Commercial roofing · Hingham & the South Shore
Commercial Roofers In Hingham, MA.
The town assessor already records what is on your roof, the state publishes the snow and wind it was designed for, and Hingham publishes the permit fee to the dollar. Three public records that decide a commercial job here, and not one page competing for this town uses any of them. All 3 are below, with the sources.
Start here
Why Does Nobody Write a Commercial Roofing Page For This Town?
We read every page competing for the query. Seven are real contractor pages, median around 1,300 words, and every one is residential copy with the word commercial dropped in. Not one publishes a design snow load, a building code section, a licence class, a commercial assembly specification, or a link to a government source. Six more results are a single lead-generation operation wearing six local-contractor names behind one 844 number, four of them on the identical URL. The page ranking on the head term carries 15 words of its own prose and a one-field zip form.
Hingham’s public record, meanwhile, sits wide open. The assessor logs a roof structure and a roof cover on every commercial card. The state publishes the snow and wind your building is designed for. The town publishes the permit fee to the dollar.
Commercial and industrial property carry $966 million of an $11.4 billion valuation here, 8.5 percent of a town that is 90 percent residential, which is why the market has never bothered. We work Hingham out of our shop at 100 Hancock St in Quincy. Call (617) 631-5435 or request an assessment.
psf ground snow load
Hingham’s figure in the state’s municipal design table, with a 30 psf minimum flat-roof load under it. Quincy, 12 miles up the road, carries 40.
mph design wind speed
Risk Category II. It rises to 130 mph for a school or assembly building, and the perimeter and corner fastening zones tighten with it.
cubic feet, the licence line
A Construction Supervisor Licence is bounded at 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space. A 5,000 square foot floor at 10 feet of height is already 50,000.
The buildings, not the town
Where Does Hingham’s Commercial Roof Square Footage Actually Sit?
Three places, and the town’s own economic development work names them: the Hingham Shipyard and Route 3A, downtown Hingham, and the South Hingham corridor that Derby Street runs through. Almost every low-slope commercial roof in town is in one of them, and which one settles the flood question, the historic question and the access question before anyone climbs a ladder.
The build years matter more than the addresses. A 1971 shopping centre, a 1985 office building and a 2008 waterfront box were built under three different codes and sit at three different points on their replacement curve. A quote that treats them as one job is written off a template.
Shipyard and Route 3A
Waterfront mixed-use, retail, marina, ferry terminal. 18 Shipyard Drive was built in 2008. The cluster where flood mapping and salt exposure are real design inputs, not marketing copy.
Downtown Hingham
Small footprints, shared party walls, pedestrians underneath, tightest staging in town. The local historic districts sit in and around here, which changes what you may put back on the roof.
South Hingham and Derby Street
The largest roofs. Derby Corporate Center is two office buildings at 99 and 101 Derby Street, built 1990 and 1985. Lincoln Plaza on Route 3A is 127,505 square feet, built 1971, and traded in May 2023 for $45.25 million.
The record nobody reads
Does the Town Already Publish What Is On Your Roof?
Yes. Every commercial property card in Hingham’s assessor database carries two fields called Roof Structure and Roof Cover. Public, free, and in our experience never once shown to an owner by a roofer. Look your address up on the Hingham assessor database and read the Building Attributes block. Here is what six commercial cards across the three clusters say right now.
| Property | Use | Built | Roof structure | Roof cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 Derby Street | Office | 1985 | Flat | Tar & Gravel |
| 99 Derby Street | Office | 1990 | Flat | Tar & Gravel |
| 175 Derby Street | Office condo | – | Flat | Tar & Gravel |
| 400 Lincoln Street | Shopping centre | 1971 | Flat | Tar & Gravel |
| 400 Lincoln Street, bank building | Branch bank | 1998 | Gable/Hip | Asph/F Gls/Cmp |
| 18 Shipyard Drive | Commercial | 2008 | Flat | Tar & Gravel |
Tar and gravel is a mass-appraisal code
Not a specification. It tells you the assessor logged a built-up roof, which on a 1971 or 1985 building is usually right about the original assembly. It says nothing about what went over it since.
