Alabama roof permits · Baldwin & Mobile County
Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Alabama?
On the Gulf Coast, almost always — and the rule that applies to you depends on which building department covers your address, not on what your neighbor was told. This guide reads the rules straight off the four departments that cover Baldwin and Mobile County, with the date each one was checked and a link to the source. Where a department publishes nothing, it says so instead of guessing.
The short answer
Alabama has no statewide roof-permit rule. Your building department does.
That single fact explains most of the confusion. There is no one Alabama answer to look up, because the requirement is set locally — by the county building department if you're in an unincorporated area, and by the city if you're inside city limits. Two houses four miles apart on the Eastern Shore can have different rules, different portals, and different inspections.
On this coast, though, the practical answer converges. Baldwin County requires a Re-Roofing Permit for the repair or replacement of roof covering and underlayment(as of 2026-08-18, source). Unincorporated Mobile County starts from “almost any work requires a permit” and roofing is not on its exception list(as of 2026-08-18, source). The City of Mobile publishes a dedicated Re-Roofing Permit Application(as of 2026-08-18, source). Fairhope takes roof permits online through its own portal(as of 2026-08-18, source).
So the useful question isn't whether you need a permit. It's which office issues yours, who is legally allowed to pull it, and what the inspector is going to look at. That's the rest of this page.
Rules change. Confirm before you rely on this.
Everything below was read live off the issuing authority's own site on 2026-08-18, and every jurisdiction-specific claim carries that date and a link to where it came from. Nothing here is a summary of a summary.
It still ages. Baldwin County's current roofing requirements come from code modifications that took effect July 1, 2025 — newer than most of what's written about Alabama roof permits anywhere. Code editions, thresholds, submittal portals, and fee schedules all move.
Before you count on any of it: call the building department that covers your address and confirm.
You should not have to learn four rulebooks to get a roof replaced. We pull the permit on the roofs we do.
Four departments, four rulebooks
Who issues your permit
Start with the one that covers your address. City limits win: if you're inside a municipality, the city permits your roof and the county has no say.
Baldwin County Building Department
Official siteCovers: Most of the unincorporated areas of Baldwin County, plus properties inside the town limits of Elberta, Magnolia Springs, and Perdido Beach. If your address sits inside another city's limits, that city permits your roof, not the county.
- Roof repairs and replacements are on the county's list of work that requires a permit — the entry reads "Roof Repairs/Replacements (except for manufactured homes)."(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- The county's own re-roofing sheet is broader than "replacement": for existing structures, the repair or replacement of roof covering and underlayment requires a Re-Roofing Permit. There is no published square-footage or dollar exemption that lets a covering-and-underlayment repair skip the permit.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- A contractor repairing or replacing a residential roof with a job valuation over $2,500 (labor and materials) must hold a home builders roofers license plus a $10,000 bond, or an unlimited home builders license — both issued by the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Every contractor working in the county's permit jurisdiction must also hold an active State of Alabama business license.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- A homeowner doing the work themselves can claim the state licensure-law exemption by filing the county's sworn statement — it applies to work for your own use and occupancy, not for resale.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- A final inspection is required on every re-roofing permit, and the permit expires if an inspection is not scheduled within 180 days of issue or of the last inspection. Work done without a permit, or after one expires, is subject to a Stop Work Order and daily penalty fees.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
Baldwin County Building Department · 251.972.6837
City of Fairhope — Building and Permitting
Official siteCovers: Property inside the City of Fairhope. Fairhope runs its own building department and its own online portal — a Baldwin County permit does not cover a Fairhope address, and vice versa.
- A roof permit is one of the permit types Fairhope accepts online: the city's CitizenServe portal handles "Residential Small Project, including deck, roof, plumbing, demolition, windows, pergola, electrical and mechanical."(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Permits are submitted, reviewed, paid for, and issued through the CitizenServe portal; the Building Inspection and Permitting office is at 555 South Section Street, open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Any single-family residential project of $10,000 or greater requires an Alabama licensed home builder, and anyone performing work in the Fairhope Police Jurisdiction also needs a City of Fairhope business license — the Revenue Department checks the state license before issuing one.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Alabama lets the owner of record pull permits on their own property, but the owner is attesting in writing that they personally are performing the work. The city's own guidance is blunt about the red flag: if a contractor asks you to obtain the permits, look into why they are unable or unwilling to pull them themselves.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
Not published — ask them: Fairhope does not publish a roof-repair value threshold — the point where a patch stops being maintenance and starts needing a permit. Call the building department at 251-990-0153 and describe the actual scope before you assume a small repair is exempt.
