Roofing in Kearny, New Jersey

Not required

Required

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, Chapter 14 of the Town Code establishes "a State Uniform Construction Code enforcing agency" known as the Kearny Construction Code Enforcement Department, and the Town's contractor licensing ordinance says "All work shall be done in accordance with the Uniform Construction Code of the State"; neither names a code edition.

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 Kearny Construction Code Enforcement Department, whose central permit office the Town Code places in the Municipal Building, 402 Kearny Avenue, "to be open during the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on normal business days of the municipality"; the State's directory of construction offices lists its phone as 201-955-7880. Where a roof permit is required, Kearny's construction fee schedule (Town Code section 14-1.3, last amended by Ordinance 2015-8) prices it: "Roofing & Siding on R-3, R-4 Use Groups shall be = $65." Other renovation, alteration, repair and minor work is priced on estimated cost: "Estimated cost up to and including $50,000 $20 per $1,000," $16 per $1,000 from $50,001 to $100,000 and $15 per $1,000 above $100,000, and the "Minimum fee for each subcode, exclusive of elevators, shall be: $50."