Last reviewed October 31, 2026.
Two roofers walk the same Garden City colonial. The second one’s quote has a line for the village permit. The first one never brought up a permit at all. Before you pick either, it helps to know what the village has actually put in writing.
Garden City’s code and the reroof question
Chapter 68 of the village code, rewritten top to bottom in October 2017, opens with a wide rule. Section 68-1 says no person or entity may “commence or carry on any building or construction work” in the village, including “the alteration, enlargement or demolition of any existing buildings or structures,” without first getting a building permit from the Building Department.
Look for the word roofing and you come up empty. It is not in that section, not on the Building Department’s web page, and not in the village brochure titled “When Do I Need to Apply for a Building Permit?” (revised April 26, 2024).
The brochure does list “alterations to buildings and structures” among jobs that need a permit. It defines an alteration as “any change, addition or modification in construction or arrangement of a building or structure.” And it asks owners to “call us to verify if the proposed scope of work requires a permit.”
The department’s page pushes the same way. Any action planned for a residential or commercial property “should be reviewed with the Building Department,” it says, and “it is the owners’ responsibility to ensure that the necessary permits and approvals are obtained,” even when a contractor files.
So the paper trail leans toward filing, but no line settles a plain reroof. Call the Department of Buildings at 516-465-4040, walk them through the scope, and mention whether any sheathing will be replaced.
The Village of Garden City, not the Town of Hempstead
Nassau County’s list of cities, towns and villages puts the Village of Garden City inside the Town of Hempstead. For a building permit, that town tie means nothing. The village code hands permits to the village Building Department, so a Garden City house goes to Village Hall, not the town counter in Hempstead.
Neighbors with their own village halls write their own rules. Mineola is one, as our Mineola guide shows. Homes in the unincorporated parts of the town follow the town rules in our Hempstead permit page.
Garden City’s fee table for a roof permit
The village-wide fee schedule, amended August 6, 2025, prices residential building permits for houses of three families or fewer on estimated cost.
| Item | Amount in the August 2025 schedule |
|---|---|
| Residential building permit, all alteration types | $400 for the first $1,000, plus $20 for each additional $1,000 (includes application and certificate fees) |
| Residential deposit | $300 for the first $1,000, plus $20 for each additional $1,000, returned when the permit is closed |
| Extra inspection after a failed or phased inspection | $150 each |
| Permit extension, up to six months | 15 percent of the original permit fees, at least $125 |
| Dumpster in the right of way, residential | $150 per week or $400 per 30 days |
The math is simple. Every $10,000 of estimated cost above the first $1,000 adds $200 to the permit fee and another $200 to the deposit.
Filing at Village Hall on Stewart Avenue
The Department of Buildings sits on the second floor of Village Hall, 351 Stewart Avenue. It is open weekdays from 8:30 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon. Its page links to downloadable PDF forms, and we found no online permit portal there, so plan on paper.
Section 68-2 of the code calls for an application with duplicate copies of plans and specifications and a nonrefundable application fee. The Superintendent of Buildings decides what a complete package includes.
The village’s two-page application must be typewritten and filed in triplicate. It asks for the estimated cost, a scope of work, whether structural stability will be affected, and contractor details, and it lists workers’ compensation and disability insurance forms. One box on the plans line reads “No Plans,” which suggests not every job needs drawings.
Six months, a year or eighteen months
Section 68-3 ties expiration to project type. A minor construction permit covers an alteration that leaves the certificate of occupancy unchanged but involves multiple forms or separate areas of work. It expires after six months unless the superintendent finds substantial progress, which carries it to one year.
Major construction, which the code says includes adding a dormer, also starts at six months and can stretch to 18 months.
The code leaves it to the superintendent to sort a job into a category, so ask when the permit is issued. Let it lapse and Section 68-5 lets the department charge a permit expiration fee when you close it out.
When the Architectural Design Review Board steps in
Chapter 57 created a seven-member Architectural Design Review Board. Under Section 57-5, exterior alterations to a one-family house that face or can be seen from a street go to the board in two cases: when the Superintendent of Buildings, consulting the board chair, considers the change in style or appearance substantial, or when the work adds or demolishes 30 percent or more of the building coverage. The section also lists exterior changes that skip board approval, a list we could not read in full.
Trading asphalt for slate, or changing a roofline on a front elevation, is the kind of change to raise early. The August 2025 schedule charges $425 for residential board review under $20,000 of construction cost and $725 above it.
An approval does not wait forever. Section 57-13 says it ends after one year unless a permit has been issued and substantial work has taken place. A search of the village code turned up no separate landmarks or historic district chapter.
Legalization fees and the Nassau license check
Skipping the permit gets expensive. Work found without one costs three times the permit fee plus the regular building permit fees, according to the fee schedule. Section 68-5 stacks on a legalization fee of three times the application fee, and no new permit or certificate issues until those fees are paid. We did not find a dollar fine for building without a permit in the parts of Chapter 68 we could read.
The roofer needs paperwork too. Nassau County Consumer Affairs requires a county home improvement license for any contractor remodeling a residential home in Nassau, and its definition covers repair and replacement work on homes of up to three families. Licenses run two years. Before you sign, look the roofer up using the steps in our county licensing guide.
