Fixing a roof leak in Richmond: do you need a permit, a license, or both?

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Three questions, three places to ask

A leak puts three separate questions in front of a Richmond homeowner, and mixing them up is how people get wrong answers.

• Is a building permit needed? The answer comes from the state building code, applied by the City of Richmond's Permits and Inspections office.
• Does the person doing the work need a state license? That is Virginia's contractor licensing system, run by DPOR, the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation.
• Does the City need to approve how the roof will look? That applies only if your house is in one of Richmond's Old and Historic Districts, and the group that decides is the Commission of Architectural Review, called CAR.

A roofer who says "you don't need a permit" has answered the first question at most. It tells you nothing about the other two.

Question 1: do you need a permit?

Start with what the state rule says, because it is narrower than most summaries make it sound. Under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, replacing 100 square feet or less of roof covering needs no permit in any building and any wind zone. On a house or townhouse, replacing any amount of roof covering is also exempt, as long as the building is not in an area where the design wind speed is above 100 miles per hour. Virginia regulations

Notice what that rule is about: replacing roof covering. A leak repair is not always that. Swapping a few shingles is one thing. A repair that reaches the roof's structure under the shingles is another, and the rule we have on file does not tell you which side of the line your repair falls on. So we will not tell you that a leak repair never needs a permit. Whether your fix counts is a question for the City.

The same section lists two exceptions that matter in Richmond. A building official may require a permit for roofing work in a historic district designated by the locality. The official may also require one for any exempt item in a special flood hazard area. Virginia regulations "Exempt" in the state code is therefore a starting point, not a final answer, once you know your address.

To get the final answer, ask the City. Richmond's Permits and Inspections office takes calls at 804-646-4169, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and takes applications online. A building permit covers the building and structure only, and electrical, mechanical and plumbing work are permitted separately. City of Richmond Permits and Inspections Describe the work in one plain sentence, say what you plan to replace, and ask whether it needs a permit at your address.

Question 2: does the person doing the work need a license?

This is a different rule with a different source. Virginia law requires a state contractor license for most contracting jobs, or bids, above $1,000, and a local business license does not stand in for it. Virginia DPOR

The dollar line is the price of the job, not the size of the leak. The number that matters is the one on the written quote. Many repairs may come in under it, and some will not, so look at the quote before you assume.

If a company will be doing the work, check it yourself before you sign or pay. DPOR's lookup tool searches by company name or license number and shows whether the license is active and which class or specialty it carries. Roofing contracting is its own specialty, called ROC. Two more classes, CBC and RBC, and two more specialties, HIC and CIC, also cover roofing work. So a roofing company's record should show ROC or one of those four, and not only ROC. Virginia DPOR

Three things to confirm on the record: the license is active, the company name matches the name on your quote, and the class or specialty covers roofing.

One limit to be clear about. These facts are about contractors you hire. The sources we use do not say what applies if you repair your own roof, so we do not give an answer for that case. We also do not tell anyone to climb onto a roof to look. If you want to see where water is getting in, look from the ground with binoculars, or from inside the house, in the attic or on the ceiling below. Our roof leak first-steps checklist walks through what to record and who to call first.

Question 3: is your house in a historic district?

Richmond has many Old and Historic Districts, and the median home in the city was built in 1959. U.S. Census Bureau In those districts, exterior changes visible from a public road generally need CAR approval, and a change of roofing material is one of the common ones. City of Richmond Commission of Architectural Review

CAR approval is its own step with its own paperwork, called a Certificate of Appropriateness. You apply by emailing the signed application form and drawings to the CAR secretary, with the project address in the subject line. The CAR office is at 900 E. Broad Street, Room 510, and the phone is (804) 646-6304. Whether a plain repair with the same material needs this approval is the sort of question to ask CAR before work starts, not after. Our guide to re-roofing in a historic district explains the process in more detail.

Putting the answers together

Here is how the three answers can combine, so you can see why you need all of them.

• A small repair, no historic district, no flood zone: the permit answer may be "none needed", but a quote above $1,000 still needs a licensed company on the record in DPOR's lookup.
• A repair with a quote above $1,000 in a historic district: you may need a company with a state license, a call to Permits and Inspections, and a check with CAR.
• A repair you cannot place in either category: call the City first, in plain words, and write down who you spoke to and what they said.

None of these lines is a promise. They show which question each rule answers.

Questions? Call (804) 764-9710 — we are a local roofing information service, not a contractor.