My address says Covington, so is it the city that permits my roof?

Not necessarily. The Covington postal area extends well beyond the city boundary, and the unincorporated part is permitted by St. Tammany Parish. It is worth settling before an application is made, not least because the parish permits office is itself located in Covington, so the two are easy to mix up.

What does the City of Covington permit cost?

The City processes a reroof as a renovation, since no square footage is added, and its published renovation fee is $0.25 per square foot plus $75 per inspection. A re inspection after a failed one is $100, payable before it is scheduled. Fees change, so confirm the current figure when the permit is pulled.

What does a roof replacement cost in Covington?

A full asphalt replacement is estimated at $7,000 to $18,000, moved by size, pitch and how many layers have to come off. Standing seam metal and complex roofs with several valleys run higher. Every figure here is an estimate and a written price follows a measurement.

Can I get the Fortify Homes grant in Covington?

St. Tammany is on the programme parish list, so you can enter. Grants are awarded by lottery and are subject to funding, worth up to $10,000 toward a roof built to the FORTIFIED standard. Check your own address on the programme map rather than relying on the parish name, and treat it as something to register for rather than something to count on.

Does a repair need a permit as well?

The state requirement names roof construction and reroofing. A localised repair is not the same thing as a reroof, and the right answer depends on the scope of the work, so it is worth confirming with the office that covers your address before assuming either way.

How long does a replacement take?

Most single family roofs are a day of work once the crew is on site. The calendar is usually set by the permit and the inspection slot rather than the roofing, because inspections are booked a business day ahead and run on weekdays only.

What happens if the inspection fails?

The defect is corrected and the roof is re inspected, and the City charges $100 for that re inspection, payable before it is scheduled. That is the reason the deck, the fastening and the flashing are photographed as the work happens rather than argued about afterwards.

Home/Service Areas/Louisiana/Covington/Roof Replacement

Roof Replacement in Covington, LA

Big Easy Roofing replaces roofs across Covington and St. Tammany Parish, with the price written down before tear off begins. The first thing we settle is which office issues the permit, because a Covington mailing address does not tell you whether the house sits inside the city limits, and the city and the parish run separate permit offices with separate fees.

Get Your FREE Quote Call (504) 800-8196

Service

City

$7k to $18kEstimated full replacement

$0.25/sq ftCity of Covington permit

Up to $10kFortify Homes grant, by lottery

One dayMost single family roofs

Covington roof replacement at a glance

A full asphalt replacement on a Covington house is estimated at $7,000 to $18,000. Before any of that is priced, the address has to be checked against the city limits, because the City of Covington and St. Tammany Parish issue separate permits, charge separate fees and inspect on separate calendars.

Who issues the permit

City or parish, by address

The City of Covington permits inside the city limits. St. Tammany Parish permits the unincorporated area. A 70433 or 70435 mailing address covers both, so the boundary decides it rather than the postmark.

City permit fee

$0.25 per square foot

The City charges the renovation rate for a reroof, since a reroof adds no square footage. Inspections are $75 each, increased on 18 February 2026.

A failed inspection costs more than the inspection

$100 re inspection

The City charges $100 for each re inspection after a failed one, and it must be paid before the re inspection is scheduled. That is $25 more than the original.

Inspection scheduling

One business day ahead

City inspections run 8am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday and must be booked a business day in advance, so the tear off and the inspection are sequenced before work starts.

The grant is real here

St. Tammany is eligible

St. Tammany is one of the parishes listed for the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program. It is a lottery, not an entitlement, and it is worth up to $10,000.

Historic district

Certificate of Appropriateness

A property in the Covington historic district needs a Certificate of Appropriateness on file, which is a separate approval from the building permit.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Cost and timescale depend on size, pitch, access, weather, materials and whatever is found once work starts, so call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 and we will come out and give you an estimate for your own roof.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Cost and timescale depend on size, pitch, access, weather, materials and whatever is found once the covering is off, so call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 for a written price.

Four coverings, and what each is really buying you

The covering choice is mostly a question of how long you intend to own the house, and on the Northshore it is also a question of how the roof handles heat and long wet spells. The table sets out the estimated installed range and the realistic service life in this climate rather than the figure on the wrapper.

Covering	Estimated installed	Realistic service life	What decides it
Architectural asphalt shingle	$7,000 to $18,000	20 to 30 years	The default, and what the FORTIFIED standard is usually written around
Three tab asphalt shingle	$6,000 to $12,000	15 to 20 years	Cheaper now, and the shortest life of the four in this heat
Standing seam metal	$18,000 to $40,000	40 to 60 years	The longest life and the highest number, for a long hold
Modified bitumen on a low slope	$9,000 to $20,000	15 to 25 years	Only where part of the roof is genuinely low slope

Every figure is an estimate and none of it is a quote. Pitch, layers, decking condition and access move all four bands. Call for a written price on your Covington roof.

