Roofing in Menasha, Wisconsin

Not required

Required

STATE-GOVERNED CONSTRUCTION RULES, PLUS THE CITY'S OWN PERMIT AND APPLICATION SCHEME -- and Menasha's own ordinance answers a scope question most Wisconsin municipal records in this corpus cannot. One- and two-family dwellings in Menasha are built to the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code (UDC), Wis. Admin. Code chs. SPS 320 to 325, which is Wisconsin's own text rather than an adoption of the International Residential Code -- no IRC edition year applies to a house here. The City's Code of Ordinances, Title 15 (Building Code), Article A, Sec. 15-1-2(b) STATE CODES ADOPTED: "Chapters SPS 320-325, Wis. Adm. Code, inclusive, and all amendments thereto, are hereby made a part of this code by reference and shall apply to all one (1) and two (2) family dwellings and alterations and additions thereto, the initial construction of which was commenced after the effective dates of various chapters of the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code." Read alone, that sentence would leave the same open question Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee leave open for pre-1980 housing stock. But Sec. 15-1-3(a) APPLICATION goes further and is the municipal opt-in that the note to Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.05(1) contemplates: "The Uniform Dwelling Code, SPS 320-325, Wis. Adm. Code, and all changes, is hereby adopted by reference to apply to all additions and remodeling of existing one (1) and two (2) family homes and any new or remodeled garage and/or storage shed including those build[t] prior to June 1, 1980." So for additions and remodeling, Menasha has affirmatively extended the Uniform Dwelling Code to reach dwellings built before the code's June 1, 1980 effective date (Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.03), not merely newer construction. Preemption still runs the same direction as everywhere else in Wisconsin: Wis. Stat. Section 101.65(1c) bars a municipality from enforcing an ordinance that does not conform to the Uniform Dwelling Code, so Menasha cannot impose a different substantive construction standard than SPS 320-325 for the dwellings the code reaches -- its own role is permits, fees, inspections, and the pre-1980 extension described above. NOT ADJUDICATED: whether the City's classification of ordinary re-roofing as a "repair" (Sec. 15-1-4(d)(2)) takes re-roofing outside the reach of Sec. 15-1-3's "additions and remodeling" language, given that Wis. Admin. Code SPS 320.05(3) separately exempts "repairs" from the Uniform Dwelling Code outright and SPS 320.07(61) defines "repair" to include "the replacement of existing fixtures, systems or equipment with the equivalent" -- see roof_layer_limit for both texts stated without resolving the tension.

City of Menasha building permits are issued through an online GovWell portal (linked from the Building Inspection Department's webpage). Building permits are required for the eleven categories the ordinance names (accessory structures, air conditioning, building, electrical, heating, moving of buildings, occupancy, plumbing, signs, wrecking or razing, and other permits as required), but ordinary re-roofing is classified as a minor repair and needs no permit; a roofing permit is available only on a voluntary basis, for a fee, if the owner or contractor wants a City inspection. Residential Inspection office hours are Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM, with inspections scheduled at least one to two business days in advance. Questions go to Residential Building Inspector Alison Humski at (920) 967-3655 or [email protected]. New one- and two-family home construction requires electronic submission through the State of Wisconsin Electronic Building Permit System in addition to the City's own zoning permit application.