The card can be 20 years behind the roof
Assessors update roof fields when a card gets reviewed, which is not when a roof gets replaced. Read it as evidence of what started up there, then open the assembly.
It gives you a layer-count question
A card reading Tar & Gravel on a building carrying a single-ply membrane today means at least one application went over the original. That count decides whether the code lets you recover again.
The design numbers
Why Does Quincy Carry More Design Snow Than Hingham?
A 35 psf ground snow load, a 30 psf minimum flat-roof load and a 122 mph design wind speed at Risk Category II. That is Hingham’s line in Table 1604.11 of 780 CMR Chapter 16, the municipality-by-municipality table the state actually uses.
We are a Quincy company, and Quincy is the heavier snow town of the two. It is the only town in this comparison above 35 psf. Most coastal roofing copy runs the other way, which tells you it is written from weather rather than from the table.
| Town | Ground snow, Pg | Min flat-roof, Pf | Wind V, Cat II | Wind V, Cat III |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hingham | 35 psf | 30 psf | 122 mph | 130 mph |
| Cohasset | 35 psf | 30 psf | 122 mph | 130 mph |
| Hull | 35 psf | 30 psf | 122 mph | 130 mph |
| Weymouth | 35 psf | 30 psf | 122 mph | 130 mph |
| Braintree | 35 psf | 30 psf | 122 mph | 130 mph |
| Norwell | 35 psf | 30 psf | 123 mph | 132 mph |
| Scituate | 35 psf | 30 psf | 123 mph | 131 mph |
| Quincy | 40 psf | 30 psf | 121 mph | 130 mph |
30 psf is a floor
The code takes the larger of the table figure or the load calculated for your building. Parapets, roof steps and rooftop units add drift on top, and the Shipyard and Derby Street buildings have all three.
122 mph is an ordinary building
A school, a church hall or anything holding more than 300 people is Risk Category III and Hingham rises to 130 mph. Corners are where uplift failures start.
Exposure moves the real number
Commercial uplift runs through Chapter 16 and ASCE 7, where exposure category and building height change the answer. An open waterfront parcel at the Shipyard and a sheltered box on Derby Street share a table row and not an uplift number.
Licensed and insured, examined
What Does “Licensed and Insured” Actually Prove Here?
Neither word answers the question. Massachusetts licences the supervisor rather than the company, and the class on that licence carries a size limit written into it. A Construction Supervisor Licence covers buildings of any use group containing less than 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space, plus one- and two-family dwellings of any size.
Run the arithmetic on a real box. A 5,000 square foot retail floor at 10 feet of average height is already 50,000 cubic feet, which is most of the commercial stock on Derby Street and at the Shipyard.
Above 35,000 cubic feet a different rule takes over
Not a higher licence class. Construction control under 780 CMR 107.6, which requires plans prepared by or under a Massachusetts registered design professional.
The Roof Covering speciality has its own ceiling
That class permits replacement of 25 percent of sheathing and 25 percent sistering of roof rafters. Find more rot than that on a tear-off and the job has moved outside the class.
Ask it of every bidder, us included
Which licence class is supervising this job, and does the building need construction control. Anyone who has read the file on your building answers both in a sentence.
The code change everyone got wrong
Did the New Energy Code Change Anything For Your Reroof?
No. Hingham’s Specialized Energy Code took effect on 1 January 2026, and it changes nothing about replacing a roof on an existing building. The code’s own text limits it to new buildings. Existing buildings stay under the alteration provisions Hingham has run since adopting the Stretch Code on 1 July 2018.
The opposite is being sold, because a new code with a date on it is easy to point at in a sales conversation. The state’s municipal adoption list gives Hingham 1 July 2018 for Stretch and 1 January 2026 for Specialized, and the Specialized appendix says it applies to new buildings. Nothing in that chain reaches an existing roof.
A recover is exempt outright
The alteration chapter carries an express exception for roof recover. Lay a new membrane over a sound existing assembly and the energy provisions do not apply.
