What does commercial re-roofing cover?

Recovering or replacing the roof covering on a low slope commercial building, with the insulation, the edge metal and the drainage details that go with it. Whether the old roof comes off is decided first; this page covers what the new assembly has to resist.

Why is the roof edge listed separately?

Section 1504.6 gives metal edge systems on built-up, modified bitumen and single-ply roofs below a 2:12 slope their own wind design and test requirement, separate from the membrane. We name the edge system in the scope for that reason.

Does St. John the Baptist Parish require wind rated materials?

The parish Hazard Mitigation Plan proposes codes and ordinances that include "using materials rated for the appropriate windspeeds", as Mitigation Action 2. The plan lists that action as carried over and not started, and we have not found a parish ordinance that adopts it. Our reading, not the plan's: the requirement we work to is Chapter 15.

What does the parish plan say about wind damage?

It says damage from high winds can include roof damage and the destruction of homes and commercial buildings, that pressure against a wall rises with the square of the wind speed, and that buildings in need of maintenance are most subject to wind damage.

Does a commercial re-roof need a permit in LaPlace?

Louisiana requires every parish or municipality that issues construction permits to permit and inspect reroofing, and for buildings other than one and two family dwellings the code reference is International Building Code Chapter 15. In LaPlace the file goes to the St. John the Baptist Parish Permit Division on (985) 651-5565.

Can a component be swapped during the job?

Our practice, not a parish rule: not without checking the rating again. The tests the code names are run on an assembly, so the membrane, its attachment and the edge that go on the roof are the ones named in the scope.

Is the tear off or recover decision made here?

No. It is made under IBC Section 1512 and set out on our commercial roof replacement page. Whichever way it goes, the new covering answers to Chapter 15.

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Commercial Re-Roofing in LaPlace, LA

Big Easy Roofing re-roofs commercial and low slope buildings across LaPlace and the east bank of St. John the Baptist Parish. Once the tear off or recover question is settled, a re-roof decides how the new roof resists wind, from the field of the membrane to the metal at its edge.

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Service

City

Wind testedMembrane and edge

IBC Section 1504Wind resistance of roofs

Mitigation Action 2In the parish plan

Not startedThe plan's own status

LaPlace commercial re-roofing at a glance

A commercial re-roof sets how the new roof resists wind. International Building Code Chapter 15 asks for roof coverings designed for wind loads and, on membrane roofs, tested to a named standard. The parish Hazard Mitigation Plan lists materials rated for the appropriate windspeeds as a measure for future codes, recorded as not started.

Wind is already in the code

IBC Section 1504

Section 1504.1 says roof decks and roof coverings shall be designed for wind loads in accordance with Chapter 16 and Sections 1504.2, 1504.3, 1504.4 and 1504.5. Section 1512.1 applies Chapter 15 to the materials and methods used for recovering or replacing an existing roof covering.

Membranes are tested

FM 4474, UL 580 or UL 1897

Section 1504.4.1 says built-up, modified bitumen, fully adhered or mechanically attached single-ply roof systems, metal panel roof systems applied to a solid or closely fitted deck and other types of membrane roof coverings shall be tested in accordance with FM 4474, UL 580 or UL 1897.

The edge has its own test

ANSI/SPRI ES-1

Section 1504.6 covers metal edge systems, except gutters and counterflashing, on built-up, modified bitumen and single-ply roofs below a 2:12 slope. They are tested under Test Methods RE-1, RE-2 and RE-3 of ANSI/SPRI ES-1.

The parish plan names it

Mitigation Action 2

The parish Hazard Mitigation Plan lists "using materials rated for the appropriate windspeeds" among the measures for future building codes and ordinances covering industrial, commercial and residential structures. The plan records that action as not started.

Which office covers you

St. John the Baptist Parish

A LaPlace commercial re-roof is filed with the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565 at 1811 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace, through MyGovernmentOnline or in person.

Tear off or recover

Settled first, on another page

Whether the existing roof comes off or is recovered is settled under IBC Section 1512 on our commercial roof replacement page. This page takes the next question: what the new assembly is built to resist.

This page addresses roofing on buildings treated as nonresidential for licensing and code purposes. Mixed use buildings and residential multifamily need their own classification and code review.

The code sections on this page are from the model International Building Code Chapter 15 text we read in September 2026. The parish does not publish an edition year on its permits page. The plan quotes are from the parish 2021 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. Commercial re-roofing is priced on area and assembly rather than a published range, so call Big Easy Roofing for a scoped price.

What Chapter 15 asks of a re-roofed low slope assembly

The wind section of Chapter 15 does not treat a low slope roof as one thing. The field of the membrane, the metal edge, a gutter that holds the membrane edge and a ballasted system each have their own requirement. The table sets out what the code text says for each and what goes in our scope.

