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Roofing in Alexandria, VA: which district is your roof in?
Alexandria is an independent city, so a roof here answers to the City's own offices, not to Fairfax or Arlington County. What changes the paperwork is the address: two local historic districts, Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray, and a Council list of One Hundred Year Old Buildings put exterior work under the Board of Architectural Review. This guide starts there, then covers the documents, the ordinance text, Parker-Gray by wall, and the housing stock.
- 25 sq ft: the ordinance line between an alteration and a demolition permit
- 140 blocks and 5,677 structures in the two local districts
- 1st and 3rd Wednesdays: BAR hearings, with an August recess
Which district is your roof in?
Check the address on the City's Historic Preservation map viewer, or ask preservation staff at 703.746.3833. The local district lines differ from the National Register lines, so a neighborhood's reputation is not an answer. Then follow one of three paths.
Old and Historic Alexandria
From Hunting Creek north to Bashford Lane and from the Potomac River to near the King Street Metro, plus the Parkway portion and a buffer. Exterior changes visible from a public street, way or place need a certificate of appropriateness. Roofing of 25 square feet or more goes to staff, and the Board hears what staff refer.
Parker-Gray
A 40-block area. Residential projects also use the Parker-Gray Residential Reference Guide, which sorts a building by age (before 1932, or after 1931) and by wall. See the Parker-Gray table below, and the ordinance cost sentence that Old Town's text lacks.
Outside both
First check the One Hundred Year Old Buildings list: Council-designated buildings outside the districts are also regulated by the Board. If yours is not on it and not in either district, the Board review described here does not apply. National Register districts such as Fairlington, Parkfairfax and Rosemont are not regulated by Historic Preservation. The question becomes the Permit Center and the state code.
The City's tax guide says 22302, 22304, 22311 and 22312 are shared with Fairfax County and 22206 with Arlington County. Confirm the parcel's locality before treating this page as applying.
Permit and BAR documents, in the order they come up
The City splits historic approval from building permits. Its policy recommends getting staff approval before applying for the building permit, to avoid delays. Planning and Zoning does not issue building permits.
| Document | When it comes up | What the City says to attach or know | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff (administrative) application | Roofing of 25 sq ft or more that staff can approve | Photographs of existing conditions; specifications for the work; scaled survey plat if applicable | APEX, as a PDF |
| Association letter | The property has a homeowner's association | A copy of its approval letter | With the application |
| Easement approval | A preservation easement covers the property | The easement holder must approve | With the application |
| Full hearing application | Staff refer the case, or the element is Board-level | Certificate and demolition permit need separate APEX applications | APEX; hearings first and third Wednesday, 7:00 p.m., not August |
| Permit to demolish | Over 25 sq ft of material removed or capsulated, visible or not | Under 25 sq ft total of wall, roof or surface is treated as an alteration | Board, through APEX |
| Building permit | When the Permit Center or state code requires one | Three or more dwelling units counts as commercial | Code Administration, 703.746.4200 |
| Appeal | A Board denial or a staff decision | Fourteen days for each; for a Board denial, Council hearing within 75 days of notice | Council or the director |
Sources: BAR administrative application (May 2024), Historic Preservation FAQ (October 7, 2026), Permit Requirements (April 3, 2026), Zoning Ordinance 10-107.
The 2026 schedule sets the complete-application deadline about three weeks before each hearing: October 26 for December 2 and November 9 for December 16. A City presentation from August 2026 says about 75% of alterations are approved administratively.
What the zoning ordinance adds to the roofing sheet
Article X of the zoning ordinance is the law behind the City's roofing chapter, read here as Municode's version current on August 14, 2026.
Public view and the 25 square foot line
Section 10-103 requires a certificate for exterior features subject to public view from a public street, way or place. The 25 square feet on every City roofing sheet comes from 10-103(B) and its Parker-Gray twin, 10-203(B): removing less than 25 square feet total of exterior wall, roof or surface is an alteration. At that size or more it is a demolition, which the City's FAQ says needs a permit whether or not the work is visible.
The maintenance route, and who judges it
Section 10-109 allows "ordinary maintenance, including repair and replacement with the same design, color and material" without a certificate, but only after the director or a designee reviews it. The test is whether it removes a significant feature or continues a treatment Board policy calls inappropriate. A feature counts as significant when its materials appear original to the building, or when it is old and unusual enough that it cannot be easily duplicated.
