Last reviewed October 31, 2026.
The roofer has walked the ridge of a Cutchogue farmhouse. The quote sits on the kitchen table. One question is left, and it is whether the job needs a town permit. In Southold, that answer is harder to look up than it should be.
What Southold’s own pages say about reroofing
Very little. The Building Department page says the department “administers and enforces all provisions of the Uniform Code and Energy Code” for the construction, alteration, repair, removal and demolition of buildings. Then it lists forms, a fee schedule and contacts.
What it never lists is which projects need a permit. The word roof does not appear on that page or on the forms page.
The actual rule lives in Chapter 144 of the town code, which covers fire prevention and building code administration. The online code host refused our requests for that chapter, so we have not read its permit and exemption sections. We are not going to guess what they say.
That leaves one move: ask. Call 631-765-1802 and describe the job. Tear-off or overlay, how much decking may be replaced, any change in material. Then write down who answered and when.
The state list of work a town may exempt
New York draws the outer line. Section 1203.3 of the state’s code enforcement rules, published by the Department of State, says every town, city and village enforcing the codes must require building permits for work that has to meet the Uniform Code or the Energy Code. A town may exempt only the categories on a short list, and only when its own program says so in writing.
The list is specific. Small sheds up to 144 square feet. Temporary stage and film sets. Window awnings on houses. Partitions under 5 feet 9 inches. Painting and similar finish work, portable appliances, like-for-like equipment swaps, and repairs that do not affect fire and life safety, such as the structural system, the exits or the fire protection system.
A new roof covering is not named. Whether Southold counts a reroof as a repair under that last item is the question only the Building Department can settle. And replacing rafters touches the structural system, which the state rule singles out.
Southold fees by the square foot
The town’s fee schedule carries no date and has no line for roofing. These are the residential items closest to a roof job:
| Item on the Southold schedule | Fee |
|---|---|
| New dwellings, additions and alterations to a single-family house | $250 plus $0.50 per square foot of floor area |
| Accessory buildings, additions and alterations | $125 plus $0.50 per square foot of floor area |
| Certificate of occupancy, new dwellings, additions and alterations | $100 |
| Notice of disapproval | $100 |
| Solar panels | $325 in total ($100 permit, $125 electric, $100 certificate of occupancy) |
| As-built permit, for work begun without a permit | Double the fees that would otherwise apply |
Alterations are priced by floor area, and a roof is not floor area. If the town wants a permit for your reroof, ask the clerk how it gets counted.
The last row is the one to remember. If a reroof did need a permit and the work started without one, the fees double.
Filing at the Town Hall Annex
The Building Department works out of the Town Hall Annex at 54375 Route 25, Southold, NY 11971, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Its forms page posts a building permit application, an owner authorization form for when someone other than the owner applies, a floodplain development permit application, a form on the use of truss construction, Suffolk County Form 239f and a stormwater management form.
That stormwater form traces back to Chapter 236. Section 236-12 says anyone applying for a town permit for development, construction or excavation completes a Stormwater Assessment Form to help determine compliance with the chapter. Projects that meet the chapter’s threshold also hand the Building Inspector a stormwater management control plan.
Before you sign anything, make sure your roofer holds a Suffolk County home improvement license. Our Suffolk license guide shows how to look one up.
Landmarks and flood maps in Southold
Own a designated landmark and Section 170-6 of the town code applies. It says “No demolition or building permit shall be issued for such activities without such certificate of appropriateness” from the Historic Preservation Commission. That certificate comes on top of any building permit, not in place of one.
The application asks for photographs of each side of the building, its approximate date and the name of whoever is doing the work. Swapping wood shingles for asphalt on a landmark house is exactly the kind of job to bring to the commission first.
Flood zones are the other check. Section 148-3 says the flood insurance study and maps are kept at the Building Department in the Town Annex, and the department posts a separate floodplain development permit application. On a waterfront house, find out whether your lot is mapped before a large reroof begins.
Greenport village has its own building department
The town’s Government page describes Southold as 10 hamlets, Fishers Island, Orient, East Marion, Greenport West, Southold, Peconic, Cutchogue, New Suffolk, Mattituck and Laurel, “along with the incorporated Village of Greenport.” That last phrase decides where you file. Homes in the village file with the village.
Mind the name on Greenport West. It is a town hamlet, so it files with Southold. The town page does not describe separate permit steps for Fishers Island, so treat it like any other hamlet and call the same office.
The Village of Greenport Building Department is at 236 Third Street, Greenport, NY 11944, open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 631-477-0248, extension 201. Its application states, in capital letters, that “A PERMIT MUST BE OBTAINED BEFORE BEGINNING WORK,” and it carries a $150 application fee.
The village checklist asks for:
- the application, signed, dated and notarized
- an asbestos certification form from the owner
- from every contractor, a copy of a “Suffolk County/Southold Town Contractors or Tradesman License”
- from every contractor, three proofs of insurance: liability on an ACORD form with $2 million and $1 million minimums, workers’ compensation and disability, with the village named as additional insured
It also asks for surveys and plans. That line is written for every kind of project, so ask which items a roof actually needs.
The village fee schedule, revised February 27, 2025, lists these charges for house work:
| Village of Greenport fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Any application | $150 |
| New dwelling, additions, alterations and repairs to an existing dwelling | 1.25% of the estimated construction cost, at least $500 |
| Certificate of occupancy, accessory or alteration | $100 |
At 1.25 percent, the $500 floor covers any job estimated at $40,000 or less.
The application also asks whether the property sits inside the Historic District, and the office review box lists the Historic Preservation Commission among the boards that may have to sign off. The commission’s page links to Chapter 76 of the village code and a historic district map, and records a resolution to consult the public on designating the entire village a historic district. Pull up that map before you pick a new roofing material.
Our Brookhaven guide works through the same questions for that town.
