Do You Need a Permit to Replace a Roof Around Here?
Almost always yes. Here is what each village publishes, what they require beyond the fee, and why two of those requirements are a useful test of any bid you are holding.
Nearly every municipality in Kane County and the neighboring suburbs requires a permit for a roof replacement. Your contractor should pull it, schedule the inspection and meet the inspector — that is part of the job, not an extra.
What varies is the fee and, more interestingly, the technical requirements. A few villages publish specifics that are worth knowing even if you never read a code book.
Published permit fees, where villages publish them
| Village / City | Published residential roofing fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sleepy Hollow | $300.00 | Plus a 10% administrative fee; $500 multi-family. Effective Jan 2023 |
| Campton Hills | $135.00 | Residential tear-off; $270 commercial. A layover needs no permit |
| Pingree Grove | $110.00 | Includes two inspections |
| Sugar Grove | $100.00 | Contractors must register with the village first |
| North Aurora | $75.00 | Requires a copy of the state roofing license and the contract showing ice-and-water shield |
| West Dundee | $50.00 | Final inspection required |
| Algonquin | $45.00 | Not due until the permit is ready |
| Huntley | Not published for single-family | $103 multi-family roof replacement is published |
| Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, Bartlett, Streamwood, Hanover Park, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Hampshire, Gilberts, Wayne, Elburn | Not published online | We confirm the current figure with the building department before quoting |
Where a fee is not published we do not guess at it. We call the building department for your address and give you the real number.
Two requirements that double as a test of any bid
Ice-and-water shield at the eaves. Hampshire states it plainly: the membrane must be applied “from the eaves edge to a point at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line.” West Dundee requires the same. North Aurora will not accept a permit application without a copy of the contract showing ice-and-water shield will be installed.
So here is a free, five-second test you can run on every bid you have: does it specify ice-and-water shield, and how far up? If it does not, that bid may not meet your village's requirement, and it is certainly not accounting for the thing that stops ice dams pushing water back under the shingles. Ask us the same question — we will give you the same answer.
Maximum two layers. Hampshire, Campton Hills and West Dundee all state a maximum of two roof coverings, which matches Illinois practice generally. If you already have two, a third is not legal — the roof has to come off. Any contractor offering to layer over an existing double is proposing work that will not pass inspection.
The license requirement, and why it protects you
Illinois is one of the few states that licenses roofing contractors at state level under the Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act. The law requires the license number to appear on advertising, contracts and permits.
Some villages enforce it at the counter. North Aurora requires a copy of the contractor's State of Illinois roofing license with the permit application. Hampshire requires the same. Huntley's own roofing handout spells out the distinction between a Limited license (residential, eight units or fewer) and an Unlimited license for everything else.
That is a genuinely useful filter after a storm. A contractor who cannot produce an Illinois roofing license cannot pull a permit in those villages, which means they cannot legally do your roof. Ours is 104.004825, and you can check it on the IDFPR license lookup.
Unincorporated addresses, HOAs and historic districts
Unincorporated parcels are permitted through Kane County's Building & Zoning Division rather than a village. Plenty of addresses around Campton Hills, Elburn and the county's western edge fall into this category. We confirm which authority covers your address before quoting.
HOA approval is a separate matter from the permit, and it catches people out. Hampshire lists an HOA approval letter as a permit submittal item where applicable. If you are in a covenanted subdivision or a townhome association, check your color and material restrictions before you order anything.
Historic districts vary in a way worth knowing. Algonquin requires Historic Commission approval before plan review for work in its Old Town district — but roofing and interior permits are expressly exempt, so a historic-district roof there does not wait on a commission meeting. East Dundee adopted Historic District Guidelines in April 2025 covering its downtown; whether roofing materials fall under that review is something we check with the village before quoting.
What the inspection actually checks
Requirements differ by village, but a final roofing inspection generally looks at ice-and-water shield placement and coverage, underlayment, drip edge, flashing at walls, chimneys and penetrations, ventilation, and that the number of layers is legal.
West Dundee requires a final inspection. Pingree Grove's fee includes two inspections. Algonquin offers the ice-and-water shield inspection as a self-inspection option, which shortens the timeline relative to neighboring villages.
You should not have to take a day off work for any of this. We schedule the inspection and meet the inspector.