The permit question here starts with a boundary, not a form

Two things decide the paperwork on a Covington reroof. A state law that made the permit and inspection compulsory, which applies wherever the house sits, and the city limit, which decides who issues it. Getting the second one wrong means applying to an office that cannot help you.

The permit itself is not optional

Statewide since 2025

Louisiana requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing. The requirement came in through Act 239 of 2025 and is now carried at La. R.S. 37:3737(I). Covington issues permits, and so does the parish, so a reroof is permitted either way.

Inside the city limits

City of Covington

The City of Covington Building Permits Office at 317 N Jefferson Avenue handles permits inside the limits, on 985.898.4725. A reroof is processed as a renovation, because no square footage is added.

Outside the city limits

St. Tammany Parish

St. Tammany Parish Permits and Inspections covers the unincorporated area. Its office is also in Covington, which is exactly why the two get confused: the city is PO Box 778 and the parish is PO Box 628, both Covington 70434.

The code the work is judged against

2021 I-Codes

Louisiana moved to the 2021 edition of the I-Codes on 1 January 2023, with state amendments, and the 2021 energy code from 1 July 2023. For a house the roofing chapters are IRC Chapters 8 and 9. Ask which edition is current when the permit is pulled.

The number that catches people out

A City inspection is $75. A re inspection after a failed one is $100, and the City will not schedule it until that is paid. So a failed inspection is not a delay, it is a delay plus a charge larger than the inspection you already bought.

Inspections are booked a business day ahead and run 8am to 4:30pm on weekdays, so a roof that fails on a Friday afternoon is not being re inspected that week.

Where the grant fits, and where it does not

St. Tammany is on the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program parish list, so a Covington homeowner can enter. The programme awards grants by lottery, subject to funding, worth up to $10,000 toward a roof built to the FORTIFIED standard.

It is not something a roofer can promise you, and it is not a discount on our price. Treat it as a possibility to register for, and check your own address on the programme map rather than relying on the parish name.

Get Your FREE Quote Call (504) 800-8196

What the Northshore does to a roof here

Covington sits north of the lake, and the roof problems that follow are about sustained heat and long wet spells rather than the surge exposure of the south shore. Three things follow from that, and they change what is worth paying for on a replacement.

Heat is the ageing mechanism, not storms alone

Asphalt ages by losing the volatiles that keep it flexible, and heat drives that. A roof that faces a long hot season loses granules and goes brittle sooner than the wrapper life suggests, which is why the service life column above is shorter than the warranty.

The practical consequence at replacement is ventilation and underlayment, which cost little against the covering and decide how the covering ages.

Trees are an asset and a roofing problem

Covington keeps a lot of mature canopy, and a shaded roof dries slowly after rain. Slow drying is what lets organic growth take hold on a north facing slope and what keeps the deck damp under a covering that is past its life.

Overhanging limbs also decide the debris load in the gutters, so on a replacement it is worth agreeing what gets trimmed before the tear off rather than after.

The FORTIFIED standard is about the deck, not the shingle

The FORTIFIED roof standard is about the deck attachment, the sealed roof deck and the edge detail rather than the shingle brand, which is why a grant funded roof is specified differently from a like for like replacement.

If the grant is something you intend to enter for, say so before the scope is written, because the sealed deck and the fastening pattern have to be built in rather than added.

Big Easy Roofing Process

Four steps, and the first one is an address check rather than a measurement, because the permit route and the fee both depend on which side of the city limit the house sits.

A roofing estimator checking a property boundary against a parish map on a tablet

Get Your FREE Quote Call Our Roofing Experts!

01 Establish which authority covers the address

City of Covington or St. Tammany Parish. This decides the permit route, the fee basis and the inspection calendar, and it is settled before anything is quoted.

02 Measure, inspect the deck and write the scope

Squares, pitch, layers and the condition of what is under the covering, plus whether the property sits in the historic district and needs a Certificate of Appropriateness on file.

03 Pull the permit and sequence the inspection

The permit is applied for before tear off, and the inspection is booked a business day ahead so the roof is not left open waiting on a slot.

04 Tear off, replace, and hand over the paperwork

The scope, the permit and the inspection sign off go to you together, which is what a future buyer or insurer asks for.

Everything else we do in Covington

The rest of the Big Easy Roofing services available in Covington, each with its own page, crew and written scope. Where a roof does not need a full replacement, a repair, an inspection or gutter work is the cheaper honest answer.

Filter by service type: