Red Tag at Twelve Squares
You are 12 squares into a 26-square, full tear-off re-roof on a 5/12 hip when the city inspector red-tags the job. His written list: (1) no ice barrier at the eaves, (2) no drip edge at the rakes, (3) bath fan discharging into the attic, (4) exposed fasteners in the valleys. The permit application you signed says "re-roof, like for like." The homeowner is a retired code official from Ohio; he argues ice barrier is a northern-climate item that does not apply where he lives, and that the bath fan has been "that way for 30 years." Your four-person crew is idle at $95 per hour, the dumpster is half full, and the material for the back slope is on the truck.
1. Evaluate each of the four citations. Which ones are yours to fix?
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Take them one at a time.
- Ice barrier - valid. Ice-barrier membrane at the eaves is required where the average January temperature is 25°F or less, which covers Michigan. It is not a northern-county line item, and "like for like" is not an exemption: a permit obligates you to the current code for the work you are doing. Extend it from the eave edge to 24 inches inside the exterior wall line.
- Drip edge - valid. Asphalt shingles require drip edge at both eaves and rakes. Many crews install it at the eaves and skip the rakes; that is exactly what inspectors look for.
- Bath fan - valid citation, separate scope. Discharging a bath fan into an attic violates the mechanical code and is a leading cause of the deck rot you are tearing off. It is not in your contract, so it is a change order - but it must be corrected before the inspection closes.
- Exposed fasteners in valleys - valid. Fasteners must not be exposed; seal or cover them, and check whether the valley lining itself was installed correctly.
Three are yours and one is a change order. Arguing about any of them on the driveway in front of the crew is the worst available move.
2. What do you say and do on site, and who eats the cost of the corrections?
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On site: thank the inspector, ask him to point to the code sections he is citing, take the red tag, photograph every item, and confirm what he needs to see at reinspection. Never debate in front of the homeowner - you will lose the argument and the relationship.
Cost allocation:
- Ice barrier and drip edge. The contractor is presumed to know the code for the work it permits. Even though your one-page proposal did not list them, these are code-required components of the roof you sold. You can ask the homeowner, but do not expect to win it, and do not stop work over it. Absorb them and fix the estimating template so it never happens again.
- Bath fan. Clearly outside "tear off and install shingles." Written change order, priced, signed before the fan work starts.
- Exposed fasteners. Yours to correct.
Schedule: confirm the reinspection date before the crew touches anything, and do not cover the corrected areas until the inspector has seen them. Idle crew time is cheaper than a second red tag.
3. How much of the 12 installed squares has to come off, and what does the sequencing look like?
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Work it out geometrically rather than guessing.
- The zone. Ice barrier runs from the eave edge to 24 inches inside the exterior wall line. On a hip, that condition exists on all four sides, and the eaves converge at the hips. Measure the installed area that falls inside those bands and the valley runs - on a compact hip plan, a large share of 12 squares can sit in an eave or valley band.
- Salvage. Shingles hand-sealed and removed carefully can sometimes be reused, but plan on loss; the sealant strips will tear. Figure the removal, the new membrane, and replacement shingles as one line.
- Sequence. Remove only the affected bands, install membrane, reinstall drip edge at the rakes, correct the valley fasteners, get the inspector on site for a partial inspection, then run the back slope correctly from the start.
- The real cost. Two days of idle crew at $95 per hour is about $6,000 - more than the membrane. Call the inspector first thing and get him out the same day.
Ask the inspector whether he will inspect the open area before you re-cover it. Most will, and that single call is worth more than any argument about the citation.