Windows and siding in City of St. Louis (independent city)
The rules that apply here.
Missouri has no statewide building code and no statewide energy code. Adoption happens municipality by municipality, and City of St. Louis (independent city) writes its own — which is why its answers look nothing like the county next door.
85.9% of the housing in City of St. Louis (independent city) was built before 1980, and 58.3% before 1940 (101,319 of 173,920 units). That is the number that decides whether the federal lead rule is on your job, and on both of these trades it very often is: window replacement is never exempt from it at any size, and a whole-house re-side clears the exterior threshold immediately.
| Place | Permit to re-side? | Permit for a like-for-like window? | Adopted energy code | Window must meet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis City | Depends | No | 2018 IECC | U-0.32 |
Things worth knowing before you sign anything
St. Louis City
One of the few jurisdictions in this metro that publishes an explicit siding exemption AND an explicit window exemption. But the exemptions are material-specific (aluminum, steel or vinyl only) and opening-specific. The exemption is effectively cancelled inside City Historic Districts, where the Cultural Resources Office requires a permit for all exterior work except painting wood trim and names window replacement and door replacement as examples; each district has its own design standards. The city also runs permitting through a separate portal (stlcitypermits.com) rather than the main city site.
Windows or siding in City of St. Louis (independent city)?
We will tell you what your particular city requires before we quote anything.
Tell us about the house
We answer the phone. If we miss you, we call back.