Roofing H USA works on homes and commercial buildings in Santa Monica, and the City’s path for a re-roof depends first on what kind of building sits under the roof.
A single-family house can use the express route. A condominium, an apartment building or a store cannot, and the state energy code draws its own lines between the three. The fire rule is the one requirement they all share.
Which Santa Monica re-roofs qualify for an express permit?
Santa Monica’s express permit bulletin opens by saying who it is for: single-family property owners doing qualifying work with no plan review. It then states that multi-unit residential, condominium and commercial properties are not eligible for an Express Permit.
For a house, the bulletin has two re-roof lines, both limited to lightweight Class A or B coverings: one over the existing solid sheathing and one over new solid sheathing. The permit description must match the bulletin’s wording exactly.
Homes with landmark or historic status have a separate short list. It includes resetting the existing roof tiles over new underlayment and applying an approved coating to an existing roof.
Express submittals go in online, following the City’s instructions. For anything outside those lines, including every condo building and commercial property, the next question is which review the project needs.
How does a condo or commercial re-roof get approved?
The City sorts projects into two review types. Minor projects, and the City names reroofs among them, can be reviewed and approved at the public counter. Everything else goes to formal plan review.
The City’s description of that counter review does not limit reroofs to houses. Before the visit, the permit application and project documents are uploaded to the Electronic Plan Review system, and customers are seen by appointment or as walk-ins, with appointments encouraged.
The application form follows the scope. Roofing alone uses the Single-Trade Building Permit Application, kept for projects that qualify for counter review or Minor Plan Review.
Work that involves more than one trade uses the Combination Building Permit Application, with one permit for the whole project.
Larger jobs that need formal plan review use the Electronic Plan Review Application. For commercial roofing, settle which path applies before the work is scheduled.
Who can sign for the permit on each type of property?
Santa Monica lets three kinds of applicants pull a building permit: a residential property owner, a contractor, or an agent acting for either of them with proper authorization. A residential tenant cannot pull one unless authorized as that kind of agent.
Ownership paperwork is where condos and commercial buildings differ from a house. If a trust owns the property, the City asks for the trust papers showing who may sign for it.
If a corporation, an LLC or a partnership owns it, the City asks for the operating agreement or formation papers that show its officers, partners or managing members. An agent acting for an owner needs the City’s authorization form with a notarized owner signature.
On a condominium or a commercial building, work out early who signs for the owner. A quote is easy to sign; the permit application asks for proof.
Does the cool roof rule reach condos and stores more readily than houses?
It can. On a single-family home, the state energy code steps in once a replacement passes half of the roof. On a multifamily or nonresidential building, the line is half of the roof area or 2,000 square feet, whichever is less.
The trigger is wider in another way too: on multifamily and nonresidential roofs, the rule covers roofs being replaced, recovered or recoated. A new coating on a large flat roof can count.
Slope matters as well. Every Santa Monica ZIP code falls in Climate Zone 6. There, the state rule covers low-sloped roofs on houses and multifamily buildings, but not their steep-sloped roofs.
Nonresidential buildings go further. Their low-sloped roofs are covered in every climate zone, and their steep-sloped roofs in Climate Zone 6 too. For houses, the City’s express re-roof lines add a rated cool roof product past half of the roof area.
What does every Santa Monica roof have to meet?
Fire comes first. Three codes, the California Building Code, the California Residential Code and the Santa Monica Municipal Code, all call for a fire-retardant roof covering, whether the building is a house, a condo or a store.
The City allows one narrow exception: a trellis or similar structure with no roof covering, on a roof deck or at ground level, serving a single-family home. It must be built as an open egg-crate lattice or as spaced members running one way.
Inspections follow the same pattern for everyone. The City offers expedited roof sheathing inspections for re-roofs, and it asks that the sheathing work be ready and someone be on site when the inspector arrives.
Before you sign, check the Santa Monica quote against these points: the fire rating, the cool roof product where it applies, and the sheathing inspection. Our work carries the 5-year labor guarantee.
Talk to us
Which permit path fits your building? Phone Roofing H USA at (213) 921-3424, say whether it is a house, a condo or a commercial property, and we will walk through the Santa Monica permit steps with you.