North Hempstead Roofing Permit

Last reviewed October 31, 2026.

The roofer’s estimate has one line nobody can explain: permit, if required. In the Town of North Hempstead we found nothing in writing that says whether a straight reroof on a house needs a permit, so the only safe way to settle it is a phone call before the dumpster arrives.

What North Hempstead’s code says, and leaves out

Section 2-9 of the town code, last amended in April 2025, bars anyone from building, enlarging, altering, improving or tearing down any part of a building until an application is filed with the Building Commissioner and a permit is issued. The one exception in that sentence is for ordinary repairs that are not structural, do not change the required exits and leave the fire protection system alone. A list of other exempt categories follows in the code, and none of the town material we could read puts roofing on it.

The town’s own filing instructions, revised in June 2020, open more broadly: “A residential building permit is required for construction on all properties within the unincorporated areas of the Town of North Hempstead.” The online permit system, which moved to OpenGov, has no published guidance on roofs either.

Where a North Hempstead roof job likely crosses the line

Reading the code as written, swapping a few blown-off shingles looks like an ordinary repair. Several kinds of roof work clearly are not ordinary repairs, and the town’s checklist shows what it expects when they come in:

If the town tells you no permit is needed, write down the name of the person and the date.

North Hempstead permit fees and the double fee

The code sets a nonrefundable $250 application fee, paid when the application is filed and applied toward the final fee. The Building Commissioner sets the estimated cost of the job, and the code says the Commissioner of the Building Department, or a designee, calculates the assessed fee before the permit is issued. We did not find the current rates on the town’s website, so ask for the figure when you call.

The 2020 filing instructions add the rest. Keeping work done without a permit, or started before the permit was issued, costs two times the normal fee, and that kind of application also needs a letter from a New York licensed design professional who inspected the work, plus an electrical inspection certificate. Card payments carry a 2.95 percent fee and e-checks 75 cents. Once a permit is granted, the code says no fee comes back if the project is abandoned.

The license, insurance and forms the town checks

Before a permit is issued, the town requires a copy of a current Nassau County home improvement license from every general contractor. It also wants general liability insurance with completed operations naming the Town of North Hempstead as certificate holder, plus state workers’ compensation and disability forms. The town says it cannot accept workers’ compensation or disability coverage on an ACORD form.

An owner doing the work on the home they live in, with no more than 40 hours a week of help, can file the town’s notarized BP-1 affidavit in place of the workers’ compensation proof. Every applicant also signs and notarizes an Owner’s Affirmation Form. The 2020 checklist says a property survey is needed for most projects, and gives interior alterations or renovations that leave the footprint, exterior shell and yard alone as an example of work that does not need one. It does not say where a reroof falls, so ask whether yours needs a survey.

The town’s papers ask for a copy of a current license. You can also run the license number through the county’s own lookup before you sign, and our Nassau license guide walks through it.

Fines, the job sign and landmark review in North Hempstead

Section 2-9 has no penalty of its own, so building without a required permit falls under Section 2-75, the general penalty for Chapter 2. It sets a fine of $500 to $5,000, up to 15 days in jail, or both, for a first conviction, and $5,000 to $10,000, up to 15 days, or both, for a second or later one. The owner and any contractor who helped can each be charged with a separate offense. Section 2-12 lets the department issue stop-work orders, and breaking that section carries steeper fines: $1,000 to $5,000 for a first conviction, $5,000 to $10,000 for a second, and $10,000 to $20,000 for a third or later offense within five years.

Under Section 70-202.2, any site that needs a town building permit must have one construction sign posted where it can be seen until the department closes the permit.

On a designated landmark or in a historic district, Section 27-8 requires a certificate of appropriateness for the activities it lists, whether or not a building permit is needed. Minor exterior changes, including changes of material, that meet the Secretary of the Interior’s preservation standards can be approved by an expedited committee without a formal hearing.

Under Section 2-11, a permit lets work start for three months after it is issued. If work has not begun by then, the project is deemed abandoned, though the Building Commissioner may allow reasonable extensions for good cause. A project not finished within two years of the permit date is also deemed abandoned unless good reason for the delay is shown.

The 30 villages North Hempstead does not cover

The Building Department’s authority covers only the unincorporated areas of the town. The town lists 30 incorporated villages: Baxter Estates, East Hills, East Williston, Floral Park, Flower Hill, Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Manorhaven, Mineola, Munsey Park, New Hyde Park, North Hills, Old Westbury, Plandome, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Port Washington North, Roslyn, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Harbor, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock, Sands Point, Thomaston, Westbury and Williston Park.

Nassau County lists 27 of those under North Hempstead and files Floral Park, Mineola and New Hyde Park under the Town of Hempstead. Either way, if your house is in a village, the village building department is the one to call.

Calling the North Hempstead Building Department

Whether or not the town wants a filing, the state’s limit on roof layers still applies, and our Brookhaven guide explains it. For the town next door, with its own fee formula, see the Hempstead guide.