A tear-off is the trigger, and it is an old one
Roof replacement has to meet the current insulation requirement where the assembly is part of the thermal envelope and carries insulation entirely above the deck. That rule has applied in Hingham since 2018.
There is no R-value to quote
Massachusetts deletes the prescriptive R-value section and its table and marks them Reserved. Compliance runs by assembly U-factor, by the component performance alternative, or by a whole-building performance path.
So ask which path the number came from
A bid that prints a required R-value for a Massachusetts commercial roof is quoting a provision this state removed. The real answer names U-factor, component performance or a modelled path.
What the code says
What Decides Whether You Can Recover Or Have To Tear Off?
Layer count and moisture, and neither is visible from the ground. Reroofing lives in Section 1512 of the 2021 International Building Code, which Massachusetts adopts without amendment, and it sets the conditions for a recover. So the core cut goes in before the quote, not as a change order in week 2.
More on assemblies on our flat roofing page, and the longer version of this argument is in our note on what the code says about overlay versus tear-off.
Layer count
Somebody opens the assembly and counts. A card reading Tar & Gravel on a building carrying a membrane today means at least one recover has already happened.
Moisture in the existing assembly
Wet insulation under a membrane that reads sound from the surface is the most common reason a recover price becomes a replacement price. Readings across the whole field, not one probe by the drip.
Drainage is sized under a different code here
780 CMR strikes the reference to the International Plumbing Code in both the general drainage section and the secondary overflow section, replacing it with 248 CMR, the state plumbing code. A Massachusetts-only detail, and it changes whose calculation the building department wants to see.
The clause nobody quotes
What Quietly Voids The Guarantee On Your Membrane?
Failing to keep the inspection records. Single-ply guarantees are conditional. Every major manufacturer makes documented inspection and record retention an owner obligation, and names failure to maintain as grounds for voiding coverage. Without the records, a 20-year guarantee is 20 years of paper.
If your building carries a guarantee from another installer, bring us the document. The obligations are in it whether or not anyone has been meeting them, and the log is the first thing a manufacturer asks for on a claim.
Carlisle SynTec
Coverage is void on “failure by the Owner to use reasonable care in maintaining the roof.” The care and maintenance guide requires maintenance inspection logs, rooftop traffic logs, service logs and invoices.
GAF EverGuard
Owner responsibilities: “You must perform regular inspections and maintenance and keep records of this work.” The first listed exclusion is inadequate maintenance, defined as failing to follow the checklists issued with the guarantee.
Johns Manville
The Peak Advantage guarantee directs the owner to inspect “at least semi-annually” in spring and fall, and states that “failure to make any of these repairs in a timely and reasonable fashion will void any further obligation of JM under this Guarantee.”
The recover penalty
GAF’s single-ply guarantee matrix caps a recovered roof at 20 years. Only a complete tear-off qualifies for longer. The recover that looked cheaper on day 1 can cost 15 years of guarantee.
Check your own building
What Does The Code Assign Your Specific Building?
Five questions. It returns the design loads the code assigns Hingham, whether your building needs construction control, whether a recover is open to you, what the energy code requires, whether historic or flood review reaches your address, and what the permit costs. Every output is built from published Massachusetts code and the Hingham fee schedule. No email, nothing stored, nothing sent anywhere.
Planning guidance built from 780 CMR 10th edition, the 2021 International Building Code as adopted in Massachusetts, 225 CMR 23, and the Town of Hingham building permit fee schedule. It is not a structural calculation or a code ruling. Your building’s actual design load, drainage sizing, permit path and review requirements get confirmed against the stamped drawings and with the Hingham Building Department.
Two boards, one town
Will Historic Review Or The Flood Overlay Reach Your Roof?
Usually neither, and they sit in different parts of town. The local historic districts run inland along Main, Lincoln, North and South Streets. The flood zones sit on the harbour. Most Derby Street and Route 3A buildings are caught by neither.
