Roofing in Lachine: Repair and Replacement

The roofs you find in Lachine

Lachine's buildings are varied. It has houses with sloped roofs, often shingled, plexes and apartment buildings with flat roofs, as well as commercial and industrial buildings.

The City publishes two separate procedures, one for flat or low-slope roofs and one for sloped roofs. The dividing line is a slope of 2:12. Below it, the roof is considered flat. As everywhere for roofing in Montreal, the rules change from one borough to another, and Lachine's have their own features.

What you can repair without a permit

For both roof types, the City writes the same thing. You need no permit to maintain or repair your roof. The two procedures give a few examples.

• replacing a few shingles
• adding tar on a flat roof
• repairing the covering of a sloped roof

The City sets no number separating a repair from a replacement. If in doubt, the permit counter decides.

When a repair needs a permit

Both procedures set a limit. If you touch the insulation or the roof structure, you must get a permit, even for a repair.

This happens when water has been getting in for a long time and the wood or insulation under the covering can no longer be saved. Ask us, at the quote stage, what we will do in that case and who will then handle the permit.

A permit is also required in two other situations.

• replacing the roof covering, flat or sloped
• changing the roof structure

Permit fees published by the City

When a permit is required, review fees vary with the estimated cost of the work. For Lachine, the City publishes the following rates.

• $9.80 per $1,000 of work
• a minimum of $167.40 for a strictly residential building
• a minimum of $491.70 for a commercial, industrial, institutional or mixed-use building

The estimate must include all costs tied to the work, taxes included. The fees are non-refundable. Extra fees may be added if the building, or the area it sits in, has heritage value or is subject to special architectural standards. The City does not give the amount of those extra fees.

The Lachine permit counter

There are two ways to apply.

Online, the City lets you group all renovation permit applications at once, covering roofing, interior, doors and windows, exterior cladding, balconies and stairs. You need an account on montreal.ca, and payment is by credit card.

In person, the service point is the Lachine permit counter, 1800, boulevard Saint-Joseph. The City page gives no opening hours, does not say whether an appointment is needed, and gives no processing time. Check these points with the counter before going.

What you can do before our visit

Do not go up on the roof, even a flat one, and leave the ladder alone. Here is what you can do safely.

• photograph ceiling stains and note the date they appeared
• look at the roof from the ground, the street or a neighbour's window
• look into the attic from the hatch, with a flashlight, without going in
• protect the inside with a container and a tarp under the leak

We take care of the rest. Ask us for our RBQ licence number and check it in the public register of the Régie du bâtiment du Québec, as with any contractor. For water damage, ask your insurer what your policy provides.

The four topics detailed for Lachine

The flat roof. Allowed materials differ between existing buildings and new construction. For existing buildings, the City gives a list that includes copper, zinc and galvanized sheet metal installed Canadian style. For new construction, it requires a material with a solar reflectance index (SRI) of at least 78, a green roof or a combination of the two. That threshold of 78 is not in the list for existing buildings.

The shingle roof. For sloped roofs, the City procedure publishes no list of materials in Lachine. The page explains what to make of that silence.

Commercial roofing. For commercial, industrial or mixed-use buildings, the minimum permit fee is higher, and a manager has a few extra documents to plan for.

Full replacement. The last page follows the process in order, from the quote to filing the application, for anyone redoing a whole roof.

Frequently asked questions