Long Beach runs its own Building and Safety Bureau inside the Community Development Department. Here is what we found on the city's pages, plus a few public data points about the housing stock.
When roofing work skips a permit
The city's "Do I Need a Permit?" page lists two roof items that do not need a building permit:
- Roofing up to 100 square feet on an existing building, within any 12-month period.
- Hot or cold paint applied to a roof.
Both apply "as determined by the Building Official." Anything bigger falls outside that list. The page says most construction work, including replacements and repairs in homes, needs permits and inspections.
Express reroof permits
Information Bulletin IB-058 describes the Express Permit Service. An express permit needs no plans or calculations. Two roof jobs are on its list:
- B9, composition shingles. Asphalt or fiberglass shingles over solid sheathing, or over at most one existing layer of shingles that sits on solid sheathing. Shingles may weigh no more than 6 pounds per square foot.
- B10, built-up roofing. Class A or B material over solid sheathing, or over at most one existing built-up layer on solid sheathing.
There is a catch. IB-058 says express permits are not available for projects in the Coastal Zone, in a Historic District, or on a qualified historical building. The bulletin also notes that inspections still apply.
The city's online system, LB Services Permitting and Licensing, lists "Building Reroof" among the permits it can issue online.
Historic districts have their own roof form
Homes in a historic district or landmarks need a Certificate of Appropriateness before reroofing. The Planning Bureau's re-roofing application (revised December 16, 2025) asks for the existing and proposed roof, brand and color. A few rules stand out on the form:
- Dimensional composition shingles must be rated 30 years minimum.
- No midnight or black shingles are allowed.
- Clay tile coping must be reused on all flat roofs.
The form pairs roofing materials with house styles. For example, it lists composition shingles as the preferred substitute for wood shingles on Craftsman and Victorian homes. The certificate does not replace the building permit. The city asks owners in historic districts to contact the Planning Bureau (562.570.6194) before starting any project.
No mapped fire hazard zones
We overlaid CAL FIRE's 2025 recommended Local Responsibility Area map data on Long Beach's city limits. We found no Moderate, High or Very High zone inside the city. All of it is classed as non-wildland. This is our own map check, so confirm a specific parcel with the city.
An older housing stock
Census estimates put the citywide median year built at 1959 (ACS 2024 1-year). Roughly 19% of units date to 1939 or earlier, and about 77% were built before 1980. That makes Long Beach older on average than the City of Los Angeles, where the median is 1965.
The picture changes by neighborhood. ACS 2024 5-year estimates by ZIP:
| ZIP | Median year built | Built before 1980 | Owner-occupied |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90806 | 1951 | 82% | 37% |
| 90807 | 1951 | 87% | 57% |
| 90808 | 1955 | 95% | 82% |
| 90815 | 1957 | 88% | 65% |
| 90805 | 1959 | 80% | 42% |
| 90803 | 1960 | 83% | 44% |
| 90802 | 1970 | 64% | 21% |
ZIPs 90808 and 90815 have mostly owner-occupied homes built in the 1950s and 1960s. Downtown 90802 is newer and mostly rented.
No open reroof permit data
The City of Los Angeles and LA County publish permit records as open data, so reroof permits there can be counted. We did not find a similar public dataset of Long Beach reroof permits. That is why this page has no permit counts. For one property, the city's permit portal and the steps in how to look up roof permit history are the way to check.
Two climate zones, two outcomes
Most Long Beach ZIP codes are in Building Climate Zone 6. The CEC list puts 90805, 90807 and 90808 in Zone 8. That split matters. The state's 2025 cool roof chart applies its steep-slope reroof rule to Zones 4 and 8 through 15. Zone 6 is not on that list. See cool roofs in California and reroof permit basics.
Where to go
The Permit Center is at 411 W. Ocean Blvd., 2nd Floor. The Building and Safety line is 562.570.PMIT (7648). To check what was done on a house before, see how to look up roof permit history.
Sources
- City of Long Beach, Do I Need a Permit?
- City of Long Beach, Information Bulletin IB-058, Express Permit Service
- City of Long Beach, LB Services Permitting and Licensing portal
- City of Long Beach Planning Bureau, Certificate of Appropriateness Re-Roofing Application (rev. 2025-12-16)
- 2025 Recommended LRA Fire Hazard Severity Zones, LA County data layer (FHSZLRA25_Phase4_v1)
- LA County GIS, City Boundaries layer
- Census Reporter, ACS 2024 1-year, Year Structure Built (B25034), Long Beach
- Census Reporter, ACS 2024 5-year, Year Structure Built (B25034) and Tenure (B25003) by Long Beach ZIP
- Census Reporter, ACS 2024 1-year, Year Structure Built (B25034), Los Angeles city
- California Energy Commission, Building Climate Zones by ZIP Code
- Cool Roof Rating Council, Chart of 2025 CA Energy Code Cool Roof Requirements (2025-12-04)
