Northeast Los Angeles here means two of the city's community plan areas. The first is Northeast Los Angeles itself, with neighborhoods such as Highland Park, Mt. Washington, Glassell Park and Eagle Rock. The second is Silver Lake-Echo Park-Elysian Valley. All of it is inside the City of LA, so LADBS handles roof permits. Citywide rules are on our Los Angeles area guide.
What stands out
- Many houses date from before 1940.
- Most reroof permits here were at addresses inside a 2025 recommended Very High fire zone.
- Several historic districts can add a planning review to a reroof.
Permits by year
Using the city's open permit data, we counted permits whose work description says "reroof," "re-roof" or "re roof."
- 2021: 792
- 2022: 967
- 2023: 1,523
- 2024: 1,385
- 2025: 1,348
- 2026 through October 31: 1,397
That is 7,412 in all. The 2026 count passed the full 2025 count with two months still to go. About 86% were for 1 or 2 family homes. By ZIP, the leaders were 90042 (1,398), 90065 (1,283), 90026 (1,120), 90041 (989), 90039 (982) and 90032 (939). Counts reflect issued permits, not finished jobs or unpermitted work.
About three in four permits sit in a Very High zone
We matched each permit address to CAL FIRE's 2025 recommended map data for local areas. About 73% of the permits fell in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Another 9% were in High and 6% in Moderate. Only about 12% were outside any zone. The two plan areas were nearly the same, at 74% and 73%.
That is far higher than in the Valley or the Westside flats. It matters because the city's express reroof permit requires a Class A roof covering in Very High zones. LAFD noted that the city must adopt the new maps by ordinance and cannot lower a zone the state recommends. Our overlay is an estimate. Use the state viewer to check one address, and read fire hazard severity zones in LA.
Built before 1940
Census survey data (ACS 2024 5-year) shows how old the housing is:
| ZIP | Median year built | Built 1939 or earlier |
|---|---|---|
| 90042 | 1952 | 41% |
| 90065 | 1952 | 38% |
| 90026 | 1945 | 46% |
| 90041 | 1947 | 43% |
| 90039 | 1952 | 41% |
| 90032 | 1950 | 35% |
| 90031 | 1948 | 43% |
Older homes can hide earlier roof layers or past repairs. Our guide to looking up roof permit history shows how to find what LADBS has on file.
HPOZ review for some reroofs
Historic Preservation Overlay Zones on the city's list include Highland Park-Garvanza, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno-Berkshire and Angelino Heights. City Planning's HPOZ FAQ says most exterior changes in an HPOZ need written approval from the Planning Department. Its own sample email is about "in-kind reroofing" in the Highland Park HPOZ. The FAQ advises talking to the HPOZ planner before applying for permits at LADBS.
Climate zone 9
Every Northeast LA ZIP in our count is in Building Climate Zone 9 on the Energy Commission's list. Under the 2025 state energy code, steep-slope reroofs in Zones 4 and 8 through 15 must meet cool roof values when more than half the roof is replaced. So the state rule can apply here, along with the city's own cool roof rule. Details are in cool roofs in California.
Sources
- City of Los Angeles Open Data: Building and Safety, Building Permits Issued from 2020 to Present (data through 2026-10-31)
- 2025 Recommended LRA Fire Hazard Severity Zones, LA County data layer (FHSZLRA25_Phase4_v1)
- LAFD: 2025 CAL FIRE Fire Hazard Severity Zones Map Recommendation (2025-04-04)
- Census Reporter, ACS 2024 5-year, Year Structure Built (B25034) by ZIP
- LADBS Information Bulletin P/GI 2026-003: Express Permits
- 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)
- LA City Planning, Office of Historic Resources Info Brief: HPOZ FAQs
- LA City Planning, HPOZ Initial Screening Checklist