Section 10-209 repeats that test and adds a sentence: it is not to be read as preventing in-kind replacement where using another material would materially raise the cost. Section 10-109 has no such sentence. Staff decide what it means for a given roof, so Parker-Gray owners should ask.
Neglect, appeals and expiry
Section 10-110 requires Old and Historic buildings to be kept in good repair and reasonably protected against decay. An appeal of a Board denial goes to Council on written notice within 14 days. An appeal of a staff decision goes to the director within 14 days and the Board reviews it fresh. A certificate expires 12 months after issuance if work has not begun, and is void if work stops for 12 months.
At a September 10, 2026 community meeting the City presented draft amendments that would clarify the Board's standards for routine maintenance, repairs and replacement and extend certificate and demolition permit validity from 12 to 36 months. Hearings were planned for November. Until adopted, the 12-month text applies.
State code and a 2012 City memo
Virginia's building code exempts unlimited roof covering replacement in groups R-3, R-4 and R-5 unless the design wind speed is over 100 mph, and 100 square feet or less in any group. Its exceptions let the building official require a permit application for replacement roofing in a locally designated historic district, and for exempted work in a special flood hazard area. A Code Administration memo dated April 12, 2012 said a permit is required in a historic district, naming Parker-Gray and Old Town. The current Permit Requirements page does not mention roofs, so ask Code Administration which reading applies today.
Parker-Gray roof rows, wall by wall
The Residential Reference Guide (2012, amended September 24, 2025) gives each element a level: Board at a hearing, staff, or neither. Its roof rows read the same for buildings built before 1932 and after 1931. A corner building has two fronts and two sides.
| Roof item | Front wall | Side and rear walls |
|---|---|---|
| Roofing, 25 sq ft or more | Staff | Staff |
| Roofing, under 25 sq ft; gutters | Neither | Neither |
| Dormers; solar systems | Board | Board |
| New skylights | Board | Board at 10 sq ft or more; staff under |
| Flat-profile skylight replacing one | Neither | Neither |
| Rooftop decks | Board | Neither, if 15 ft or more behind the front facade |
| Chimney or flue change | Staff | Staff |
| Demolishing a visible chimney | Board | Board |
Source: Parker-Gray Residential Reference Guide. It is a reference only; staff make the final call.
The guide says adopted Design Guidelines chapters take precedence over it, and the City says new chapters are meant to replace it and the administrative policies. The era split matters for other items, so find your building on the City's list of early and late Parker-Gray addresses.
Dormers, chimneys, skylights and solar
Each has its own Old and Historic chapter, amended in 2025, and is judged separately from the roof covering.
Dormers
The Board reviews building or demolishing a visible dormer. Staff review replacing dormer roofing or sidewall material. An unseen dormer needing under 25 square feet of roof removal needs no review.
Chimneys
Liners and non-masonry flue removal need no review, changes go to staff, and demolishing a visible chimney goes to the Board. The guideline says "Existing chimneys should not be removed or reduced in size."
Skylights
A flat-profile replacement needs no review. A new one under 10 square feet on a non-street-facing side is staff review; a street-facing one goes to the Board.
Solar
Not visible from the public right-of-way means no BAR review; visible goes to the Board. If the roof is replaced, the chapter asks for a compatible color so panels blend in.
The roofing chapter also recommends light colors on flat roofs to reduce air-conditioning loads and the urban heat island effect, and staff can supply a color chart.
Who decides: the housing stock behind the roofs
The City has 80,844 housing units and a median year built of 1974 (American Community Survey 2024 five-year estimates, accessed October 18, 2026). Attached homes, a Census category that includes rowhouses and townhouses, outnumber detached houses by more than five thousand, and six in ten homes are in buildings of five or more units.
| Building type | Housing units | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Detached house | 11,237 | 13.9% |
| Attached | 16,825 | 20.8% |
| 2 to 4 units | 3,457 | 4.3% |
| 5 to 49 units | 19,803 | 24.5% |
| 50 or more units | 29,452 | 36.4% |
Source: Census Bureau ACS 2024 five-year estimates, table B25024, City of Alexandria. Other types make up the remaining 70 units.
