Roofing in Polk, Wisconsin

STATE-GOVERNED, NOT LOCALLY SET. The Town of Polk may not adopt a different residential building code for one- and two-family dwellings. Wisconsin's residential code is not a straight IRC adoption: it is the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code (UDC), Wis. Admin. Code ch. SPS 321, drafted by Wisconsin and promulgated by the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) under Wis. Stat. ch. 101, subch. II. SPS 321.01 (Scope): "The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the design and construction of all one- and 2-family dwellings." The roof-coverings section, SPS 321.28 (Weather Protection for Roofs), was most recently amended by CR 15-041, effective 2016-01-01. Preemption: Wis. Stat. § 101.65(1)(a) lets a municipality "[s]ubject to sub. (1c), exercise jurisdiction over the construction and inspection of new dwellings by passage of ordinances," and § 101.65(1c) provides that a municipality "[m]ay not make or enforce an ordinance under sub. (1) that is applied to a dwelling and that does not conform to this subchapter and the uniform dwelling code adopted by the department under this subchapter." The Department's own rule adds that a municipality exercising jurisdiction shall "adopt this code in its entirety" (SPS 320.06(1)(a)2.) and that "No additional requirements within the scope of this code may be adopted by a municipality unless approved by the department" (SPS 320.06(1)(a)3.). That is a conformity test, not a minimum floor, so Polk applies SPS 321 as written for one- and two-family dwellings. Note that SPS 321 governs one- and two-family dwellings only. Roofing on buildings of three or more units, and other commercial work, falls under the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code (Wis. Admin. Code chs. SPS 361-366, adopting the IBC), a different chapter that this record does not cover. Everything above is Wisconsin state law, the same in every Wisconsin municipality. The Town of Polk Building Inspector issues building permits and administers the Uniform Dwelling Code in Polk (https://townofpolk-wi.gov/building-inspector/). This record did not read Polk's own building ordinance.