The Inspection Services "Adopted Codes" page states these are in force "as of January 1, 2026." Local IRC amendments are in Sec. 6-29; they delete the IRC electrical chapters and the R309.2 sprinkler requirement, substitute the 2018 energy chapter, and amend fee, appeals, air-conditioning, fuel gas, plumbing and electric-vehicle appendix provisions, and do not amend Chapter 9 (Roof Assemblies). Sec. 6-26(c) provides that "Newer versions of the codes identified in (1) through (6) and (8) through (10) in subsection (a) of this section shall automatically be adopted 12 months after publication by the International Code Council unless the city by ordinance amends them or does not adopt them," with the city's existing amendments carried forward. State context: Texas Local Government Code Sec. 214.212 adopts the International Residential Code as it existed on May 1, 2012, as the municipal residential building code and allows a city to adopt local amendments by ordinance after a public hearing; Waco's own adoption is the 2024 edition above.
Drip edge
Required — Drip edge is required at eaves and rake edges of shingle roofs (2024 IRC Section R905.2.8.5, Drip edge). Waco adopts the 2024 International Residential Code in Code of Ordinances Sec. 6-26; its local amendments in Sec. 6-29 do not amend Chapter 9, so the drip-edge requirement applies as adopted.
About drip edgeImpact-resistant roofing
Not required — Neither Sec. 6-26 (adopting the 2024 IRC) nor the city's IRC, IBC and IEBC amendments (Secs. 6-28, 6-29 and 6-35) amends Chapter 9's roof-covering provisions; no UL 2218 or Class 4 impact requirement appears in the city's adopted code or its amendments. The rest of Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances contains no such requirement either.
Repair permit threshold
Waco's "Do I Need a Permit?" guide draws its roofing line by the amount of decking replaced, not by a minimum repair size: "A Roofing permit covers replacing shingles, felt flashing, and decking (32 square feet or less). Any work beyond the 32 square feet of decking requires a Repairs and Alterations permit." The guide's list of "Work That Does Not Require a Permit" does not include roof work; it closes with "Other exceptions found in IRC R.105 may apply to the permitting requirement." The city's amendments to the 2024 International Residential Code (Code of Ordinances Sec. 6-29) do not amend Section R105, and the city publishes no square-footage or dollar amount of roof repair that may be done without a permit. The fee schedule lists "Roofing" at $125 and "Repairs & Alterations" at $200 for existing residential structures.
Roof layer limit / recover
Waco adopts the 2024 International Residential Code (Code of Ordinances Sec. 6-26), and its local amendments (Sec. 6-29) do not amend or delete the reroofing provisions of Section R908, so the base 2024 IRC rule applies. 2024 IRC Section R908.4 (Roof recover), Exceptions: "A roof recover shall not be permitted where any of the following conditions occur: ... 3. Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." One existing layer may be re-covered; a roof that already has two layers must be torn off. The same Exceptions block also bars a recover over water-soaked or deteriorated roofing and over slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. Waco's permit pages state no layer count of their own.
Deck & sheathing requirements
Waco adopts the 2024 International Residential Code (Code of Ordinances Sec. 6-26); its local amendments (Sec. 6-29) do not amend Chapter 9 or the roof sheathing provisions, so the base 2024 IRC sheathing requirements for asphalt shingles (Section R905.2.1, Sheathing requirements) apply unmodified. Permit scope for decking: "A Roofing permit covers replacing shingles, felt flashing, and decking (32 square feet or less). Any work beyond the 32 square feet of decking requires a Repairs and Alterations permit" (City of Waco, "Do I Need a Permit?").
Sales & use tax
8.25% combined (6.25% state + 1.50% City of Waco + 0.50% McLennan County), per the Texas Comptroller's local sales tax rate file for the July 2026 quarter; this is the Texas local-rate cap. Under Comptroller guidance for real property repair and remodeling, "Labor to repair, remodel, or restore residential real property is not taxable"; on the lump-sum contract typical of residential re-roofing, "you pay tax on all your supplies, materials, equipment, and taxable services when you buy them. You don't charge your customer tax" (Comptroller Pub. 94-116, Real Property Repair and Remodeling, comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/94-116.php). The combined rate above is therefore the roofer's own cost basis on materials purchased, not a rate charged to the homeowner. Re-roofing a nonresidential building is taxable on the total charge (the same publication states "Repair or remodeling includes reroofing").
Local roofing hub
More roof permit pages in Texas
Related guides
The permitting authority for the City of Waco. Inspection Services, a division of Development Services, reviews plans, issues residential and commercial building permits (including a dedicated Roofing permit for residential re-roofs), and inspects permitted work under the city's adopted construction codes.
Hail reports near Waco, TX
- Reports, last 24 months
- 15
- Largest, last 24 months
- 2.50 in Apr 28, 2026
- Most recent
- Apr 28, 2026 2.50 in
- Reports, last 5 years
- 30
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database and daily storm reports (reports since the start of the current year are preliminary), within 10 miles of Waco, TX (Census point). Data through Sep 30, 2026. A report is an observation, not a damage record.
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