Do You Need a Permit to Replace a Roof in Hillsboro?

Which office should answer?

The building office that governs the address. Inside the City of Hillsboro that is the city's building office; in the county and in the other cities, it is the office of that jurisdiction.

The address decides which office applies. Start from the full address and ask the roofer to name the office and how it is reached. The office's answer, not a general assumption, is what goes on the file.

What should the roofer be asked?

Who files the application, who pays for it, what the application covers and whether an inspection follows the work.

A roofer who files is responsible for the application's accuracy, and the scope should say so. A permit for one part of the work may not cover another, so ask what the application covers.

Ask whether the office inspects the work, when, and who should be present.

• Who files the application
• Who pays and how the fee is shown
• What the application covers
• When the inspection happens

What does an application usually ask for?

The address, the owner's details, a description of the work, the materials and the contractor's details. The exact form is the office's to set.

The roofer should show the completed application before it is filed, and check that the scope on it matches the quote. A mismatch is a common cause of delay, and the form may change, so the office's current version is used.

What happens after the permit is issued?

The work proceeds under the permit, the office may inspect at set stages and a final inspection closes the permit.

Know the inspection stages before work starts and keep the dates. Keep the permit number, each inspection and the final sign-off with the contract. Those records are what a buyer, a lender or an insurer will ask for.

What if the work starts before the answer?

Stop it and get the answer. Unpermitted work can be harder to insure and to sell.

A roofer who carries on while the question is open has moved the risk to the homeowner. Raise it, get the office's answer in writing and keep it with the file.

What to do if the office asks for more

Answer the request in writing, keep a copy of the request and the answer, and ask whether the timetable changes.

Offices ask for drawings, a corrected scope or a clarified detail from time to time. A request is normal and is not a refusal. Answer in writing, with a copy kept, and ask the office to confirm whether the start date moves.

A roofer who delays the answer should be asked to say why, in writing, so the delay is on record.

• Answer requests in writing
• Keep a copy of each request and answer
• Ask whether the start date moves

Why the address decides the answer

Because two addresses a short distance apart can sit under different offices, and the rule that applies depends on which one governs the property.

The city line, the county line and any other jurisdiction boundary can run between neighbouring houses. The roofer and the homeowner confirm which office governs the exact address before the scope is written, rather than assuming it from the postal town.

A plot plan or the parcel reference, given to the office, settles the question quickly. Keep the reference with the file.

• Confirm the office for the exact address
• Keep the parcel reference with the file
• Do not assume from the postal town

What a permit file looks like when it is complete

The application, the office's answer, the reference, the inspection record and the final sign-off, in date order.

A complete file reads in order: the application as filed, the office's reply, each inspection with its date and outcome, and the sign-off. Keeping the file in that order makes any later question about the work quick to answer, and it is the file a buyer or a lender will ask for.

• Application as filed
• Office reply and reference
• Each inspection and the sign-off in order

What a homeowner should not assume

That a permit is needed or not needed because a neighbour's roof was done without one, or because a roofer says it is a small job.

A neighbour's job was done under the rules that applied to that address on that day, and a roofer's opinion of a job's size is not the office's decision. The homeowner asks the office for the answer for the address, and keeps the answer in writing.

• A neighbour's job is not a precedent for this address
• A roofer's view of size is not the office's decision
• Ask the office for the answer for this address

Dealing with a permit that takes longer than expected

Ask the office for the expected timetable in writing, keep the start date flexible and tell the roofer in writing when the answer arrives.

A permit can take longer than a homeowner expects. Ask the office how long it expects the review to take, and write the answer down. Keep the start date open until the permit is in hand, and tell the roofer the date the answer arrives, so the schedule can be set in writing.

• Ask the expected timetable in writing
• Keep the start date open until the permit is issued
• Tell the roofer when the answer arrives

Keeping the permit with the house records

File the permit, its reference and the sign-off with the deed and the insurance papers, so they are found together later.

A buyer, a lender and an insurer each ask for different records of the roof. Filing the permit with the house papers, not only with the roofer's paperwork, means the record is found when it is needed, years after the job.

• File the permit with the deed
• Keep the sign-off with the insurance papers
• Use one index for the house records

What the permit steps usually cover

The application, the review of the scope, the inspections at stages and the final sign-off, as the office sets them out.

Permit steps differ between offices and between kinds of work, and this guide does not set out the City of Hillsboro's steps because the sources did not identify them. In general a permit process covers the application, a review, the inspections the office requires, and a final sign-off. The office sets the exact steps, and the roofer should know them before the start.

• The application and its review
• Inspections at the stages the office sets
• The final sign-off

Who to contact at the office

The person named in the office's written reply, or the office's general contact for planning and permit questions.

Write down the name of the person who gives the answer, and the office's reference. A phone answer that is not followed by a written reply should be confirmed in writing, so the record shows what was said and when.

• Name of the person giving the answer
• The office reference
• A written confirmation of any phone answer

Keeping the job and the permit in the same file

Store the permit application, the office's reply and the inspection record in the same file as the scope and the contract.

A permit that sits in a different file from the contract is easy to lose. Keep the application, the reply, the inspection dates and the sign-off in the same file as the scope and the contract, so the whole job is in one place.

• Application, reply and inspections in one file
• Kept with the scope and the contract
• One place for the whole job

What a homeowner should refuse to sign

A scope that leaves the permit out, a start date that does not depend on the permit, or a deposit paid before the permit question is answered.

Three things to refuse: a scope with no permit line, a start date fixed before the permit is confirmed, and a deposit paid while the permit question is open. Each of these moves the risk onto the homeowner, and a roofer who insists on them should be asked to explain why in writing.

• A scope with no permit line
• A start date fixed before the permit
• A deposit paid while the question is open