Last reviewed October 31, 2026.
A Victorian a few blocks up from the harbor lost a handful of shingles over the winter, and in March the owners finally get a reroof quote. The roofer works mostly in Huntington Station. The roofer says the town lets in-kind roofs go ahead without paperwork, and on that point the roofer is right: the town’s 2021 filing guidelines say no building permit is required for roofing replaced in kind with no structural changes.
But this house sits inside the Village of Northport. The village writes its own building rules and keeps its own staff to enforce them.
Village Hall, not Huntington Town Hall
The Town of Huntington’s 311 Knowledge Base page on projects requiring permits, updated August 9, 2022, spells it out. For properties in Asharoken, Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor and Northport, “this function is handled by your village building officials.” The town’s no-permit rule for in-kind roofing, covered in our Huntington guide, stops at the village line.
The village’s 2021 plumbing and generator permit form lists 224 Main Street, P.O. Box 358, Northport, NY 11768, phone 631-261-7502. The staff page on the village website says the Building Department is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m., with no walk-ins on Fridays. The same page gives the closing time as 10 a.m. in one spot and 10:30 a.m. in another, so call before you drive over.
No written answer on reroof permits
We looked and came up empty. Building permits fall under Chapter 106 of the village code, Building Construction, and its text could not be retrieved for this guide. The fee chapter lists additions, porches, decks, solar panels and dozens of other items. Roofing is not one of them. We found no village handout on reroofing either.
So pick up the phone. Call 631-261-7502 before the dumpster is ordered and ask two things: does a straight tear-off and reshingle need a permit, and does the answer change if the roofer replaces sheathing or rafters?
How the village prices a building permit
Section 147-1 of the village code, as published on eCode360, ties the building permit fee to the estimated cost of the work:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Work estimated at up to $1,000 | $25 |
| Each added $1,000 of estimated value, or fraction of it | $10 |
| Base fee added to residential permits | $100 |
| Base fee added to commercial permits | $500 |
| Certificate of occupancy or completion | $50 |
| Application to amend a permit | $200 |
| Solar panels | $50 |
| Permit sought for work already done without one | 3 times the normal permit fee |
That last line is the one to remember. Skip the permit, apply later, and the fee triples.
The fee chapter also lists $100 for major fire damage repair or replacement and $20 for minor fire damage. If fire took out part of your roof, ask the Building Department which line, if any, applies. The excerpt we read carries no adoption date, so confirm the figures when you file.
Houses 100 years old or more
In Northport, age alone can pull a house under Chapter 15 of the village code. Section 15-5 says no village official may issue a building permit to alter the exterior of a building that is 100 years old or more and meets the definition of a historic building unless the Board of Architectural and Historic Review has granted its own permit. The board permit stacks on top of the building permit. It does not replace it.
For roofs, the trigger is what counts. Section 15-2 limits historic review to exterior work that requires a building permit or demolition permit. Sections 15-1 and 16-1 add that even where a permit is needed, review can be waived when the work is minor, has no effect on the building’s appearance and is an in-kind replacement. Modern substitutes for historic materials are allowed too, as long as they keep the historic look and character.
Section 16-1 also lets owners petition to create a historic district. Once a district is approved, every building in it goes through the same review regardless of age whenever a building or demolition permit is applied for. The board’s rules in Chapter A311 set its meetings for the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall.
Buildings in the Central Business A and B districts
Chapter 14 covers the Central Business A and Central Business B zoning districts. Where the board has flagged a property for historic review, Section 14-5 bars any exterior alteration, repair or restoration that changes the building’s appearance without a board permit. Ordinary maintenance and repairs that leave the exterior material and appearance unchanged are exempt. Own a flagged building in either district and want a new roof color or material? Run it past the board first.
Fines in the historic chapters, and what we could not find
Section 15-13 makes each violation of the historic review chapter punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. Each day counts as a separate offense, and the violator also pays the village’s costs of proving it. Section 14-10 sets the same $1,000 ceiling for the Central Business districts and adds up to 15 days in jail. Both sections let village inspectors stop work that strays from the permit.
Two gaps remain. The general penalty for building without a permit sits in Chapter 106, which we could not read. We also could not confirm how long a Northport building permit stays valid. The village’s plumbing permit form says “all permits expire one year from date of issue,” but that form covers plumbing and gas work. Ask whether the same term applies to a building permit.
Torch-down roofs and the roofer’s license
Flat sections over porches and additions sometimes go down in torch-applied membrane. Section 153-4 of the village fire prevention chapter defines those torch-applied bituminous systems and places the Bureau of Fire Prevention inside the Building Department. Before a crew shows up with a torch, ask the Fire Marshal’s office what it requires.
Whatever the permit answer turns out to be, the roofer needs a Suffolk County home improvement license. Suffolk County Consumer Affairs lists roofing as home improvement work and says unlicensed contractors are subject to arrest and prosecution. Check a license at 631-853-4600, or follow the lookup steps in our Suffolk license guide.
