Roofing H USA works on clay tile roofs in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, and keeping the tiles is a path both cities recognize: each has a permit line for lifting the tiles, laying new underlayment and setting the same tiles back.
The details are where the two cities part ways. Who may use that line is not the same, the cool roof rule treats a reset differently from new tile, and broken pieces can change what the job is.
What does a tile reset cover in the City of Los Angeles?
LADBS, the City’s building department, writes the reset as one express permit line with three steps: remove the existing roof tiles, apply new underlayment and reset the roof tiles. The same line notes that cool roof compliance is not required.
That line stands apart from the re-roof lines next to it, which are written for Class A or B roofing under a set weight per square foot. Because the reset has a line of its own, it does not lean on that weight limit.
The wording covers those three steps and nothing more. If the deck under the tiles needs new boards, or the scope grows in some other way, ask LADBS how the added work will be permitted.
There is no shortcut around the reset either. Neither the Los Angeles Building Code nor the state residential code that houses follow allows a recover over clay or cement tile, so new underlayment means taking the tiles off.
Who can use the tile reset permit in Santa Monica?
Santa Monica’s express permit bulletin has the same three-step wording, with the same note that cool roof compliance is not required. The difference is where it sits: under the heading for Landmarks and the Historic Resources Inventory.
Express permits in Santa Monica are written for single-family properties. Homes with landmark or historic status get a short list of their own, and the tile reset is on it, beside an approved roof coating and attic insulation or a radiant barrier.
A tile house in Santa Monica without that status will not find the reset on the express list. Reroofs are among the minor projects the City reviews and approves at its public counter, so that is the likely route. Confirm it with Building and Safety.
Does keeping the tiles keep the cool roof rule away?
For the reset itself, yes in both cities: each permit line says cool roof compliance is not required. The answer changes when old tile is swapped for new roofing over a large part of the roof.
In Los Angeles, the City’s own cool roof rule leaves out roof replacements covering half of the total roof area or less. Past that point, the new roofing has to meet the City’s cool roof values.
Historic status does not open a separate door. LADBS says that for historic buildings and zones, the approval process for cool roofs is the same as for any other roof.
Santa Monica’s express re-roof lines ask for a product labeled by the Cool Roof Rating Council once a replacement passes half of the roof area. The whole city lies in Climate Zone 6, where the state rule reaches low-sloped roofs, not steep-sloped home roofs.
What happens when some of the tiles are broken?
The state residential code is direct here: existing clay or cement tile may be reinstalled, but damaged, cracked or broken tile may not. Rusted or damaged vent flashings and metal edgings may not go back either.
So a plan for broken pieces belongs in the quote before the first tile is lifted.
Ask how replacements will be matched: new tile in the closest profile and color, or sound tiles moved from a slope that is less visible from the street. Either choice should be in writing, along with where the tiles will be stacked.
Scale matters too. If so many tiles fail that new roofing would cover most of the roof, ask the City whether the work still counts as a reset or now falls under the cool roof rule.
Raising that question early keeps the permit in step with what is really on the roof.
What should a quote for a tile reset list?
Start with the permit path. In Los Angeles that is the LADBS reset line; in Santa Monica it is the landmark express line or the public counter, depending on the status of the house.
Then the materials. The quote should name the new underlayment, say how flashing at valleys, walls and vents will be handled while the tiles are off, and state the plan and the count for broken tiles.
It should also say what happens if the deck turns out to be damaged once the tiles are up, and who will speak to the building department about the change. That keeps a surprise from turning into a dispute in the middle of the job.
For our part, every tile roof job is backed by the 5-year labor guarantee and planned with 34 years of roofing experience behind it.
Talk to us
Want to know whether your tiles can go back on? Call Roofing H USA at (213) 921-3424 with the address, and tell us whether the house has landmark or historic status, so we can sort out the permit path with you.