Fairhope Building and Permitting · 251-990-0153
City of Mobile — Build Mobile
Official siteCovers: Property inside the City of Mobile limits. Build Mobile's Permitting and Inspections Division issues it.
- The city publishes a dedicated Re-Roofing Permit Application — a re-roof is formally an application to alter a structure, and the form is signed by the contractor.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Residential re-roofs must meet the minimum requirements of the Coastal Construction Code supplement. Commercial re-roofs must meet the 2021 International Building Codes.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Photos are required at every interval of the roof construction and must be emailed to roofingphotos@cityofmobile.org for review and approval before a final inspection can even be scheduled. Each photo has to show the permit card or another identifier carrying the address and permit number.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- The application requires a contract or signed estimate on letterhead, and the permit holder — not the homeowner — is responsible for requesting inspections; failing to do so is a violation carrying fines and penalties.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- A permit becomes invalid if work is not commenced within 180 days of issuance, or if work is suspended or abandoned for 180 days after it starts. Inspections on permits issued before 10:00 a.m. may be scheduled that same afternoon; after 10:00 a.m., no earlier than the next business day.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
Build Mobile — Permitting and Inspections Division
Mobile County Inspection Services
Official siteCovers: Unincorporated Mobile County. The department regulates the construction, demolition, alteration, and repair of structures in unincorporated Mobile County — it has no authority inside a municipality's limits.
- The county's standing rule is broad: almost any work done in Mobile County, residential or commercial, requires a permit.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- The published exceptions are narrow — painting, redecorating, countertops, cabinetry, light fixtures, ceiling fans, equipment replacement that needs no rewiring, and fences seven feet or less. Roofing is not on that list.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Residential and commercial permits run through the county's Electronic Plan Review system, and the department asks you to call before beginning any work you're unsure about.(as of 2026-08-18, source)
Not published — ask them: Mobile County does not publish a roofing-specific repair threshold or a roofing-specific contractor rule on its permits page. Call Inspection Services at (251) 574-3507 or email inspections@mobilecountyal.gov and describe the job.
Mobile County Inspection Services · (251) 574-3507
Still not sure which office is yours? The county-by-county version of this question — Baldwin versus Mobile, and what each office actually wants from you — is written up here: Roof permits in Baldwin County vs. Mobile County.
Who pulls it
The licensed contractor. Not you.
Alabama does let the owner of record pull permits on their own property. What most homeowners don't realize is what they're signing: an attestation, in writing, that they personally are performing the work(as of 2026-08-18, source). That isn't what's happening when a crew pulls into the driveway.
Baldwin County sets the bar for who else can. A contractor doing residential roof repair or replacement with a job valuation over $2,500 in labor and materials has to hold a home builders roofers license plus a $10,000 bond, or an unlimited home builders license — and on top of that, an active State of Alabama business license to work in the county's jurisdiction(as of 2026-08-18, source). Fairhope's threshold is written differently: any single-family residential project of $10,000 or greater requires an Alabama licensed home builder, plus a city business license for work in the Police Jurisdiction(as of 2026-08-18, source).
None of that is trivia. It is the entire reason a permit is worth having: it forces a licensed, bonded party into the transaction and puts an inspector on the far end of it.
Liberty pulls its own permits, under its own license
Alabama roofing license #7430, on file with the Home Builders Licensure Board. We take out the permit, we meet the inspector, and the inspection record ends up attached to your address instead of your name. If you ever sell the house, that paperwork is on your side of the table.
Ask us for the license number and go verify it — the board's search is public and takes about a minute. Then ask the other bids for theirs. That one question sorts a Gulf Coast roofing market faster than anything else you can do from your kitchen table.
Why the coastal permit is stricter
What the wind zone actually adds to your roof
A roof permit in Baldwin County isn't a formality — it's the mechanism that enforces a set of coastal requirements written on top of the adopted 2024 ICC codes. These come from the 2025 Baldwin County Building Code Modifications, effective July 1, 2025(as of 2026-08-18, source). Most of them are invisible once the shingles are on, which is exactly why an inspection exists.
Shingles rated for a 130 mph wind class
County-wide, asphalt shingles must carry ASTM D7158 Class H or ASTM D3161 Class F classification, and they have to be installed to the manufacturer's high-wind instructions with a minimum of six nails per shingle.
