This site prints no price for a new roof. Philadelphia's roof permit records, the one public source that covers every replacement in the city, carry no job amounts: the 2,334 EZ roof covering replacement permits issued in 2025 list an address, a date and a status, not a price. National averages do not describe a narrow rowhouse roof behind a parapet. Your contractor's written estimate is what counts.
What this page can do is list what moves the number, so two estimates can be compared line by line.
The roof itself
- Area and shape. A rowhouse main roof is small; a twin or detached house has more roof and more edges. Rear additions and porch roofs are often priced as separate sections.
- Low-slope or pitched. A membrane on a flat roof and shingles on a pitched one are different systems and crews. A mansard front with a flat roof behind it is two jobs on one house.
- Material. Modified bitumen, EPDM, TPO, built-up, asphalt shingle, metal or slate. Slate costs more to install and to match.
What is under it
- Layers. The City's EZ standard requires every layer to come off where there are already two or more, or where the roof is deteriorated or slate. More layers, more tear-off and disposal.
- Deck boards. Rotted boards are replaced once the deck is open. Ask for a unit price per board or per sheet, and note that planned replacement of more than 10% of the sheathing takes the job outside the EZ permit.
- Slope corrections. Low spots where water stands on a flat roof are built up with tapered insulation or framing.
- Insulation. If insulation is altered, the standard requires R-49 or more, which can mean raising the roof edge at the parapet.
The edges and the neighbors
- Parapets and coping. How high the membrane runs and whether the cap comes off.
- Party walls. Tying into the roofs next door, and their condition.
- Drains, scuppers and gutters. New drain parts: the standard forbids reinstalling rusted or damaged drain outlets, collars, edgings and counter-flashing.
- Rooftop items. Hatches, skylights, vent stacks, condensers, roof decks. Moving equipment or adding skylights also means a different permit.
Access and the street
Rowhouse blocks have no driveway. Material goes up from the sidewalk or through the house, and debris has to be disposed of at the end of each working day under the EZ standard. A dumpster or work on the sidewalk can need separate City permits; ask who arranges them.
Fees and paperwork
The City's EZ permit for a roof covering on a one- or two-family house is $69, plus a $3 City and a $4.50 state surcharge. On a historic property, the Historical Commission's approval comes first. See roof permits and historic districts.
Comparing two estimates
Put them side by side and check that each names: the number of layers removed; the unit price for deck boards; the system and product by name and type; insulation and its R-value; parapet, party-wall and drain details; the permit; disposal; and the TP_019_F certificate at the end. Under Pennsylvania law a deposit over a third of the price is not allowed on a contract over $5,000; see contract and cancellation.