Part of the roof	What the code text says	What we put in the scope	Why it matters
Adhered or mechanically attached membrane	Section 1504.4: designed to resist the design wind load pressures for components and cladding under Section 1609.5.2. Section 1504.4.1: tested to FM 4474, UL 580 or UL 1897.	The tested assembly by name, with its fastening or adhesive pattern.	Our practice, not a parish rule: the roof we install is the assembly that was tested, so nothing is swapped on site without the rating being checked again.
Metal edge system	Section 1504.6: designed for wind loads under Chapter 16 and tested to Test Methods RE-1, RE-2 and RE-3 of ANSI/SPRI ES-1. Gutters and counterflashing are excluded from this section.	The edge system named with the standard it was tested to.	The code gives the edge a test of its own, separate from the field of the membrane.
Gutter that secures the membrane edge	Section 1504.6.1: designed, constructed and installed to resist wind loads under Section 1609, and tested to Test Methods G-1 and G-2 of SPRI GT-1.	Whether the gutter holds the membrane edge, and if it does, the tested gutter system.	Section 1504.6.1 separately covers gutters that secure the perimeter edge of the membrane and gives them their own wind design and test.
Ballasted single ply	Section 1504.5: designed in accordance with ANSI/SPRI RP-4.	The ballast design to that standard, where a ballasted system is proposed at all.	The code sends a ballasted system to a design standard of its own.

The table paraphrases the model code text we read; the section numbers are quoted as printed. The design pressures for a particular building are calculated under Chapter 16 for that building, not read off this page.

The code and the parish file, on a LaPlace commercial re-roof

Louisiana requires every parish or municipality that issues construction permits to permit and inspect reroofing, and for buildings other than one and two family dwellings the code named is International Building Code Chapter 15. Section 1512.1 brings a recover or replacement under the whole chapter, the wind section included. The parish Permit Division confirms what the scope requires.

The permit statute

R.S. 37:3737(I)

Act 239 of 2025 required any parish or municipality that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing. Act 881 of 2026 recodified the section. Subsection (I)(1) names IBC Chapter 15 for buildings other than one and two family dwellings.

Reroofing answers to the chapter

IBC Section 1512.1

Section 1512.1 says: "Materials and methods of application used for recovering or replacing an existing roof covering shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 15." The wind resistance requirements in Section 1504 sit inside that chapter.

Who confirms the scope

St. John the Baptist Parish

The Permit Division on (985) 651-5565, on the 1st floor of the parish Government Building at 1811 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace. Applications go through MyGovernmentOnline or in person at the counter.

What the file shows

The assembly by name

Our practice, not a parish rule: the scope we file names the membrane assembly, its fastening or adhesive pattern and the edge system, each with the standard it was tested to, so the plan set and the roof describe the same thing.

Why the edge gets its own line

Section 1504.6 gives metal edge systems on low slope roofs their own design and test requirement, apart from the membrane in the field. The edge is where the membrane is terminated and held.

Our reading, not the code's: because the code tests the edge separately, a re-roof scope that names only the membrane has left out part of what the code asks for. We name both.

Where tear off or recover is decided

This page does not restate the recover rules. They sit on the commercial roof replacement page, with the Section 1512 bar and the parish commercial form that the file is built on.

Either way the answer comes out, the new covering answers to Chapter 15, and that is the point of Section 1512.1.

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What the parish plan says about wind and roofs

The St. John the Baptist Parish Hazard Mitigation Plan, updated in 2021, says damage from high winds can include roof damage and the destruction of homes and commercial buildings. It proposes codes that use materials rated for the appropriate windspeeds, and it records that action as carried over and not started.

What the plan says wind does

The plan says "Damage from high winds can include roof damage, destruction of homes and commercial buildings, ...". It adds that "Pressure against a wall rises with the square of the wind speed", that damage is increased when debris breaks the building envelope, which it says includes the roof, and that "Mobile homes and buildings in need of maintenance are most subject to wind damage."

You can read the plan on the parish Hazard Mitigation Plan Update page.

Mitigation Action 2

Titled "Adopt Building Codes and Ordinances Related to Hardening of Future Industrial, Commercial, and Residential Structures", with the Parish Council as lead agency and a medium priority. Its measures include "using materials rated for the appropriate windspeeds". Its status reads "New (Carried Over/Not Started from 2016 Update)".

Our reading, not the plan's: in the plan it is a proposal for future codes, and we have not found a parish ordinance that adopts it. What a commercial re-roof answers to is Chapter 15.

How the planning survey ranked it

The plan reports that survey respondents "had mixed ideas about the importance of both hardening of future industrial, commercial, and residential structures, and generator installation." In the plan's prioritized list of 13 activities, that hardening item is eleventh.

Our reading, not the plan's: with the plan treating wind rated materials as a proposal, the new roof assembly is addressed in the project scope against Chapter 15.

Big Easy Roofing Process

Four steps. The tear off or recover decision comes first, and the wind rated assembly is named in the scope before the file goes to the parish, so the plan set and the finished roof match.

A roofer checking the metal edge and membrane termination on a LaPlace commercial low slope roof

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Survey the roof, the edge and the deck

Membrane, insulation condition, number of existing layers, the deck and the existing edge metal. Whether the job is a tear off or a recover is settled under Section 1512 on the commercial replacement page workflow.

Name the tested assembly and the edge

The membrane assembly, its fastening or adhesive pattern, the edge system and any gutter that secures the membrane edge, each with the standard Chapter 15 names for it.

File with the parish Permit Division

The scope and plan set lodged through MyGovernmentOnline or at the LaPlace counter, with building code questions put to the parish before the file goes in.

Install to the scope and hand over the records

The roof goes on as the tested assembly, with no substitutions that have not been checked. At close-out you receive the permit file, the scope naming the assembly and the manufacturer warranty file.

Everything else we do in LaPlace

The rest of the Big Easy Roofing services available in LaPlace, each with its own page and scope of work. Tear off or recover is decided on the commercial replacement page, and the moisture survey behind that decision is on the commercial inspections page.

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