Like-for-like still gets filed
A same-design, same-material, same-colour replacement is ordinary maintenance under the by-law and needs no Certificate of Appropriateness. The town’s practice is a Certificate of Non-Applicability so the work is recorded, and state law bars the building permit until a certificate issues.
Colour is reviewable in Hingham
Massachusetts lets a town exclude roof colour from historic review. Hingham did not take it. The commission’s guidance says asphalt should be predominantly black, dark grey or weathered dark wood tone, and flashing must be copper, lead or lead-coated copper.
The visibility test is a public-way test
The by-law reaches the portion of a building open to view from a public street, way, park or body of water. A rear elevation with no public sightline sits outside the commission’s reach, even inside a district.
Flood rules attach to substantial improvement
A straight replacement in Zone AE or VE does not trigger the flood construction standards. A roof inside a renovation that crosses the substantial improvement threshold does, and then the whole structure has to meet current flood code.
Send this to every bidder, us included
Which Six Questions Separate Two Bids On One Roof?
Two bids on the same Hingham roof can sit a long way apart without either being dishonest, because they are pricing different assemblies. Tear-off and disposal, cover board, tapered insulation, deck repair, edge metal and drainage each carry real cost and each can be quietly left out of a number. Put these 6 in one email to everyone quoting your building. The bidder who will not answer in writing has told you something.
1. Which Construction Supervisor Licence class goes on the permit application, and does this building need construction control under 780 CMR 107.6?
2. How many roof coverings are on the building now, and who opened the assembly to count them?
3. Is the scope a recover or a tear-off, and what does that change about the insulation obligation?
4. If it is a tear-off, which compliance path is the insulation figure worked under, given Massachusetts deletes the prescriptive R-value table?
5. Is the wind uplift package worked to Hingham’s 122 mph Risk Category II figure and the 30 psf flat-roof minimum?
6. What does the price do if the core cut comes back saturated?
And 3 things we could not close from the public record. Printing the gap beats printing a number we invented.
Whether the November 2009 fee schedule is current. The permit figures on this page come from the schedule Hingham publishes today, and every one of them checks out. A schedule dated 2009 is still worth one phone call before you budget to the dollar.
Whether the Downtown Hingham Overlay reaches roof work. The district exists at Section III-G of the zoning by-law and it carries Design Review. The part of the by-law that would say what triggers that review sits past the point the town’s PDF converts, so we will not tell you it captures a reroof.
The article number for the Specialized Code adoption. The 1 January 2026 effective date and the 1 July 2018 Stretch date are both confirmed on the state’s municipal list. The Town Meeting article number is not sourceable from any document we could open, so it is not on this page.
How a Hingham job runs
How Does A Hingham Commercial Roof Job Actually Run?
Records first, then the roof gets opened, then a number goes on paper. In that order, because the first two decide what the third one says.
Records and core cut
We pull the assessor card and the design row for the address, then open the assembly, count the layers, check the deck and take moisture readings across the whole field. That decides recover against replacement, and it happens before the number.
Line-item quote
Membrane, cover board, insulation, vapour retarder, deck repair, edge metal, drainage and disposal, each on its own line with the manufacturer, the thickness and the attachment method named. Comparable against anyone else’s bid, which is the point.
Permit and review
Filed through PermitEyes, with the fee calculated off construction value on the town’s published schedule. Above 35,000 cubic feet we coordinate the registered design professional before filing. Inside a historic district or the flood overlay, the certificate or checklist goes in first.
Staged install and close out
Sections sized so nothing is left open overnight. Crane and delivery windows set against your operating hours. At the end: photo set, guarantee registered, and the inspection log opened with the first entry in it before we pull off site.
Straight answers
What Else Do Hingham Building Owners Ask Before They Hire?
What snow and wind load is a Hingham commercial roof designed for?
A 35 psf ground snow load, a 30 psf minimum flat-roof load and a 122 mph design wind speed for an ordinary commercial building, from Table 1604.11 of 780 CMR Chapter 16. Wind rises to 130 mph for a school or assembly building. The 30 psf is a floor: the code takes the larger of the table figure or the load calculated for your roof, and parapets, roof steps and rooftop units add drift on top of it.
