Roofing in Ocean Township (Monmouth County), 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, Section 6-1.1 of the Township of Ocean's code establishes "a State Uniform Construction Code Enforcing Agency to be known as the Construction Department of the Township of Ocean." Chapter 6 of the Township code (Buildings) sets up that agency and its fees; apart from its roof permit fee lines it contains no roofing provision.

Under state law a reroof needs a permit on a townhouse or other attached dwelling, on any other building, and wherever the work reaches the roof structure; reroofing a detached one- or two-family house is ordinary maintenance with no permit (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7(c)1.x, "The repair or replacement of existing roof covering on detached one- and two-family dwellings"). Where a roof permit is required, apply to the Construction and Building Division of the Township of Ocean's Department of Community Development, Town Hall, 399 Monmouth Road, Oakhurst, 732-531-5000 (the Township's main number; the Division's personnel page lists the Construction Official at ext. 3358). The Township lists general office hours of Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and says "Payments for permits are accepted and permits are issued between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday." The fee schedule is Section 6-1.3 of the Township code. Its building subcode line for "Roofs for other than R-5" is $28 per thousand. Its line "Roofs for R-5, flat fee" prints no amount: Ordinance No. 2529, adopted December 11, 2025, marks the $200.00 figure on that line "(deleted)," and the code does not say which line now prices a roof permit in Use Group R-5. The same section prices "renovations, alterations, repairs" at "$45 per $1,000 estimated cost of work" and sets a building subcode minimum of $85.