A cracked field tile on a 1920s Spanish house off Roxbury usually isn't the leak. Water gets in three courses uphill, runs the batten, and shows up over the dining room. That's the kind of call we get in the flats — clay and slate roofs where the tile is fine but the underlayment underneath quit years ago. We lift, stack, re-felt, and relay the original tile where it's salvageable, because matching a discontinued barrel profile is a losing game.
The city's rules shape the job before we touch anything. Wood shake and wood shingle are banned outright here — Class A, non-wood, no exceptions — and the permit application wants photos of the existing roof, the ICC-ES report number for the material, and the Cool Roof Rating Label. If the roof shows from the street in the Central Area, or the house is historically designated, Planning reviews the look of it before the permit issues at 455 N. Rexford. Detached garage? That's its own permit.
North of Sunset builds differently than the flats
Up toward Coldwater and Benedict Canyon you're in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so Chapter 7A ember-resistant assemblies and vents apply. Down in the flats they don't. Same city, two different roofs.
Do I need a separate permit for my garage roof?
Yes. Beverly Hills permits each structure separately, so the main house and a detached garage are two applications. We handle both together so the inspections line up.
What happens to my solar panels during a re-roof?
The array has to come off and go back on, and that work must be done by licensed contractors. We coordinate the removal and reinstall around the roofing schedule rather than leaving panels stacked in the driveway for weeks.