Roof replacement in St. Petersburg, FL

It depends on what is up there now. The residential code bars a new covering without a full tear-off when the roof already has two or more layers, is water-soaked or too worn to serve as a base, has blisters that are not cut and secured, or is clay, cement or slate tile (FBCR R908.3). With a 1969 median build year, many St. Petersburg roofs have been redone before, so count the layers first. Whether the city accepts an overlay on a single layer is a question for the Building Permits office, because the 8th edition's re-cover sections read only "Reserved."

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 once it has begun. A job counts as active when it passes an inspection within 180 days (FBC-B 105.4.1). St. Petersburg roof permits come from the City of St. Petersburg's Building Permits office, so ask there about timing if your start date slips. In practice, schedule the tear-off and the sheathing inspection close together and the clock never comes into play.

Related

Only in some cases. Florida law requires improved roof-to-wall connections at a re-roof only for site-built single-family homes in the wind-borne debris region above a set value, and only where the gable ends or corners can be done for 15% of the re-roof's cost (Fla. Stat. 553.844). That region takes in land within 1 mile of the coast where the design wind speed is 130 mph or more with open-water exposure, and anywhere the speed is 140 mph or more. Pinellas has 587 miles of coastline, so look up your address's design wind speed in the ASCE 7-22 hazard tool.