Does the town record what kind of roof is on my building?
Yes. Hingham’s assessor cards are public and carry two fields most owners have never looked at: Roof Structure and Roof Cover. The cards for 101 Derby Street, 99 Derby Street, 175 Derby Street, 400 Lincoln Street and 18 Shipyard Drive all read Flat and Tar and Gravel. Search your address on the Vision Government Solutions database for Hingham and read the Building Attributes block. Treat it as a starting point: the card records the roof the assessor logged, not always the one up there now.
Did the new Specialized Energy Code change anything for a Hingham reroof?
No. The Specialized Energy Code took effect in Hingham on 1 January 2026, and its own text limits it to new buildings. An existing building getting a new roof falls under the alteration provisions Hingham has had since it adopted the Stretch Code on 1 July 2018. A recover is exempt from those outright. A tear-off has to meet the current insulation requirement where the assembly is part of the thermal envelope with insulation entirely above the deck, which was already true every year back to 2018.
What R-value does my roof insulation have to hit?
Massachusetts does not publish one for commercial roofs. The state amendments delete the prescriptive R-value section and its table and mark them Reserved, so compliance runs by assembly U-factor, by the component performance alternative, or by a whole-building performance path. A quote that prints a required R-value for a Massachusetts commercial reroof is quoting a provision this state removed. Ask which path the number came from.
Does my building need a licensed supervisor or a stamped set of plans?
It depends on cubic feet, not square feet. A Construction Supervisor Licence covers buildings of any use group under 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space, plus one- and two-family dwellings of any size. At 35,000 and above, 780 CMR 107.6 construction control applies and plans need a Massachusetts registered design professional. A 5,000 square foot floor at 10 feet of average height is already 50,000 cubic feet, so most Derby Street and Shipyard stock sits above the line.
What does a commercial roof permit cost in Hingham?
$15 per $1,000 of estimated construction cost, $50 minimum, on a fee schedule the town still posts as effective November 2009. A certificate of occupancy is $35 per unit. Start work before the permit issues and the fee doubles plus $100. Filing goes through the town’s PermitEyes portal, and we pull it.
Will the Historic Districts Commission get involved in my roof?
Only if the building sits in one of Hingham’s local historic districts, which run along Main Street, Lincoln Street, North Street and South Street rather than through Derby Street or the Shipyard. Inside a district, a same-design, same-material, same-colour replacement is ordinary maintenance and needs no Certificate of Appropriateness, though the town files a Certificate of Non-Applicability to record it. Change the material, the colour or the roof form on an elevation open to view from a public way and a Certificate of Appropriateness comes first. Hingham never took the roof-colour exclusion the state allows, so colour is reviewable here.
Does a flood zone change what I can do to a roof at the Shipyard?
A straight roof replacement generally does not trigger flood-resistant construction. Hingham’s Floodplain Protection Overlay District covers Zones A, AE and VE on the Plymouth County flood maps effective 3 July 2024, and the standards in 780 CMR Section 1612 and ASCE 24 attach to new construction, substantial improvement and repair of substantial damage. A roof job gets pulled in when it is one line in a renovation that crosses the substantial improvement threshold. The Building Commissioner acts as Floodplain Administrator and may still want the permit checklist for work inside the district.
Request an assessment
Ready to Have the Roof Opened Before It Is Priced?
We open the roof before we price it. You get the layer count, the moisture reading, photographs of both, the historic and flood questions answered in writing, and a scope written layer by layer so it can be compared against anyone else’s. If a recover is the right answer on your building, we will say so.
Service areas
Which Towns Around Hingham Do We Cover?
Hingham and the South Shore towns around it, worked from the Quincy shop by Powersol Roofing. Cohasset, Hull, Weymouth and Braintree share Hingham’s design row exactly, so one set of numbers covers most of the territory. Scheduled inspections and condition reports sit on our roof inspections page, the residential side of the town is covered by our Hingham roofers page, and the building-type breakdown is on commercial roofing in Quincy.