Hemet, CA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- New wood-shake/shingle roofs
- prohibited citywide
- Existing wood-shake reroof
- Class A assembly required
- Fire hazard areas
- Class A roof covering mandatory
- Reroofing
- requires a city building permit
Summary
Reroofing in Hemet requires a building permit, and the city bans new wood-shake or wood-shingle roofs outright, allowing existing wood-shake roofs to be reroofed only with a listed Class A fire-retardant assembly.
1505.6 Wood shingles and shakes. It shall be unlawful to install or cause to be installed, wood-shake or wood-shingle roofs on a building.
Exception: Any building which presently has wooden shakes or shingles may be re-roofed with a listed and approved Class A assembly with a rated wood shake or shingle. Approved fire-retardant-treated wood shakes and shingles are those complying with UBC Standard 15-3 or 15-4 which are impregnated by the full-cell vacuum-pressure process with fire-retardant chemicals, which have been qualified by UBC Standard 15-2 for use on Class A roofs.
Roof coverings on buildings located in a designated fire hazard area shall be rated as Class A. All wood-shingles and wood-shakes are prohibited in high fire hazard areas.
Subsection J110.1 of Section J110 of Appendix J of the California Building Code, 2022 Edition, is amended to read as follows:
J110.1 General. The faces of cut and fill slopes shall be prepared and maintained to control erosion and to provide stability.
Exception: Erosion control measures need not be provided on cut slopes not subject to erosion due to erosion-resistant character of materials.
Unless otherwise recommended in the approved soil engineering or engineering geology report, cut and fill slopes shall be planted in accordance with this section. The protection for the slopes shall be installed as soon as practicable and prior to calling for final permit approval.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 69 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
Under the city's amendments to the 2022 California Building Code at Hemet Municipal Code § 14-41, it is unlawful to install wood-shake or wood-shingle roofing on any building; a building that already has a wood-shake roof may only be reroofed using a listed, approved Class A assembly with fire-retardant-treated shakes or shingles. Roofs in a designated fire hazard area must be rated Class A. Reroofing work itself is a permitted activity: the city's master fee schedule lists a 'Re-roofing' permit fee under Sec. 2-379, consistent with the code's general rule that repair or alteration of a building requires a permit from the building official.
Violations & Fines
Installing a prohibited wood-shake or wood-shingle roof, or reroofing without the required Class A fire-retardant assembly, is a code violation enforceable by the building official; unpermitted reroofing can also trigger a stop-work order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I install a new wood-shake roof in Hemet?
Do I need a permit just to reroof my house?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hemet
California rules heatmap·Compare Hemet to another location·View the California building safety overview
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