Arapahoe County · City
Roofing in Littleton, CO
This is the one jurisdiction where we can tell you exactly what your roof has to be, because the City of Littleton publishes it in a single document and we build to it line by line.
- Permit authority
- City of Littleton
- County
- Arapahoe
- Adopted codes
- 2024 I-Codes
- Mid-roof inspection
- Not required
What Littleton requires, specifically
The City of Littleton sets its roofing requirements in Policy #24-001, currently on its 5th revision dated May 21, 2026. It requires full tear-off to the deck with no overlays, a minimum of six nails per shingle, ASTM D7158 Class H wind-rated shingles, and ice and water barrier extending two feet inside the exterior wall line.
Everything on this page comes from City of Littleton Building Division, Policy #24-001, 5th Revision, dated May 21, 2026. The policy has been revised six times since 2020, so anything you read elsewhere may be describing a superseded version.
The design criteria your roof is built to
- Ground snow load
- 40 psf, non-reducible
- Ultimate design wind speed
- 136 mph
- Shingle wind class
- ASTM D7158 Class H
- Minimum nails per shingle
- 6
Those first two come from City Code Title 4, Chapter 1, which amends IRC Table R301.2 (Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria). They are not national defaults; they are Littleton's own numbers.
The practical consequence is that you cannot file a Littleton roof permit without manufacturer documentation proving the product meets them. Permits are not accepted without it. This quietly eliminates the cheapest three-tab shingles from the conversation before it starts.
Full tear-off, no exceptions
Littleton requires full tear-off to the deck and accepts no overlays on asphalt shingle, metal or clay/concrete tile roofs.
In jurisdictions that allow a layover, a contractor can quote a cheaper job by leaving the old roof in place. In Littleton that quote describes work the city will not pass. If you receive one, the contractor either does not work here often or is hoping nobody checks.
Membrane roofing is the exception. Overlays of membrane-type roofing are permitted, and liquid-applied overlays require a product submittal approved by the Building Division before the permit is issued. Mineral-surfaced roll roofing is not permitted in Littleton at all; modified bitumen is acceptable.
The sheathing rule that catches older Littleton homes
This is the most common cost surprise on a Littleton reroof, and it cannot be seen before tear-off.
Homes built with spaced or board sheathing are fine until the shingles come off. If any gap exceeds half an inch, the deck must be overlaid or replaced with plywood or OSB at least 3/8 inch thick. Fastening is specified too: nails at a maximum of 6 inches on center at edges and 12 inches on center in rows no further than 24 inches apart, with vertical panel edges breaking on framing members.
It also adds a day to the schedule, because the Building Division has to inspect the sheathing fastening before any underlayment goes down. That inspection is not optional and it cannot be photographed after the fact.
If sheathing work was not on the original permit, the permit has to be amended. We tell you the per-square-foot rate for this before we start, so that if we open your roof and find it, the number is already agreed rather than negotiated while your house is open.
Ice barrier, valleys and edges
- Ice and water barrier to ASTM D1970, extending a minimum of two feet inside the exterior wall line, at the eaves of all conditioned structures. Note that Douglas County next door only requires this above 7,000 feet. Littleton requires it regardless.
- Closed valleys take ice and water barrier a minimum of 36 inches wide.
- Open valleys take one layer of 24-inch galvanized metal, or two layers of mineral-surfaced rolled roofing, one 18 inches and one 36 inches.
- Drip edge at eaves and rake edges. Both.
- Asphalt shingles may not go on below 2/12 pitch, and between 2/12 and 4/12 they need double underlayment or ice barrier.
If your home has solar
If city records show a photovoltaic assembly on the structure, the roof permit is held until a solar contractor licensed by the City of Littleton pulls a separate permit to remove and replace the system.
A roofing contractor who removes the array themselves can trigger a stop work order or a municipal summons on your property. If a roofer offers to take your panels off as a favor, that is a reason to stop talking to them.
Inspection day, practically
A final roof inspection is required to close the permit. Two details trip people up:
- An OSHA-compliant ladder extending three feet above the eave must be set up and secured at the time of inspection. We provide and set it.
- Inspectors will not pass through fences or enter rear yards without permission, or at all when pets are present. If your dog is in the yard, the inspection does not happen and your permit stays open.
We schedule around this and we will remind you the day before. It sounds trivial until a missed inspection pushes your permit closure out by a week.
Checking a contractor's Littleton license
Colorado has no statewide roofing license. Licensing is handled city by city, which is why "licensed in Colorado" is not a meaningful claim on its own.
Littleton issues roofing under Class D-5 (Roofing). Licenses expire annually on December 31, and renewal opens 90 days before. The city requires commercial general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, with the City of Littleton named as certificate holder.
Ask any contractor bidding your roof which jurisdictions they hold a license in. A contractor licensed in Englewood holds a D-2, which is a different city's classification and does not let them pull a permit here.
The Permit Center will confirm a license: 303-795-3751 or [email protected]. Permits run through eTRAKiT.
Nearby, and different
If your address is outside city limits, none of the above is what governs your roof. Compare:
- Centennial requires a mid-roof inspection on every reroof. Littleton requires none.
- Highlands Ranch runs on Douglas County permits and the 2021 codes, not Littleton's 2024.
- Ken Caryl needs its mid-roof inspection in a narrow 10 to 25 percent window.
- Columbine Valley is its own town with its own license.
- Englewood classes roofing as D-2 rather than D-5.