Houses and rowhouses
Of 32,065 owner-occupied homes, 20,818 are in one-unit buildings, and half of those, 10,600, were built before 1960. For these owners the district question decides which path applies.
Five or more units
10,682 owner households, a third of all owners, live in buildings of five or more units. Census does not separate condominiums from rentals, so treat that as a ceiling. Ask who owns the roof, and note that the Permit Center counts three or more dwelling units as commercial.
The two local districts hold 140 blocks and 5,677 structures, a count of structures that cannot be divided into the unit totals above.
The storm record
NOAA's Storm Events database lists 75 rows for the City of Alexandria from January 2016 through the file released September 18, 2026: 35 flash floods, 26 thunderstorm wind, 13 floods and 1 hail. Flood rows outnumber wind rows, 48 to 26, and no narrative mentions a roof or shingles. The strongest wind row, July 29, 2023, estimated 70 knots and brought down trees and wires citywide, many onto cars and houses. For a special flood hazard area the state code lets the building official require permit applications even for exempt roofing, so ask the City if the parcel is in one.
What to settle before a quote
- Is the address in Old and Historic, Parker-Gray, a One Hundred Year Old Building or none, per the City's map viewer or staff?
- Is the roof visible from a public street, and how many square feet are involved?
- Is the scope a repair, an in-kind replacement or a change of material?
- Does the job touch dormers, chimneys, skylights or solar?
- Does an association or preservation easement need to approve, and has Code Administration said whether a building permit applies?
Roofers of Arlington installs, repairs and replaces roofs, including flat roof systems and metal roofing. Book a phone consultation at (571) 397-6072 to talk through an Alexandria roof. We would ask for the address, the building type and what is visible from the street. The Arlington County hub guide covers the county next door.
Related pages
- Roof repair, roof replacement and all services
- Service areas and roofing in Arlington County
- Material pages for this area: metal, TPO, EPDM and PVC roofs in Alexandria
Sources checked, with dates
Municode blocks automated downloads, so the ordinance was read in a browser. Everything below was opened on October 18, 2026.
- Zoning Ordinance, Article X (version of August 14, 2026)
- Historic Preservation (updated October 7, 2026) and the districts page (July 2, 2025)
- Roofing chapter, Parker-Gray Residential Reference Guide and administrative approval policies
- Chapters on dormers, chimneys, skylights and solar
- BAR administrative application and 2026 hearing schedule
- Text amendment presentation (September 10, 2026) and guidelines presentation (August 19, 2026)
- Permit Requirements (April 3, 2026), policy PP 2012-01 (archived) and tax guide (January 8, 2026)
- 13VAC5-63-80, Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates and NOAA Storm Events bulk files
Questions people ask
Can I replace my Old Town roof with the same material without applying?
Possibly. The ordinance allows ordinary maintenance with the same design, color and material without a certificate if the director or a designee reviews it and finds it does not remove a significant feature. That review is the step, so ask preservation staff first.
Does Parker-Gray treat in-kind replacement differently from Old Town?
The text differs. The Parker-Gray section adds that the maintenance provision does not prevent replacing material in kind when another material would materially raise the cost. The Old and Historic section has no such sentence. Staff still decide each case, so photograph the existing roof.
What happens if the Board of Architectural Review denies a roof application?
The ordinance gives the applicant 14 days after the Board's decision to file written notice of appeal to City Council. The City's FAQ adds that a denied case cannot return to the Board for a year. A Council decision can go to circuit court within 30 days.
Does the state building code require a permit to re-roof in a historic district?
Virginia's code exempts several kinds of roof covering replacement, but an exception lets the local building official require a permit application in a locally designated historic district. A 2012 City memo said one is required. Confirm with Code Administration.
How long does a certificate of appropriateness last?
The ordinance says 12 months from issuance if work has not begun, and it is void if work stops for 12 months. The City has proposed 36 months. As of October 2026 that is a proposal heading to November hearings, not adopted text.
What goes in a staff application for roof work?
The City's administrative form asks for photographs of existing conditions, specifications for the work, and a scaled survey plat if applicable, plus an association approval letter or easement holder approval where those apply. Upload everything through APEX.
Talk through your roof with Roofers of Arlington
Share the address, what you are seeing on the roof and the decision you need to make. We will tell you what to expect before anything is scheduled.