A roofing permit is the one piece of a roof job that a contractor cannot write for itself. It is a City record with a date, an address and a name on it. The City of San Antonio issued 7,117 re-roof permits in 2025 and 29,235 since the record begins; all of them are searchable on our permit index. Here is what the permit requires, what it costs and how to use it.
Do I Need A Permit To Replace A Roof In San Antonio?
Yes, if the house is inside the San Antonio city limits. The Development Services Department has a permit type for exactly this job, the Re-Roof Permit, and issues thousands of them a year. Boerne, New Braunfels, Schertz, Helotes and unincorporated Bexar County run their own permitting, so a roofer based in one of those places pulls the permit there, not from San Antonio.
How Much Is A Roofing Permit In San Antonio?
The residential re-roof permit is a flat $25 on the City's FY2026 Development Fee Schedule, revised October 2025, listed under flat fees for miscellaneous residential projects. The application form notes that the amount charged at issuance is the permit base plus a surcharge and a processing charge, so expect a few dollars on top of the $25. If the permit line on an estimate is far from the City's own number, ask what the rest of the line pays for.
Who Pulls The Permit, Me Or The Roofer?
Normally the roofer. The application asks for a Registration Holder and a City Registration number, and the fee schedule lists a Home Improvement Contractor license registration at $150 for two years. A homeowner can pull the permit personally, but only by initialling an attestation under City Code 10-115(a)(1) that they own the house and will occupy or rent it for 12 months after the work, and by taking responsibility for every inspection. If a roofer asks you to pull the permit yourself, ask why.
What Does The Re-Roof Application Ask?
Whether the job is residential or commercial and its valuation. Whether an existing solar array is coming off and going back on, which needs an electrical permit number. Whether the slope of the roof is changing. Whether the material is changing to tile. A yes to either of the last two means an engineer's assessment inspection report is required to clear the framing inspection. The form also states that any roof penetration extended above the new roofline needs its own mechanical, electrical or plumbing permit, pulled by a trade contractor who holds that trade's license, and that opening the attic may trigger added insulation under the International Energy Code.
Can I Put New Shingles Over The Old Ones?
Only up to a point. The application states that a maximum of two layers of roofing material is allowed under the International Residential Code. A house on its second layer gets a full tear-off before the new roof goes on, and that tear-off is priced per square on top of the material. Our cost page shows the local tear-off rate and its sources.
What Inspections Happen?
A final building inspection by the City's Inspection Division closes every re-roof permit. A slope change or a change to tile adds a framing inspection, which is why the engineer's report is required first. Trade permits for roof penetrations carry their own inspections.
How Do I Check Whether My Roofer Pulled The Permit?
Two ways. Search your address in the City's BuildSA online portal, which is where the application itself is filed. Or open our permit index, download the CSV and filter by your address; it holds every re-roof permit the City has published since late 2020 with the holder's name as recorded. Do this before the final payment. A contractor who has filed the permit will hand you the number without hesitation.
Does A Permit Matter For An Insurance Claim Or A Sale?
It is the dated public record that the work happened and was inspected, which an adjuster, an appraiser or a buyer's inspector can look up for themselves. It is not a claim service. Under Texas Insurance Code chapter 707 a roofing contractor cannot negotiate your claim or absorb your deductible, and no permit changes that. Our hail claim calculator runs the deductible arithmetic before you call your insurer.
Which Roofers Actually Pull Permits Here?
The permit index ranks the 25 most frequent permit holders inside the city over the last 12 months and matches the ones on our ranking to their profiles. It is a measure of volume inside the city limits, not of quality, and it is not one of our five ranking inputs. What it does show is which companies file with the City under their own name, every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need a permit to replace a roof in San Antonio and how much is it?
- Yes. Inside the San Antonio city limits a roof replacement needs a Re-Roof Permit from the Development Services Department, and the residential fee is a flat $25 on the City's FY2026 fee schedule. The City issued 7,117 of these permits in 2025.
- How much does roof tear-off cost in San Antonio?
- Separately from the $25 permit, published local rates put a one-layer tear-off at $100 to $300 per roofing square, and the City allows at most two layers of roofing before a full tear-off is required. Our cost page itemises tear-off next to the material rate so you can check an estimate line by line.
- Who pulls the roofing permit, the homeowner or the contractor?
- Usually the contractor, as the Registration Holder with a City Registration number on the application. A homeowner can pull it personally by attesting under City Code 10-115(a)(1) to owning and occupying or renting the home for 12 months after the work, and then becomes responsible for the inspections.
- Can I put new shingles over my old roof in San Antonio?
- The City's re-roof application states that a maximum of two layers of roofing material is allowed under the International Residential Code. If your roof already has two layers, the old roofing comes off first and the tear-off is priced per square.
- Does changing to a tile roof need anything extra?
- Yes. The application asks whether the material is changing to tile or whether the slope of the roof is changing, and if either answer is yes it requires an engineer's assessment inspection report to clear the framing inspection before the City's final building inspection.
- How do I know if a San Antonio roofing company is legit?
- Ask for the permit number and look it up, then check the company's BBB grade and complaint history and its Google review record. Our permit index lists which holders pulled permits inside the city in the last 12 months, and every company on our ranking carries its BBB and review sources.
- How do I check whether my roofer pulled the permit?
- Search your address in the City's BuildSA portal, or download the open dataset on our permit index page and filter by address. Do this before the final payment, not after.
- What inspections happen on a San Antonio re-roof?
- The application states a final building inspection by the City's Inspection Division. A change of slope or a change to tile adds a framing inspection that needs the engineer's report first, and any roof penetration extended above the new roofline needs its own mechanical, electrical or plumbing permit and inspection, pulled by a trade contractor who holds that trade's license.
- Does a roofing permit matter for an insurance claim?
- A permit is a dated public record that the work was filed with the City and inspected, which an adjuster or a future buyer can look up. It is not a claim service: under Texas Insurance Code chapter 707 a contractor cannot negotiate your claim or absorb your deductible, and no permit changes that.
- How much does a roof replacement cost in San Antonio?
- The permit is the smallest line. Published local rates run from $350 to $700 per square for asphalt shingle and $1,000 to $1,600 for standing seam metal, before tear-off. Our cost page shows every rate with its source and the calculator turns your footprint, pitch and material into a range.
Sources
- City of San Antonio, Development Services Department. Re-Roof Permit Application (two-layer maximum, engineer's report for slope or tile change, trade permits for penetrations, homeowner attestation under City Code 10-115(a)(1), fee composition). https://docsonline.sanantonio.gov/FileUploads/dsd/Form_ReroofPermitApplication.pdf. Read October 2, 2026.
- City of San Antonio, Development Services Department. FY2026 Development Fee Schedule, rev. October 2025: Residential Re-roof Permit $25.00; Home Improvement Contractor license registration $150.00 (two years). https://docsonline.sanantonio.gov/FileUploads/dsd/CurrentFeeSchedule.pdf.
- City of San Antonio. Building Permits open dataset, the basis of the permit counts on this page. https://data.sanantonio.gov/dataset/building-permits. Newest permit September 25, 2026.
- Texas Insurance Code, chapter 707. Contractor conduct on insurance claims. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/IN/htm/IN.707.htm.