Re-nailed deck, ring-shank, no staples
Decking fastened with staples, or on a pattern looser than six inches on center at the edges and in the field, has to be re-nailed with #8D ring-shank nails to a six-inch on-center pattern. Staples are not permitted for fastening roof decking at all.
Sealed deck seams
Roof deck seams must be taped with at least four-inch peel-and-stick tape meeting ASTM D-1970, or the whole deck covered with a peel-and-stick underlayment meeting the same standard. This is the same sealed-deck logic behind the FORTIFIED standard, written into county code.
Synthetic underlayment only
Underlayment has to be a synthetic tear-resistant polypropylene, polyester, or fiberglass fabric certified by an approved agency. Asphalt felt is not allowed as roof-covering underlayment on new installations.
The City of Mobile runs the same logic through a different document: residential re-roofs there must meet the minimum requirements of the Coastal Construction Code supplement, and commercial re-roofs the 2021 International Building Codes(as of 2026-08-18, source). Different paperwork, same reason — this coast gets storms the rest of the state doesn't.
What gets inspected
The photos are the inspection
Both coastal jurisdictions have moved the roof inspection to a documented, photographic process — because everything that matters on a re-roof gets covered up within a day.
In Baldwin County a final inspection is required on every re-roofing permit, and it can be requested virtually through the CitizenServe portal with photos attached. The permit expires if no inspection is scheduled within 180 days of issue or of the last inspection, and unpermitted or post-expiration work is subject to a Stop Work Order and daily penalty fees(as of 2026-08-18, source).
In the City of Mobile, photos are required at all intervals of the roof construction and have to be emailed to the city's roofing-photo address for review and approval before a final inspection can be scheduled at all. Every photo has to show the permit card or another identifier carrying the address and permit number(as of 2026-08-18, source).
There's a practical consequence worth naming: a crew that plans to shortcut the deck nailing or skip the seam tape cannot produce these photos. The documentation requirement is doing real work.
Baldwin County's required photo list
Each photo must include the permit number and project address(as of 2026-08-18, source)
- Deck nailing, with a tape measure in frame showing nail spacing
- Deck seam tape
- Synthetic underlayment, or the ice-and-water peel-and-stick
- Drip edge
- Shingle nailing pattern showing six nails per shingle
- Any flashing used
- Finished roof
In-person inspections can be requested instead. Same-day requests aren't available — the request has to be in by midnight the day before.
Straight talk
Four things a roofer says right before the permit disappears
After a Gulf Coast storm, out-of-town crews show up faster than the adjusters do. These are the lines that should end the conversation.
"You don't need a permit for this."
In Baldwin County, replacing roof covering and underlayment requires a Re-Roofing Permit — that is the department's own published rule, not a judgment call. In unincorporated Mobile County, almost any work requires a permit and roofing isn't on the short exception list. A roofer who opens with "no permit needed" is telling you something about how they work, not about your roof.
"Just pull the permit yourself, it's faster."
Alabama does let an owner of record pull permits, but you're signing an attestation that you personally are doing the work. Fairhope's own contractor-licensing page says it plainly: if a contractor asks you to obtain the permits, look into why they can't. Many unlicensed or improperly licensed contractors have owners pull the permit for exactly this reason.
"We'll skip the inspection, nobody checks."
Somebody checks. Baldwin requires a final inspection on every re-roofing permit and the permit expires if none is scheduled inside 180 days (as of 2026-08-18, per the county re-roofing permit sheet cited above). The City of Mobile won't even schedule a final until the staged construction photos have been emailed in and approved. And when you sell, the missing permit is a title-and-disclosure problem you inherit, not the roofer.
A cash discount for "going around" the paperwork
The permit is the only independent record that your roof was built to the current code. Trade it away and you've given up the inspection, the paper trail an insurer or a buyer may ask for, and any leverage if the work is wrong. Storm season on this coast is exactly when that crew is hardest to find again.
Common questions
Alabama roof permit FAQ
- Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Alabama?
- Alabama has no single statewide roof-permit rule — the requirement comes from whichever local building department has jurisdiction over your address, so the answer is address-specific. On the Gulf Coast the answer is almost always yes. Baldwin County lists "Roof Repairs/Replacements (except for manufactured homes)" as work requiring a permit, and its re-roofing sheet requires a Re-Roofing Permit for the repair or replacement of roof covering and underlayment (as of 2026-08-18). Unincorporated Mobile County's rule is that almost any residential or commercial work requires a permit, with a short exception list that does not include roofing. Cities inside those counties — Fairhope and Mobile among them — run their own permitting.
