Roof replacement, repair and storm damage in all 29 jurisdictions we cover in York County, each with its own page: the local permit rule, the code edition it enforces and the building department's number. Of the county's 115,091 homes, 76% were built before 2000 — past the usual 25-year life of a roof — and the median year built is 1980.
Click a town for its full permit and code detail.
| Town | Permit for a re-roof | Adopted code | Building official | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton | Not published | 2021 IRC | — | 207-636-3131 |
| Alfred | Conditional | 2021 IRC | Steve Fortier, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-324-5872 |
| Arundel | Not published | 2021 IRC | Ryan Lawler, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-985-4201 |
| Berwick | Not published | 2021 IRC | Terry Wilson, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-698-1101 |
| Biddeford | Not published | 2021 IRC | Roby Fecteau, Director of Code Enforcement and Emergency Management | 207-284-9236 |
| Buxton | Conditional | 2021 IRC | Patti McKenna, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-929-3046 |
| Cornish | Not published | Enforcement optional | Dan Vaillancourt, Code Enforcement Officer, Building and Plumbing Inspector | 207-653-4608 |
| Dayton | Not published | Enforcement optional | — | 207-499-3034 |
| Eliot | No | 2021 IRC | Shelly Bishop, Code Enforcement Officer / Health Officer | 207-439-1813 |
| Hollis | Conditional | 2021 IRC | Duane Hanson, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-929-2251 |
| Kennebunk | Not published | 2021 IRC | Frank Kunkel, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-604-1303 |
| Kennebunkport | No | 2021 IRC | Mike Demers, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-967-1605 |
| Kittery | Yes | 2021 IRC | Kearsten Metz and Carrie Varao, Code Enforcement Officers | 207-475-1304 |
| Lebanon | Not published | 2021 IRC | Rod Furbush, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-457-6082 |
| Limerick | No | 2021 IRC | Stanley Hackett, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-793-4470 |
| Limington | Not published | 2021 IRC | Craig Galarneau, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-637-5209 |
| Lyman | No | 2021 IRC | — | 207-247-0647 |
| Newfield | No | 2021 IRC | Norman Hutchins, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-608-2544 |
| North Berwick | Not published | 2021 IRC | Matt LeConte, Code Enforcement | 207-676-3353 |
| Ogunquit | Not published | 2021 IRC | Tyler McOsker, Director of Codes and Health Officer | 207-646-9326 |
| Old Orchard Beach | Not published | 2021 IRC | Rick Haskell, Director of Code Enforcement | 207-937-5645 |
| Parsonsfield | Not published | Enforcement optional | Norman Hutchins, Code Enforcement Officer | — |
| Saco | Not published | 2021 IRC | David Twomey, Director of Code Enforcement | 207-284-6983 |
| Sanford | Not published | 2021 IRC | Jamie Cole, Chief Code Enforcement Officer | 207-324-9145 |
| Shapleigh | Not published | 2021 IRC | Brian Paul, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-636-2844 |
| South Berwick | No | 2021 IRC | Alan Plummer, Code Enforcement Officer, Licensed Plumbing Inspector and Health Officer | 207-384-3301 |
| Waterboro | Not published | 2021 IRC | Jason Sevigny, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-247-6166 |
| Wells | Not published | 2021 IRC | Jodine Adams, Code Enforcement Officer | 207-646-5187 |
| York | Yes | 2021 IRC | Harry Norton Jr., Director of Code Enforcement | 207-363-1002 |
We list a building official's name only where the jurisdiction publishes one — 26 of 29 here do. We list a permit answer only where the jurisdiction states one — 11 of 29 here do, and 2 of those clearly require a permit. Everything else is left blank on purpose.
Each line is a summary of that town's own page.
York County has 115,091 homes in the Census count, with a median year built of 1980. 20% were built before 1940, 50% before 1980 and 24% in 2000 or later; the single biggest decade was the years before 1940, with 22,926 homes (20%). 70% of homes are single-family detached houses and 77% of occupied homes are owner-occupied; the count includes 7,046 mobile homes.
The rule of thumb in the Maine Bureau of Insurance's claims guide is a useful life of usually about 25 years for a roof. On that yardstick, 87,754 homes across York County (76%) were built before 2000 and have outlived at least one roof, and 42,635 (37%) predate 1970. The 15,355 homes from the 2000s are where first replacements are coming up now.
Across the 29 places we cover here with their own Census figures, Biddeford has the oldest housing (41% before 1940) and Wells the newest (39% built in 2000 or later). Biddeford is the largest, at 10,502 homes, and Biddeford has the highest share of renters (52%), where the roof is more often a landlord's decision.
