Roofing permits: requirements, lookup, and what a permit tells a roofer
How many roofing permits are pulled?
Counts come from our queries of the Orlando permit dataset and the Miami-Dade permit feature service on October 29, 2026. In Orlando, roof permits outnumbered new-construction building permits three to one. That's the replacement market. New construction is the smaller, steadier pile, and the builder buys the roof.
Roofing permit requirements by city
Miami-Dade County
The county's RER building division has its own roofing permit forms, separate from the building permit (Miami-Dade RER). Roofing products must carry county Product Approval, and you can look up approved products online. The Florida Building Code 9th (2026) Edition applies to applications submitted on or after December 31, 2026.
Orlando
Roof work is a building permit with work type "Roof" in the city's data. If the contract price is over $5,000, a Notice of Commencement is required (City of Orlando). Look up any roof permit in the project lookup tool by address, permit number or parcel ID.
Austin
In city data, roof work shows up under building permits (BP), usually with work class Remodel or Repair, and on new houses it's part of the new-construction building permit. Search it in AB+C Public Search.
How to look up a roofing permit
- Find the city or county that issues permits for the address. In Miami-Dade, a folio starting with 30 means the county; anything else is a city.
- Search the portal by address or permit number (steps for Austin, Miami-Dade and Orlando).
- Open the permit. Look for status, issue date, inspections and the contractor of record.
What a permit tells a roofer
A re-roof permit tells you a competitor got the job. A new-construction building permit tells you a roof hasn't been bought yet. That's the one worth acting on. The permit names the builder, the lot and usually the square footage, so you can price a bid before dry-in. Per BLS, low-slope roofs are more common on commercial and apartment buildings, and steep-slope on single-family homes, so the permit class tells you which crew to send.
See the roofing guide for how roofers get on builders' lists.
Questions contractors ask
Do I need a permit to replace a roof?
Usually yes. Austin, Miami-Dade and Orlando all issue permits for roof work, and Miami-Dade has dedicated roofing permit forms. Check with the building department for the address.
Who pulls the roofing permit?
The licensed roofing contractor doing the work, in most cases. On new construction the roof may be covered under the builder's building permit, depending on the jurisdiction.
What is Miami-Dade Product Approval?
A county approval that roofing and other building products must carry to be used on buildings in Miami-Dade. The approved products list is searchable online through RER.
How do I look up a roofing permit by address?
Use the permit search of the city or county that issued it: AB+C Public Search in Austin, the Building Permits Search in Miami-Dade, or the project lookup tool in Orlando.
How many roofing permits does Orlando issue?
2,366 roof building permits from January through September 2026, about a third of all building permits issued in that period, per city open data.
When does the new Florida Building Code apply to roofs?
The 9th (2026) Edition applies to permit applications submitted on or after December 31, 2026.
How do roofers find new construction work?
Watch newly issued new-construction building permits and contact the builder named on the permit before the house is dried in.
See the permits before the other subs do
FirstBid pulls new-construction permits from city and county records every morning and shows the Roofing scope for each one. Try the Miami-Dade board with a 7-day pass for $19. After that it is $99/mo, and you can cancel before day 8.
Open the Miami-Dade boardSources
- Miami-Dade County RER, Building (permits, trades, inspections). https://www.miamidade.gov/global/economy/building/home.page
- City of Orlando, Permits & Inspections. https://www.orlando.gov/Building-Development/Permits-Inspections
- City of Orlando Open Data, building permits (dataset ryhf-m453). https://data.cityoforlando.net/d/ryhf-m453
- Miami-Dade County open data, permit feature service (miamidade_permit_data). https://services.arcgis.com/8Pc9XBTAsYuxx9Ny/arcgis/rest/services/miamidade_permit_data/FeatureServer/0
- City of Austin, AB+C Public Search. https://abc.austintexas.gov/web/permit/public-search-other
- U.S. BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Roofers. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/roofers.htm