New Orleans to require permits for new roofs. Here's why it could affect insurance premiums.

New Orleans has quietly adopted a key change to local building rules to require permits for new roofs, a long-discussed idea that advocates hope will alleviate the home insurance crisis by giving insurers more confidence in the city's housing stock and building codes.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office pushed the change through the City Council in February, but had not widely communicated the update until asked about it this week. It is not clear if the city is widely enforcing the new requirement, or whether roofers will have a separate track to receive the permits, raising concerns that they may be bogged down in the permitting office's notorious delays and be required to pay hundreds of dollars per roof.

Cantrell's office acknowledged the new rules Wednesday, saying the move aims to "assist residents during the ongoing insurance crisis."

The statement added that inspections will be streamlined by allowing photos to replace in-person inspectors, and said "the routing pathway for residential re-roofing permits is being finalized with final adjustments expected by close of business Friday." Cantrell's office added that staff intend to do outreach on social media and with open houses.

The city code has already been updated, requiring contractors who renovate 50% or more of a roof on single and two-family homes to pull a permit. That means it is technically required, though it is unclear if the city is enforcing it yet.

Advocates have long sought the update as a way to bring confidence to Louisiana's building codes, which are strong on paper. If the city can use permits to prove to insurers that roofs are indeed built to code, proponents hope they will be more willing to write policies in the hurricane-prone region.

For instance, thousands of homeowners had their roofs replaced after Hurricane Ida. But the city has not had any way to verify they were built correctly — a concern while property insurers have been less willing to write policies here.

Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes have already implemented the change in past years. And because of a state law passed in 2023, they allow roofers to verify their roofs are built to code by taking geotagged and time stamped pictures instead of requiring an inspector verify in-person. Those parishes also have a separate track for roof permits, which allow them to be put on quickly and for a lower fee than other permits.

It's not clear what fee New Orleans intends to charge for the permits, but the updated code allows for geotagged photos in lieu of an in-person inspection.

The City Council agreed to the new language at a meeting in February, but did so without any discussion or debate. A spokesperson for Councilman Freddie King, who sponsored the changes, deferred comment to Cantrell's office.

Konstantin Bogdanov, owner of Master Maintenance Roofing, said he supports the city requiring permits, saying he hopes it will force roofers who operate without proper licenses and building practices to build to code.

But Bogdanov only learned about the change when a project of his got bogged down by delays — it was suddenly and automatically put into the city permitting system. And he pointed to conflicting guidance on the city's websites for whether the change was in effect.

"They just kind of piled it on saying we're going to require a permit now," he said. "They didn't notify the public and they didn't create a process to do the roofs."

"This is just half-baked stuff."

Roofers worry about delays

Another roofer notified by The Times-Picayune of the change said he reached out to the permit department and was told the city was not enforcing it yet.

If the city doesn't set up a separate track for roof permits, it could lead to significant delays for the industry. Roofers typically move quickly to put new roofs on homes in a day or two, often to resolve leaks or insurance problems.

The city's permitting office has become notorious for moving slowly to approve permits of all kinds.

Dan Mills, head of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans, pushed for New Orleans to add the change for months. The group also helped to convince Jefferson Parish officials to enact their permitting requirement.

But he said much is still up in the air in Orleans Parish, including whether the city will reduce permit fees and streamline the process like in other parishes.

Mills said after Ida, insurers told builders that there was no way of knowing whether the thousands of new roofs were built to code because of a lack of permitting data. Requiring permits, he said, allows the city and state to back up the work.

"Insurers are not afraid to write hurricanes," Mills said. "They're afraid to write housing stock they don't understand."

Legislature weighing roof guidelines

Mills said the current code is a "whisper" away from fortified, the above-code standard that the state has championed to help people get discounts on insurance premiums. The state has set up a grant program to give homeowners $10,000 each for a new fortified roof, and the Legislature is debating a series of bills to enhance incentives and possibly require fortified roofs in some cases.

Meanwhile, the Legislature may also soon consider a bill by Rep. Foy Gadberry, R-West Monroe, that would require all parishes to verify that new roofs are built to code. The bill is awaiting action in the House Commerce Committee.

Jackie Dadakis, CEO of Green Coast Enterprises, a sustainable development company, said she supports the state having uniform guidelines, saying it could bring clarity to the insurance market.

"I can understand the concerns roofers have with the pace (that) safety and permits has been moving recently," Dadakis said. "That's different from whether we should be requiring these permits uniformly across all our parishes."