| Place | Homes | Median built | Before 1940 | 2000 or later | Detached | Owner-occupied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biddeford | 10,502 | 1952 | 41% | 11% | 41% | 48% |
| Sanford | 10,246 | 1975 | 23% | 14% | 61% | 71% |
| Saco | 9,869 | 1982 | 22% | 25% | 56% | 73% |
| Wells | 9,644 | 1989 | 8% | 39% | 67% | 90% |
| York | 8,795 | 1977 | 22% | 20% | 83% | 81% |
| Old Orchard Beach | 7,796 | 1982 | 23% | 23% | 51% | 68% |
| Kennebunk | 6,403 | 1983 | 19% | 25% | 65% | 81% |
| Kittery | 5,534 | 1965 | 25% | 25% | 63% | 67% |
| Buxton | 3,943 | 1981 | 19% | 24% | 78% | 80% |
| Waterboro | 3,544 | 1983 | 6% | 26% | 90% | 90% |
| Berwick | 3,413 | 1989 | 16% | 37% | 74% | 87% |
| Eliot | 3,201 | 1979 | 24% | 25% | 81% | 80% |
| South Berwick | 3,172 | 1982 | 22% | 18% | 77% | 78% |
| Kennebunkport | 2,907 | 1982 | 13% | 25% | 90% | 81% |
| Lebanon | 2,693 | 1989 | 14% | 28% | 83% | 97% |
| Acton | 2,298 | 1974 | 16% | 23% | 97% | 96% |
| Lyman | 2,268 | 1979 | 8% | 23% | 85% | 95% |
| North Berwick | 2,238 | 1983 | 24% | 30% | 85% | 89% |
| Ogunquit | 2,093 | 1978 | 20% | 20% | 75% | 94% |
| Shapleigh | 2,060 | 1980 | 11% | 26% | 96% | 95% |
| Hollis | 1,944 | 1977 | 20% | 21% | 83% | 88% |
| Arundel | 1,803 | 1992 | 6% | 33% | 78% | 82% |
| Limington | 1,742 | 1986 | 7% | 27% | 89% | 91% |
| Limerick | 1,597 | 1994 | 4% | 30% | 88% | 90% |
| Alfred | 1,400 | 1983 | 19% | 29% | 74% | 82% |
| Newfield | 1,170 | 1977 | 10% | 22% | 92% | 97% |
| Parsonsfield | 1,081 | 1977 | 25% | 25% | 83% | 86% |
| Dayton | 872 | 1990 | 14% | 28% | 89% | 90% |
| Cornish | 863 | 1976 | 18% | 23% | 81% | 82% |
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 22,926 | 20% | |
| 1940s | 5,041 | 4% | |
| 1950s | 7,463 | 6% | |
| 1960s | 7,205 | 6% | |
| 1970s | 14,791 | 13% | |
| 1980s | 18,400 | 16% | |
| 1990s | 11,928 | 10% | |
| 2000s | 15,355 | 13% | |
| 2010s | 9,851 | 9% | |
| 2020 or later | 2,131 | 2% |
Figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (tables B25001, B25003, B25024, B25034, B25035). Survey estimates carry margins of error, widest in the smallest places. Census table.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged 8 reports of hail 1 inch or larger in York County from 2016 through 2025, on 4 days. 0 were 1.75 inches or larger, and 0 of those reached 2 inches; the largest, 1.5 inches, fell on July 14, 2020. The busiest single day was July 14, 2020, with 3 reports.
| Year | Reports | |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 8 | |
| 2021 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 0 |
Counted within 5 miles of each town’s center, Alfred has the most reports (2) and Berwick the fewest (0). Each town’s own page lists its latest dates. Reports come from spotters and the public, so busier places log more of them.
Maine has one building code for the whole state, the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code: every town of more than 4,000 people has to enforce it, a smaller town may choose to, and no town may use any other building code. What changes from one town to the next is whether the town enforces it, who issues the permit and what that office asks for. Of the 29 jurisdictions we cover in York County, these publish the edition they enforce:
Cornish, Dayton and Parsonsfield are not required to enforce a building code: Maine law leaves code enforcement optional for a town of 4,000 or fewer people (10 M.R.S. 9724(1-A)).
Design wind is set by location here: across greater Portland and southern Maine the published ultimate design wind speeds run 115–120 mph, depending on where a house stands. Ground snow load is set for each address, not one figure for the whole area: the published figures here run 50–70 psf. What each figure does to a roof is in our Portland roofing code guide.
It depends on the town, not the county. Of the 29 jurisdictions we cover across York County, 2 require one (Kittery, York); 6 exempt a like-for-like re-roof (Eliot, Kennebunkport, Limerick, Lyman, Newfield, South Berwick); 3 exempt it only under conditions (Alfred, Buxton, Hollis); the other 18 publish no answer either way. Each town page says which applies and links the building department.
Of the jurisdictions we cover across York County, these publish the edition they enforce: the 2021 IRC in Acton, Alfred, Arundel, Berwick, Biddeford, Buxton. Cornish, Dayton and Parsonsfield are not required to enforce one: Maine law leaves code enforcement optional for a town of 4,000 or fewer people (10 M.R.S. 9724(1-A)). The edition in force is the one your roof is inspected against.
The Census Bureau's 2020–2024 estimates put the median year built across York County at 1980, with 20% of its 115,091 homes built before 1940 and 24% in 2000 or later. 76% were built before 2000, so most have had at least one new roof already.
No. Maine does not license roofers or home contractors: the Attorney General's office says general contractors and trades such as roofing are not licensed or regulated in the state. What Maine law requires instead is a written contract, signed by both sides with no more than one-third down, for any home repair job over $3,000 (10 M.R.S. 1487). Each town's code office issues its own permits, so ask it what it needs before work starts.
26 of the 29 we cover publish a name: Alfred, Arundel, Berwick, Biddeford, Buxton, Cornish, Eliot, Hollis, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport. Where a name is published, it is on that town's page with the department's own number.
Town rules from each jurisdiction's own pages, researched 2026-10-24; housing, Census ACS 2020–2024; hail, NOAA Storm Prediction Center. Sources: data.census.gov · www.spc.noaa.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · legislature.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.maine.gov · www.topshammaine.com. Rules and staff change; check with the jurisdiction.
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