Roofing in New Berlin, Wisconsin

Required

Required

STATE-GOVERNED FOR DWELLINGS, WITH THREE LOCAL ADOPTING PROVISIONS. One- and two-family dwellings in New Berlin are built to the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code, chs. SPS 320 to 325 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code. That is Wisconsin's own drafted text and not an adoption of the International Residential Code, which is why its roofing rules read differently from the IRC's. New Berlin adopts those chapters by reference at Municipal Code Sec. 80-2.A, which says "The following chapters of the Wisconsin Administrative Code establishing a One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, and all amendments thereto, are adopted and incorporated in this chapter by reference" and then lists each chapter with an effective date: SPS 320 Administration and Enforcement 6-1-1980, SPS 321 Construction Standards 6-1-1980, SPS 322 Energy Conservation 12-1-1980, SPS 323 Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning Standards 6-1-1980, SPS 324 Electrical Standards 6-1-1980, and SPS 325 Plumbing 6-1-1980. Sec. 80-2.B empowers the Lead Building Inspector and his representatives, as certified by the Department of Safety and Professional Services, to administer and enforce those provisions. Commercial and three-family-and-over work runs on a different code set: Sec. 80-2.C adopts chs. SPS 361 to 366 together with the current edition of the International Building Code suite as adopted by the state. SECOND ADOPTION, AND IT IS UNUSUAL: Sec. 80-1.A separately adopts "The Wisconsin Uniform Building Code prepared by the Building Inspectors Association of Southeastern Wisconsin in January 1967, together with all subsequent revisions, amendments and supplements", excepting only Section 30.05(1)(g). That is a regional association model code rather than the state dwelling code, it is not published on the City's website or on the City's online code, and the ordinance itself directs that a copy is on file and open to public inspection in the office of the City Clerk. A roofer who needs its text has to ask for it there. Note that a Wisconsin municipality that exercises jurisdiction adopts the uniform dwelling code in its entirety by ordinance and may not add requirements within that code's scope without the Department of Safety and Professional Services' approval, so the older regional code cannot lawfully impose a differing one- or two-family roofing rule.

Building permits are applied for in person at the Department of Community Development, Inspection Services Division, on the second floor of City Hall at 3805 S. Casper Drive, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm; inspectors staff the front counter from 8:00 am to 9:00 am on weekdays. The City states that the building permit review process can take up to ten business days, and that if an application is disapproved the ten working days start over when new information is received. The City's building permit application form asks the builder or contractor for a UDC number and a DCQ number, which are the state Dwelling Contractor and Dwelling Contractor Qualifier certifications, so a roofing company without them cannot take out the permit. New Berlin also runs a homeowner privilege: a permit may be issued to a property owner where the building is their own owned and occupied single-family dwelling and they apply for and secure the permit, pay the fees, do the work themselves, follow the provisions of the building code and schedule the required inspections. That privilege does not extend to new electrical service or service upgrades, in-ground swimming pools, spas or hot tubs, new construction before an occupancy permit is issued, remodeling over 1,500 square feet, or electrical work outside the dwelling. One point about the state credential is worth knowing on an older New Berlin house: Wis. Stat. 101.615(3) applies the contractor certification sections to a building permit application to perform work on a dwelling whose initial construction commenced before, on or after December 1, 1978, so the age carve-outs that limit which houses the construction standards reach do not let an older house escape the certification requirement. Inspections are scheduled by calling 262-797-2445 and must be booked at least 24 hours in advance.