Roofing Contractors in WhittierClass A Citywide, and Rules for Pre-1941 Homes

Permits: Over the Counter, Class A Required

Whittier's Building & Safety Division requires a permit and inspections for any reroof, and says most permits can be issued over the counter; residential reroofs can also be applied for online through the city's Accela portal. Two citywide rules shape the job:

• Every roof in the city must be Class A, not only those in a fire hazard zone.
• Bring the product details. The application asks for the manufacturer's specifications (style, model and color), the ICC-ES evaluation report, whether the old roof comes off, whether new sheathing goes on, and the underlayment. A low-slope roof (2:12 or less) needs the specs for the whole system, from base sheet to cap sheet.

Addresses in unincorporated neighbors such as South Whittier, West Whittier-Los Nietos and Hacienda Heights permit through LA County Public Works instead.

Source: City of Whittier Building & Safety, FAQs.

Pre-1941 Homes and the Historic Districts

Whittier is an old city: two-thirds of its homes were built before 1960, and nearly nine in ten before 1980. For a reroof on any building built before 1941, the city requires planning approval of the architecture, finish materials and colors. Inside the four locally designated historic districts, work goes through the Historic Resources Commission's Certificate of Appropriateness:

Roofing is on the city's list of work that can use the simpler Certificate of Appropriateness waiver when there's no significant change in appearance, so a like-for-like reroof is the easier path; a change of material or roof pitch is not.

Sources: City of Whittier historic districts; Certificate of Appropriateness waiver; U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024, table B25034, via Census Reporter.

Zone 9, SCE and the 1987 Earthquake

Every Whittier ZIP code is Title 24 climate zone 9, so a steep-slope residential reroof needs a cool-rated product unless an exception applies; see the Title 24 cool roof guide. Power is delivered by Southern California Edison with Clean Power Alliance as the default generator, so LADWP's rebate doesn't apply. Older homes here carry one more piece of history: the magnitude 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake of October 1, 1987 did its heaviest damage in Uptown Whittier. If a chimney was rebuilt or braced after it, the flashing where it meets the roof is worth a close look on any reroof bid.

Source: Southern California Earthquake Data Center, 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake; City of Whittier, Clean Power Alliance.

ZIP Codes in Whittier

These ZIP codes cover most of the City of Whittier. Addresses inside the city use its building department and the notes on this page; parts of a ZIP code outside the city line permit elsewhere. All of them are Title 24 climate zone 9.

ZIP codes listed when at least a quarter of the ZIP area lies in the City of Whittier, or it holds a tenth of the city's land (Census 2020 ZIP-to-city relationship file). A ZIP can include addresses outside the city, which use another building department. Climate zones from the California Energy Commission's ZIP code list; confirm an address near a zone line with the CEC climate zone tool.

Whittier Roofing FAQs