Repair or replace: the decision table
| Your situation | Usually | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A few missing or lifted shingles, one leak at a flashing or vent | Repair | Small, local, and in many cities below the permit line (Seattle: up to 500 sq ft) |
| Damage over a quarter of a roof section in Florida, roof permitted before the 2007 code | Replace the section | FBC Existing Building 706.1.1 |
| Same, roof built or replaced under the 2007 Florida code or later | Repair is allowed | F.S. 553.844(5): only the repaired part must meet current code |
| Several leaks in different places, granules in the gutters, sagging deck | Get a replacement quote | Repairs keep chasing a roof that is failing as a whole |
| A repair quote that is a large share of your city's usual re-roof value | Get a replacement quote too | Compare against the table below |
| The roof already has two layers, or the old layer is water-soaked | Tear-off replacement | IRC R908.3.1.1 bars another layer on top (see below) |
| You plan to sell soon | Ask what the buyer's inspector will see | A permitted, finalled re-roof is on the public record; a patch is not |
What a roofing permit costs in 13 cities
Usual filed value of a roofing permit, and the middle half of roofing firms' own usual values (firms with 3 or more permits). Most roofing permits in these files are re-roofs; small repairs are often below the permit line and never reach the file, so read these as replacement-scale numbers.
| City | Roofing permits | Usual filed value | Middle half of firms | Cost page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis, MN | 18,620 | $13,000 | $9,660 to $16,057 | Minneapolis |
| Saint Paul, MN | 16,928 | $12,600 | $9,550 to $15,552 | Saint Paul |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 23,508 | $12,000 | $8,600 to $14,575 | Colorado Springs |
| Orlando, FL | 9,818 | $11,015 | $10,000 to $15,760 | Orlando |
| San Francisco, CA | 9,537 | $15,275 | $11,000 to $19,600 | San Francisco |
| Miami, FL | 6,585 | $16,250 | $12,996 to $20,400 | Miami |
| Sacramento County, CA | 5,397 | $16,575 | $13,900 to $20,000 | Sacramento County |
| Cleveland, OH | 4,923 | $10,500 | $8,000 to $12,850 | Cleveland |
| Tyler, TX | 2,980 | $19,054 | $13,000 to $21,232 | Tyler |
| Boulder, CO | 2,516 | $11,500 | $9,398 to $16,000 | Boulder |
| Cape Coral, FL | 2,018 | $17,200 | $14,875 to $24,000 | Cape Coral |
| Anaheim, CA | 1,970 | $13,900 | $11,500 to $16,000 | Anaheim |
| Chicago, IL | 1,586 | $18,693 | $11,475 to $23,000 | Chicago |
The cheapest city's usual roof ($10,500 in Cleveland) is a bit over half the Chicago figure ($18,693). Within one city, the middle half of firms spans several thousand dollars: in Minneapolis, $9,660 to $16,057. Roof size and material explain much of that; our metal roof vs shingles guide covers the material side.
See every Minneapolis roofer with usual job value →
Florida's 25% rule, read from the code and the statute
The Florida Building Code, Existing Building 706.1.1, says not more than 25 percent of the total roof area or roof section of an existing building may be repaired, replaced or recovered in any 12-month period unless the roof covering on the entire roof or section is replaced (quoted by the City of Cedar Key building department, accessed October 2026).
Florida Statutes 553.844(5), last amended in 2022, overrides that for newer roofs. If the roof or section "was built, repaired, or replaced in compliance with" the "2007 Florida Building Code, or any subsequent editions", and 25 percent or more is being repaired, "only the repaired, replaced, or recovered portion is required to be constructed in accordance with the Florida Building Code" (2026 Florida Statutes). Local governments cannot amend that exception.
What that means in practice: find out when your roof was last permitted. Search your address on the city's permit portal (Florida cities in our list: Miami, Orlando, Cape Coral). A re-roof permit dated after the 2007 code took effect puts you under the statute's exception; an older roof, or one with no permit on file, does not.
Florida's roofing permits close reliably: 97.5% of Miami roofing permits a year or more old reached a final, and 98.4% in Cape Coral, so the permit history of a Florida roof is usually complete.
