Guide
Georgia roof code requirements: which edition your county enforces
Updated
Georgia sets a state minimum code and then leaves enforcement to your county or city. Knowing which document your inspector is working from settles most arguments about what a bid must include.
The state minimum, and the amendments
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes the current state minimum standard codes. For one and two family dwellings the mandatory code is the International Residential Code, 2024 Edition, with Georgia Amendments, sitting alongside the 2024 editions of the building, fire, plumbing, mechanical and fuel gas codes, the 2023 National Electrical Code with Georgia Amendments, and the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code with Georgia supplements and amendments (DCA current state minimum codes).
The Georgia Amendments are the part that matters and the part most national roofing content ignores. Ask your bidder which edition and which amendments their scope is written to, and ask your building department the same question if the answers differ.
Enforcement is your county's job
- Permits and inspections are local. Fees, what triggers a permit and how many inspections a reroof gets are decided by your county or city building department, not by the state.
- Local amendments exist. Jurisdictions can and do have their own administrative requirements on top of the state minimum.
- Even unlicensed repair work needs the permit. The State Licensing Board's Repair Rule makes obtaining permits and inspections from the local authority a condition of the repair exception.
That is why we do not publish a Georgia permit fee. Any single figure would be right for one county and wrong for the other 158.
What the code conversation should cover on your bid
- Tear-off versus layover
- Ask explicitly whether the bid strips to the deck or installs over the existing covering, and ask the inspector's position on layovers in your jurisdiction. The two are not the same product and should never be compared on price alone.
- Decking and sheathing
- Georgia humidity and long-run leaks rot sheathing. Get the per-sheet replacement rate in writing before the tear-off starts, so the change order is arithmetic instead of an argument.
- Underlayment and ice or water protection
- What goes down, where, and at what overlap. Valleys and low slope transitions are the usual points of contention.
- Attic ventilation
- Intake at the soffit and exhaust at the ridge have to be balanced. Adding exhaust without intake is a common and expensive mistake in Georgia's climate.
- Drip edge and flashing
- New metal at eaves and rakes, and new step and counterflashing at walls and chimneys, or a clear statement of what is being reused.
Ask for the permit number when it is issued and do not pay the final balance until the inspection has passed. See the licensing questions for what to establish before the contract is signed.