- Who is supposed to pull the roofing permit — me or the contractor?
- The licensed contractor doing the work. Alabama does allow the owner of record to pull permits on their own property, but the owner is attesting in writing that they personally are performing the work, which is not what's happening when a crew shows up. The City of Fairhope's contractor-licensing page warns homeowners directly: if a contractor asks you to obtain the permits, look into why they're unable or unwilling to pull them themselves. Liberty pulls its own permits under Alabama roofing license #7430.
- Does a roof repair need a permit, or only a full replacement?
- It depends on what the repair touches and on which department covers your address. Baldwin County's re-roofing sheet is written around the roof covering and underlayment: if you are repairing or replacing either, it requires a Re-Roofing Permit (as of 2026-08-18). That is broader than "replacement." Unincorporated Mobile County starts from "almost any work requires a permit." Fairhope publishes no roof-repair value threshold at all, which is exactly why you call the building department and describe the actual scope rather than guessing. A shingle or two after a storm and a re-decked slope are not the same conversation.
- What does the roof inspection actually check?
- In Baldwin County a final inspection is required on every re-roofing permit, and it can be done virtually with photos: deck nailing with a tape measure showing spacing, deck seam tape, the synthetic or peel-and-stick underlayment, drip edge, the shingle nailing pattern showing six nails per shingle, any flashing, and the finished roof — each photo carrying the permit number and address. In the City of Mobile, photos are required at all intervals of construction and must be emailed to the city for review and approval before a final inspection can even be scheduled. Both are checking the same thing: that what's under the shingles matches the code, since nobody can see it once the roof is done.
- What license does a roofer need to pull a permit in Baldwin County?
- Per the Baldwin County Building Department (as of 2026-08-18): a contractor repairing or replacing a residential roof with a job valuation over $2,500 in labor and materials must hold a home builders roofers license plus a $10,000 bond, or an unlimited home builders license, both from the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board. On top of that, every contractor working in the county's permit jurisdiction needs an active State of Alabama business license. You can search any contractor's standing on the licensure board's own site in about a minute — including ours.
- My house is outside the city limits. Who issues my permit?
- Whichever county department covers your unincorporated address. Baldwin County's Building Department has jurisdiction over most unincorporated Baldwin plus the town limits of Elberta, Magnolia Springs, and Perdido Beach. Mobile County Inspection Services regulates construction, alteration, and repair of structures in unincorporated Mobile County and has no authority inside a municipality. If you're inside a city — Fairhope, Daphne, Foley, Mobile — that city permits your roof.
- What happens if my roof was replaced without a permit?
- Nothing, until it matters — and then it matters a lot. Baldwin County can issue a Stop Work Order with daily penalty fees for work done without a permit or after one expires. Beyond enforcement, an unpermitted roof means there is no inspection record that it was built to the current wind code, which becomes a live problem at resale, during an insurance conversation, or when a claim depends on showing the roof was properly installed. Call the department that covers your address and ask what the correction path is; some of it is fixable.
- Do these permit rules change?
- Constantly. Baldwin County's current roofing requirements come from its 2025 building-code modifications, effective July 1, 2025, layered on the adopted 2024 ICC codes — that whole sheet is newer than most of what's written about Alabama roof permits online. Fee schedules, thresholds, code editions, and submittal portals all move. Every fact on this page carries the date it was read and a link to the source, so you can check whether it has moved since. Before you count on any of it, confirm with the building department that covers your address.
Where to go next
Start here
- Roof replacementTear-off, decking, underlayment, flashing — the job the permit is for.
- What a roof costs hereWhat actually moves the number on a Gulf Coast roof, and how to compare quotes like for like.
- Choosing a rooferSeven checks to run before anybody gets on your roof. Run them on us too.
- Commercial roofingHow a low-slope roof gets managed when the building has to stay open.
Free inspection · no obligation
We handle the permit. You get the paperwork.
Tell us the address and we'll tell you which department issues your permit, what that department is going to require, and what your roof actually needs — before you commit to anything. If it turns out you don't need a roof yet, we'll tell you that too.
Licensed Alabama roofing contractor #7430. This page is a plain-language summary of published permitting rules, not legal or code advice — the building department that covers your address is the authority, and their answer beats ours.
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