Overlay or tear-off: the two-layer rule
An overlay, or re-cover, lays new shingles over the old ones instead of tearing them off. The International Residential Code allows that once. Section R908.3.1.1 of the 2018 edition says new roof coverings "shall not be installed without first removing all existing roof coverings" where the existing roof is water-soaked or has deteriorated so it cannot serve as a base, where it is "slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile", or "where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering" (City of East Point, Georgia, building guide, read 21 October 2026). East Point's guide adds that "some exceptions may apply"; your city may use a different code edition or local amendments, and its re-roof handout says which.
What that means for the decision: count the layers before you compare quotes. A second-layer overlay priced against a tear-off is not the same job, and on a roof that already has two layers the overlay is not on offer at all. Ask each roofer to write "tear-off" or "overlay" and the number of existing layers into the quote; the permit on the city portal shows what was filed.
Repair permits elsewhere
Seattle draws the line by area: "You need a re-roof permit when you are repairing an area greater than 500 square feet", while a re-roof on a one- or two-family home that does not change the building envelope needs no permit at all (SDCI, read October 2026). That is why our Seattle file has only 633 roofing permits. Other cities draw it differently; your permit office's list of work exempt from permit has the local rule.
Limits of these numbers
The filed value is what the contractor declared when applying, not the final invoice. City files rarely separate a repair from a full replacement, so a city with many small repair permits shows a lower usual value. Bellevue publishes no job value for roofing permits, and Colorado Springs and Orlando do not record a final in a way we can measure, so they appear here for price only.
How we know this
Usual filed value is the median declared job value of roofing permits in each city's three-year window (Cape Coral from January 2025; Saint Paul July 2022 to June 2025); the firm range is the 25th to 75th percentile of firms' own medians, for firms with 3 or more priced permits. Only cities where at least 80% of roofing permits carry a value and at least 100 are priced are shown. The Florida and Seattle rules are quoted from the pages under Sources, read 20 October 2026.
Numbers come from City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS); City of Saint Paul approved building permits; City of Orlando building permits for one- and two-family homes; City of Miami building permits (since 2014); San Francisco DBI building permits on one- and two-family homes, with the contractor from the city's permit contacts file; City of Cleveland building permits, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- How much does a roof replacement cost in my city?
The usual filed value of a roofing permit was $13,000 in Minneapolis, $11,015 in Orlando, $16,250 in Miami and $15,275 in San Francisco. Each city's cost page shows the full spread.
- What is Florida's 25% roof rule?
Florida Building Code, Existing Building 706.1.1: no more than 25 percent of a roof or roof section may be repaired, replaced or recovered in any 12 months unless the whole section's covering is replaced. Florida Statutes 553.844(5), last amended in 2022, exempts roofs built or replaced under the 2007 Florida Building Code or later: only the repaired part must meet current code.
- Do I need a permit to repair a roof?
It depends on the city and the size. Seattle requires a re-roof permit for repairs over 500 square feet and none for a like-for-like re-roof on a one- or two-family home that does not change the envelope. Ask your permit office; the answer is usually on its "work exempt from permit" page.
- Can I put new shingles over the old roof?
Only once. Under the International Residential Code (2018 edition, R908.3.1.1, as quoted by the City of East Point, Georgia), a new covering may not go over the old one where the roof already has two or more layers, where it is water-soaked or deteriorated, or where it is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. Your city may have adopted a different edition or amendments; its re-roof handout says which.
- Is the filed value what I will pay?
It is what the contractor told the city the job was worth when applying. It is not your quote and not the invoice, but it is a real number from real jobs, and a quote far outside the middle range for your city is worth a question.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Hiring a roofer: 5 red flags and 10 questions, checked against roofing permits in 28 cities
- How long does a roof last? Lifespans by material, and how many roofs get replaced
- Metal roof vs shingles: what the roofing permits in 27 cities show
- Roof replacement cost in 2026: what roofing permits were filed at in 16 cities
- Metal roof vs shingles in Minneapolis: cost, winter rules and what the roofing permits show
For one city
- Florida Statutes § 553.844 Windstorm loss mitigation; requirements for roofs (2026) (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Roof Permit Information (FBC Existing Building 706.1.1) — City of Cedar Key, FL (accessed 2026-10-20)
- Re-Roof Permit — Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections (accessed 2026-10-20)
- 2018 IRC Building Guide: Residential Re-Roof — City of East Point, GA (quoting IRC R908.3.1.1) (accessed 2026-10-21)