City of Yankton, South Dakota - Community and Economic Development, Building Services & Permits

City of Yankton, South Dakota

city

416 Walnut Street, Yankton, SD 57078

Required

Not required

Yankton uses a single dedicated form for roofing work - the "Exterior Building Permit Application: One and Two Family Homes, Roofing-Siding-Windows-Doors" - separate from its general Building Permit Application. The form can be submitted by email to [email protected], and the flat $20 fee applies regardless of the estimated value of labor and materials. Separate permits are required for any associated electrical or plumbing work. The Community and Economic Development Department is responsible for issuing permits both within the city limits and within Yankton's Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ); the city's Fee Schedule carries a separate ETJ permit fee table (e.g. $45 for a residential principal structure in the ETJ), confirming the ETJ is an actively administered permitting area, not just a nominal boundary claim.

The Exterior Building Permit Application directs applicants to "Call 605-668-5253 or 605-668-5259 for inspections." Neither the application, the Building Services & Permits page, nor the Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout publishes a staged inspection checklist (e.g. sheathing, dry-in, mid-roof, final) specific to roofing; inspections appear to be requested by phone rather than scheduled against a published sequence.

CITY-SET, not state-mandated. Yankton has adopted the 2021 International Residential Code by name at Sec. 7-11 of the Code of Ordinances ("Residential code adopted; amendments"), together with the city's own additions, deletions, modifications and amendments to that code (most recently amended by Ord. No. 1087, adopted 12-9-24). The same Article I of Chapter 7 separately adopts the 2021 International Building Code (Sec. 7-4, most recently amended by Ord. No. 1086, 12-9-24), the 2021 International Mechanical Code, the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code, and the 2017 A117.1 accessibility standard, and elsewhere in the chapter the 2021 International Existing Building Code (Sec. 7-13). The city's own Building Services & Permits page separately lists the 2023 National Electric Code and the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code among its adopted codes. Context: this is a local adoption made under South Dakota's local-option framework (SDCL 11-10-12 for residential structures), not an inherited statewide code - South Dakota has no single mandatory statewide residential building code, so the edition in force in Yankton is the city's own choice.

Required — The city's Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout states: "Drip edge at eaves extending minimum 2" up sheathing, not less than 1/4" below sheathing... Underlayment shall be installed over drip edge at eaves, under drip edge at rakes." A separate detail on the same page adds that the drip edge must be fastened with 12-gauge roofing nails with 3/8" diameter heads every 12" o.c., with the vertical leg extending more than 1/4" below the sheathing. About drip edge

Required — The city's Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout states: "Ice and water shield installed minimum 24" inside exterior wall line. Underlayment installed per manufacturer's requirements based on slope and material type," and specifies a single layer of ice-dam protection membrane for roof slopes greater than 4:12 and a double layer for slopes between 2:12 and 4:12, illustrated with the city's own single-layer and double-layer underlayment diagrams. About ice & water barrier

Not required — I read the City of Yankton's Building Services & Permits page, its Exterior Building Permit Application (roofing-siding-windows-doors), and its Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout in full. None of the three names a mid-roof, in-progress, sheathing, dry-in, or other staged inspection distinct from a final inspection for roofing work. The only inspection reference in any of them is the permit application's instruction to "Call 605-668-5253 or 605-668-5259 for inspections," which is a generic contact line rather than an enumerated inspection sequence.

Not required — I read the City of Yankton's Exterior Building Permit Application (roofing-siding-windows-doors) and its Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout in full; the guidelines document opens by stating "The building code and City ordinances require the following" and then lists every applicable requirement - layer limit, minimum slope, ice and water shield, drip edge, nailing pattern, and sidewall flashing - with no mention of impact resistance, a Class 4 impact rating, or UL 2218. The city's codified Code of Ordinances (Sec. 7-11) adopts the 2021 IRC "and amendments by the City of Yankton" but the amendment text itself is kept on file at the Community and Economic Development office rather than published online, so this negative rests on the city's own roofing-specific guidance documents, not on a read of the full amendment instrument.

Yankton sets no dollar-value threshold below which a roofing permit is not required. The city's own Building Services & Permits page lists roof/siding/window replacement among the work requiring a permit, and its Fee Schedule (effective 01/01/2026) sets a single flat fee - "Residential Exterior Permit (shingling, siding, windows, and doors) $20.00" - that does not vary by job value. The Exterior Building Permit Application itself states in bold: "VALUE OF THE WORK WILL NOT AFFECT THE PERMIT FEE AMOUNT OF $20." The permit-exempt work list on the city's permit page (detached structures under 120 sq ft, fences under 7 feet, retaining walls under 4 feet, finish work, and certain accessory items) does not include any roofing item.

The city's own Exterior Building Permit Application form states directly on the "Roofing / Re-Roof" line: "Note: maximum two layers of roofing." The city's companion Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout (prepared by City of Yankton Building Services, dated 02-2025) restates this as a code and city-ordinance requirement: "Maximum two (2) layers of shingles. Removal of existing roof coverings is required if the existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or deteriorated to the point of being inadequate as a base for additional roofing or if the existing roof is wood shake, slate, clay, cement or asbestos cement tile."

The city's Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout states shingles "shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks" and that fasteners "must penetrate not less than 3/4" into roof sheathing, or through roof sheathing if less than 3/4" thickness." The document does not specify a minimum sheathing thickness or panel material (e.g. OSB vs. plywood) beyond requiring a solid deck and the fastener-penetration rule above.

The city's Asphalt Shingle Roofing Guidelines handout requires a minimum of four (4) fasteners per shingle, more for high-wind or steep-slope applications per the manufacturer's requirements. Fasteners must be galvanized, stainless steel, aluminum, or copper, and must penetrate not less than 3/4" into roof sheathing (or through the sheathing if it is less than 3/4" thick); fasteners must not be overdriven, and shingles must be fastened to solidly sheathed decks. The handout separately requires sidewall flashing against a vertical sidewall to be continuous or stepped and not less than 4" in height and width, and states that kickout flashing is "highly recommended" (not mandated) to direct water away from sidewalls at eaves. About roofing nails

South Dakota taxes roofing work as a realty improvement under the contractors' excise tax rather than as a retail sale of the finished job, so the rate that governs a Yankton roofing contract is the state contractors' excise tax: SDCL ch. 10-46A imposes a 2% excise tax on the gross receipts of prime contractors and subcontractors on construction services and realty improvement projects, and every contractor must hold a Contractor's Excise Tax Licence from the South Dakota Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue's own page also notes that prime contractors separately owe "state, plus applicable municipal use tax" on materials furnished for the contract where sales or use tax was not already paid - a municipal component layered on top of the 2% state excise tax. This excise-tax regime is statewide and applies in Yankton identically to everywhere else in South Dakota.