Shingle roof in Chomedey

Chomedey's sloped roofs

In the former core of Saint-Martin, the City describes a mix of single-family homes, plexes and larger buildings. Its inventory of architectural heritage lists 77 main buildings in Chomedey. Among them are 20 gable roofs with flared eaves, 16 flat or low-slope roofs, 10 false mansards and 9 mansard roofs. Asphalt shingles cover 40 of these buildings.

This inventory only describes heritage buildings, not the whole area. It only shows that roofing in Chomedey can also mean a sloped roof covered with shingles.

When the permit applies

The Code de l'urbanisme (Laval's urban planning code) defines a sloped roof as a roof whose slope exceeds 16.7%, that is, 2:12. For the permit, the City's page on exterior residential renovation looks only at the material.

• Replacing the covering with the same material, with or without added insulation: no permit.
• Replacing it with a new material: permit required.

The City does not define what same material means. Asphalt shingles installed in place of asphalt shingles seem to be the clearest case, and metal in place of shingles the opposite. For a less clear case, ask the Service de l'urbanisme (the City's planning department). If we have to rework the roof structure, the Code no longer exempts the work from a permit: the exemption only covers maintenance that does not change load-bearing components.

The materials Laval allows

The Code de l'urbanisme keeps a closed list of roof coverings. For a sloped roof, it includes:

• asphalt, aluminum, enamelled or textured steel, wood or fibreglass shingles
• factory-painted and pre-baked metal
• clay, slate or fibreglass tiles
• galvanized sheet metal: standing seam, batten seam or Canadian style
• copper
• composite roofing

The same chapter lists asbestos shingles among prohibited materials. If you find on the ground a piece of stiff, brittle shingle that you cannot identify, do not touch it and tell us about it.

No white roof for a sloped roof

The requirement for a white, green or highly reflective covering is in article 380 of the Code, which covers buildings with a flat roof. A shingle roof with a slope above 2:12 does not fall into that category. Article 380 imposes no colour on a sloped roof. For a heritage address, see the next section.

The village of Saint-Martin and heritage buildings

The village of Saint-Martin is one of the Code's territories of heritage interest. For the main building of a property located in one of these territories, changing the roof covering materials requires a PIIA (site planning and architectural integration program).

The Code provides an exemption: replacing a material with the same material in a similar colour, or with a material that preserves or restores the building's original or traditional features. Shingles replaced with similar shingles fall under the first case. A different colour or a different material can bring the project under the PIIA, unless it restores the building's original roof. The City decides.

The same rule covers buildings of heritage interest, whether or not they are in such a territory. The territory's limits are on the Code's maps. To find out whether your address is concerned, look it up in the City's Info-règlements tool.

What you can look at from the ground

Do not climb onto the roof or up a ladder. From the yard, look for shingles with lifting corners, darker areas where the granules are gone, and pieces fallen at the foot of the walls. Photograph what you see. These photos will help during the visit.

Frequently asked questions