Re-roofs ยท Palm Beach County
Roof replacement in Palm Beach County, FL
One in three Palm Beach County homes, 33.5% of the housing stock, was built before 1980. Replace the roof on one of them and Florida's code asks for more than new shingles: a permit, a re-nailed deck where the old nails fall short, a secondary water barrier and two inspections. Newer roofs get some relief on partial work.
Updated October 2026
Re-roofing in Palm Beach County, in short
Get the permit from the county Building Division in an unincorporated area, or from your city's building department. Qualifying homes in the county's jurisdiction can self-issue a re-roof permit online. Plan review is skipped, but a sheathing inspection and a roofing inspection are not. Wood decks get extra ring-shank nails where the old nailing falls short, and a secondary water barrier goes down before the covering.
Older homes
Older decks and the re-nailing table
With a median build year of 1986, a typical Palm Beach County re-roof lifts a covering off a deck that was nailed when the house went up. On a wood deck, the code then sets a floor for the fasteners already there (FBC-R Table R908.7.1.2):
- Staples or 6d nails, at any spacing: add ring-shank nails so none are more than 6 inches apart.
- 8d nails already 6 inches apart or closer: nothing more is needed.
- 8d nails spaced wider than 6 inches: fill in to 6 inches on center.
Every added nail is a ring-shank nail no shorter than 2-1/4 inches. Nobody knows which case applies until the old roof is off, so a written estimate should say how re-nailing will be handled. A secondary water barrier is also required when the covering is removed and replaced (R908.7).
Permits
Two kinds of permit office, two inspections
A re-roof needs a permit under FBC-B 105.1, and in this county two kinds of office issue it. Unincorporated addresses go to the county's Building Division, where the Self-Issued Reroof Application can turn a qualifying residential job into a permit almost instantly once the eligibility questions are answered online. Addresses inside one of the 39 municipalities go to that city, town or village; Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Wellington and Jupiter each run their own building office.
The code skips plan review for re-roofs (FBC-B 107) but not inspections. The first checks the roof sheathing, its fasteners and the dry-in. The second checks the dry-in again along with the insulation, the new covering and the flashing (FBC-B 110.3).
Code era
Whole roof or just a section?
Florida limits patchwork. On a roof built before the 2007 Florida Building Code, no more than 25% of the roof or a roof section may be repaired or replaced in 12 months; go past that and the whole section must meet current code (FBC-R R908.1.1). If the roof was built or replaced to the 2007 code or later, only the new portion must, and no local ordinance may change that exception (Fla. Stat. 553.844(5)).
Only 9.2% of county homes were built in 2010 or later, so most houses here started under older codes. Many have been re-roofed since, though, and the permit record for your address shows when.
Before you choose
Historic homes, tile and full tear-offs
A designated property in West Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach or Jupiter goes through that city's historic preservation program when its exterior changes. Check with the program before you trade one roof material for another.
Some roofs must come off to the deck no matter what. The code bars a new covering over a roof that is water-soaked, already has two or more layers, or is slate, clay or cement tile, among other cases (FBC-R R908.3). To weigh what goes back on, compare shingle roofs and metal roofs, or try colors in the design studio.
Your estimate
Tell us about your roof
Questions
Roof replacement in Palm Beach County: questions
Can I pull my own re-roof permit in Palm Beach County?
Possibly, if you will act as your own contractor. Florida lets an owner personally supervise improvements to a one- or two-family home for the owner's own use (Fla. Stat. 489.103(7)). The permit still comes from the county Building Division or your city, and both inspections still apply. In the county's jurisdiction, the Self-Issued Reroof Application screens each job with eligibility questions first; a job that does not qualify goes through the regular permit process.
Source: Fla. Stat. 489.103, Oct 2026.
How do I know if my roof falls under the 2007-code exception?
Start with the date of the last full roof permit for your address. The 2007 Florida Building Code took effect March 1, 2009, so a roof built or replaced under that edition or a later one gets the exception: only the repaired portion must meet current code, even past 25% of the roof. Palm Beach County's median home dates to 1986, so the house's age rarely settles the question; the roof's own permit does. The county Building Division or your city keeps that record.
Source: FBC effective dates, Oct 2026.
How long does a Palm Beach County re-roof permit stay valid?
Under the Florida Building Code, a permit lapses if work does not start within 6 months of issue, or if work stops for 6 months. Work counts as in progress while the permit gets an approved inspection at least every 180 days. Those clocks come from the statewide code, so they apply whether the county Building Division or a city such as Boynton Beach issued your permit. Ask the issuing office about extensions before a deadline passes.
Source: FBC-B Chapter 1, Oct 2026.
What happens if the deck under my old roof is rotten?
It gets fixed before anything new goes on. The code defines roof replacement as removing the old covering, repairing any damaged substrate and installing the new one, and a water-soaked roof cannot serve as the base for a new covering (FBC-R R908.3). Florida's roofing contractor scope includes replacing wood sheathing as needed during a re-roof (Fla. Stat. 489.105). In a county where 33.5% of homes predate 1980, ask how an estimate handles sheathing found bad at tear-off.
Source: FBC-R Chapter 2, Oct 2026.
Palm Beach County
More in Palm Beach County
Sources for this page(25)
- 1.Share of homes built before 1980: 33.5%. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 2.Median year homes were built: 1986. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25035, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 3.Share of homes built 2010 or later: 9.2%. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, via Census Reporter API. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 4.Incorporated municipalities: 39. Wikipedia, 'List of municipalities in Florida' (cross-checked against Census 2020 TIGER incorporated places). Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 5.Palm Beach County PZB - Building Division, Self-Issued Reroof Applications. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 6.City official websites (listed per city). Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 7.Permit office: Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building - Building Division. Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building - Building Division. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 8.FBC-B 2023 Ch. 1. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 9.FBCR Ch. 9. Read Oct 4, 2026.
- 10.Florida Statutes, section 553.844 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 11.Florida Statutes, section 489.103 (2026). Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 12.Florida Building Commission, "Florida Building Code Effective Dates". Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 13.2023 Florida Building Code, Building, 8th ed., Chapter 1 (UpCodes viewer, unofficial transcription). Read Oct 5, 2026. FBC text read from UpCodes (unofficial transcription): check floridabuilding.org or the ICC viewer before quoting (spec 8.7). Source URL inherited from C-3 (the research cites it "as C-3").
- 14.FBCR Ch. 2. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 15.Florida Statutes, section 489.105 (2026). Read Oct 4, 2026.
- 16.National Roofing Contractors Association, National Roofing Contractors Association. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 17.Florida Statutes, section 627.7011 (2026), Florida Legislature. Read Oct 4, 2026.
- 18.FBCR 2023 Ch. 9, International Code Council (Florida Building Commission). Read Oct 4, 2026.
- 19.OIR form, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. Read Oct 4, 2026.
- 20.NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 9 v2, 5-minute 10-year rates at ten Florida points (8.71 in/hr Orlando to 11.3 in/hr West Palm Beach), NOAA National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center. Read Oct 5, 2026. Ten points pulled 2026-10-05 through the PFDS endpoint.
- 21.NWS Miami, 'Palm Beach Gardens EF-2 Tornado - April 29th, 2023' StoryMap, NOAA / National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 22.Palm Beach County PZB - Building Division home page, Palm Beach County. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 23.NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (access data service), NOAA / National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 24.NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology, NOAA / National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
- 25.NWS Miami, Weather Safety - Lightning, NOAA / National Weather Service. Read Oct 5, 2026.
South Fork Roofing
Roof replacement in Palm Beach County
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