Roofing in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Required

Required

One- and two-family dwellings in Kenosha are built to the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code, chs. SPS 320 to 325 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, which is Wisconsin's own text rather than an adoption of the International Residential Code, and that is why its roofing rules differ from the IRC's. There is no International Residential Code edition year to quote for a Kenosha dwelling. Kenosha has adopted that code by ordinance. Code of General Ordinances Sec. 9.03 C, Adoption of Codes, provides that "[t]he following Wisconsin Administrative Codes and National Codes, including all referenced codes, statutes, and standards, and future amendments thereto, are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein," and the list includes "SPS 320-325 Uniform Dwelling Code And Appendices," "SPS 305 Licenses, Certifications And Registrations," "SPS 328 Smoke Detectors And Carbon Monoxide Detectors" and "SPS 361-366 Commercial Building Code And Appendices." Because that adoption reaches future amendments, there is no frozen edition to look up. A Wisconsin municipality that exercises jurisdiction adopts the dwelling code in its entirety and may not add requirements within the scope of that code without the approval of the Department of Safety and Professional Services. The City also keeps its own Building Code at Chapter IX of the Code of General Ordinances, and Sec. 9.03 A gives its scope as "all Dwellings, Public Buildings, places of employment and Accessory Buildings." That chapter carries permits, fees, inspections and enforcement rather than roofing technical standards. Sec. 9.03 B.2 states that plan review and on-site inspections are provided "by inspectors certified by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services." One separate change a roofer may hear about is electrical rather than structural: the City adopted the 2023 National Electrical Code effective September 1, 2026. One wording point is worth knowing before an argument starts on site: Sec. 9.03 C incorporates the dwelling code together with future amendments, while Sec. 9.10 A applies "[t]he State Uniform Dwelling Code in effect on June 1, 1980" to all one- and two-family dwellings, which is the date the code took effect for chs. SPS 320 and 321. This record reproduces both provisions and does not choose between them.

Roofing permits in Kenosha are issued by the Building Inspection Division of the Department of City Inspections at 625 52nd Street, Room 100, reachable on (262) 653-4263. The City publishes a dedicated Application for Roof Permit rather than folding a roof into a general alteration permit, and the same form serves residential and commercial work. Completed applications may be emailed to the building permits address the City publishes on its Permit Applications page, mailed, or delivered in person; the City states that faxing is no longer an option, and that where full-sized plans are submitted a PDF copy must be emailed as well. Commercial and multi-family roof applicants are told not to send payment with the application and to wait to be notified that the permit is ready, and to submit two full-size sets of plans plus one 8 1/2 by 11 inch or 11 by 17 inch set. A permit becomes null and void unless construction commences within sixty days of issuance or if the work is suspended for sixty days, and a residential addition or alteration permit must be completed within six months, with a one-year extension available from the Code Official for work that has proceeded in a professional and workmanlike manner. Kenosha permits cover work inside the city limits only; the City directs applicants for addresses elsewhere in Kenosha County to the County's own permitting portal, so confirm which jurisdiction an address sits in before applying. Wisconsin also requires the City to use the standard building permit form prescribed by the Department of Safety and Professional Services and to give an owner applying for a permit the statutory cautionary statement about hiring an unbonded or uninsured contractor, which is printed on the second page of Kenosha's roof permit form.