Roofing in Clovis, New Mexico

Required

Required

Clovis and the State of New Mexico are describing the same body of law from two directions, and the Clovis ordinance is drafted so that both are true at once. The City's Building Safety page says, verbatim, "To meet these ends, we have adopted the 2021 International Codes and the 2020 National Electric Code." The State adopts the same 2021 IRC with statewide amendments at 14.7.3 NMAC - 14.7.3.8 NMAC ADOPTION reads, verbatim, "This rule adopts by reference the 2021 International Residential Code, as amended by this rule," 14.7.3.6 NMAC OBJECTIVE frames it as a floor, verbatim, "The purpose of this rule is to establish minimum standards for the general construction of residential buildings in New Mexico," and 14.7.3.5 NMAC provides that after December 14, 2023 permits may be issued only under it. The codified Clovis ordinance reconciles the two expressly. Section 15.16.010 of the Clovis City Code (International Residential Code - Adopted) provides, verbatim: "The city hereby adopts by reference the conditions, provisions, limitations and terms of the International Residential Code, 2021 Edition; including, but not limited to any amendments to the provisions of the International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, which are adopted by the state of New Mexico, whether such amendments are adopted as of or subsequent to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section, but excluding Section R313 relating to automatic fire sprinkler systems." So Clovis has not adopted the bare 2021 IRC in competition with the state code - it has adopted the 2021 IRC together with New Mexico's amendments to it, on a rolling basis that picks up future state amendments automatically. The New Mexico amendments in 14.7.3 NMAC, including the roofing-chapter amendments at 14.7.3.17 NMAC, are therefore part of the Building Code of the city of Clovis. The single Clovis carve-out is IRC Section R313 (automatic fire sprinkler systems), which is not a roofing provision. Section 15.08.010 does the same for the 2021 IBC "together with all publications of the International Code Council related to the International Building Code, 2021 Edition; including, but not limited to, Appendices C, G, and K, and the International Building Code/ASTM standards and any amendments... which are adopted by the state of New Mexico". Clovis's own amendments at Section 15.16.020 retitle the code - "101.1 - Title: These regulations shall be known as the Building Code of the city of Clovis hereinafter referred to as 'this code'" - except Section 112 from adoption, rewrite IRC Section 105.2's exempt-work list (see repair_permit_threshold), add a responsibility clause at 105.8 requiring compliance with "this code and the New Mexico Construction Industries Licensing Act", and add a temporary-power provision at 107.3. None of Clovis's amendments touches the IRC's roofing chapters. The authority for adopting by reference is Sections 3-17-6 and 3-18-6 NMSA 1978, and Section 15.04.010(A) of the Clovis City Code records the limit that goes with it: municipalities may adopt codes "so long as the codes provide for minimum requirements at least equal to the state requirements on the same subject."

The Department of Building Safety is at 1221 Mitchell Street, Clovis, NM 88101, phone (575) 769-7829; Building Safety Director is Pete Wilt ([email protected]), and the department mailbox is [email protected]. City Hall is at 321 North Connelly, Clovis, NM 88101. Permits can be applied for through the City's online self-service portal, and the City also accepts complete applications and drawings by email to the Building Safety Department; the City publishes a "How To Create An Online Permit Account Guide" for first-time portal users. Fees follow the published Permit Fees Calculation, which is banded by valuation and split into TYPE I ("Residential permits pulled by a licensed contractor") and TYPE II ("Homeowner permits, sign permits, or commercial construction"), so a homeowner-pulled re-roof is charged at the higher of the two schedules. JURISDICTIONAL REACH IS WIDER THAN THE CITY. The Department permits and inspects "throughout the City of Clovis and a five mile extra territorial jurisdiction, as well as the City of Portales with a 3 mile extra territorial jurisdiction," and Section 15.36.090 of the Clovis City Code applies its fees "within the corporate limits of the city and within the planning and platting jurisdiction of the city, as the same now exists or may hereafter be extended or expanded according to law." A roofer working in Portales or within five miles of Clovis should therefore expect to permit through Clovis Building Safety - but the gross receipts tax rate does not travel with the permit, and a Portales address carries its own GRT location code. Statewide, and so also in Clovis by virtue of Section 15.16.010's adoption of the New Mexico amendments, two Chapter 9 amendments in 14.7.3.17 NMAC are on point for roofing work: added IRC Section R903.2.1 Locations requires, verbatim, that "Approved reglets or an approved flashing shall be installed at wall and roof intersections, wherever there is a change in roof slope or direction and around roof openings"; and the canale and scupper provisions added at R905.9.4/R905.9.5, R905.11.4, R905.12.4 and R905.13.4 require taper board at roof-deck transitions to crickets, valleys and canales and state that "All canales and scuppers must have a metal pan lining extending six inches minimum... All canales or scuppers must have positive drainage." Pumice and other granular fill are barred from roof assemblies.

Clovis publishes no roofing-specific inspection schedule, and no Clovis instrument sets out the phases a re-roof must be inspected at. What the City Code does establish is a general inspection power: Section 15.36.030 of the Clovis City Code provides, verbatim, that "The building inspector shall inspect all building installations in the city, and is authorized to issue all permits and licenses necessary to carry out effectively the duties of his office, and shall be charged with the proper enforcement of all building and zoning ordinances that are now in effect or shall be adopted in the future," and Section 15.36.010 records that the inspection department "is principally financed by the payment of fees for the inspection services rendered." The practical schedule for a given job therefore comes from the Department of Building Safety at the counter, on (575) 769-7829. It is worth being precise about what does and does not reach Clovis from the state rules, because the two run differently. Section 15.16.010 adopts the 2021 IRC "including... any amendments to the provisions of the International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, which are adopted by the state of New Mexico", so New Mexico's amendments to the IRC - among them the roofing-chapter amendments at 14.7.3.17 NMAC - are part of the Building Code of the city of Clovis. New Mexico's separate permitting and inspection rules are not. One of the adopted IRC amendments, 14.7.3.9(I) NMAC, reads "Section R109 Inspections. Delete this section of the IRC and see 14.5.3 NMAC, Inspections," but 14.5.3 NMAC is a standalone Construction Industries Division rule rather than an amendment to the IRC, and Clovis has not adopted it: 14.5.3.2 NMAC scopes that rule to "all contracting work performed in New Mexico after March 10, 2022, that is subject to the jurisdiction of CID," and 14.5.3.6 NMAC states that its purpose "is to set forth requirements for inspections of construction contracting work in New Mexico that is subject to the jurisdiction of CID." Clovis is self-administering, so that rule does not reach it of its own force and its inspection list - which elsewhere in New Mexico requires a roof assembly inspection including decking - is not Clovis law. A contractor should confirm the required inspection points with Building Safety when the permit is issued.