Siding Guide
7 Things to Check Before Replacing Siding in Bernardsville, NJ
Replacing the siding on a one- or two-family house in Bernardsville is ordinary maintenance under New Jersey's construction code, so it needs no permit, unless the new siding is polypropylene or the job turns into structural repair. Older houses add questions about trim, rot and the look of the street.
We install and repair siding from our base at 38 Speer Ave in Clifton, and our siding contractor page for Bernardsville covers the work itself. This list is the paperwork and planning side. It comes from the state's ordinary maintenance rule, the Borough's own construction and historic preservation pages, the Olcott Historic District walking tour and the National Park Service, all read on October 24, 2026.
1. A siding replacement usually needs no permit
New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code keeps a list of ordinary maintenance in N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7. Work on that list can be done without filing a permit application or notifying the construction official, and one item on it is "the repair or replacement of existing siding on one- and two-family dwellings." For a house there's no percentage cap.
For anything bigger than a two-family house, the limit is tighter: like-for-like siding on no more than 25 percent of the building's exterior wall area.
2. Polypropylene siding is the exception
The same line carves one material out. The code says the repair or replacement of polypropylene siding "shall not be ordinary maintenance," so a job using it goes through the permit process even on a single-family house. If a quote names a polypropylene shake or shingle panel, ask who files the permit before you sign.
3. Rot behind the old siding can change the answer
The list has limits. Section 2.7 excludes cutting away a loadbearing wall, removing or cutting a structural beam or bearing support, and "any work affecting structural or fire safety." Nobody sees the sheathing until the old siding comes off, so settle in writing who calls the Borough if framing turns up soft.
Bernardsville's Construction Office is at 1 Anderson Hill Rd., Suite 103, open Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 4:30. It takes questions at permits@bernardsville.gov and 908-766-3000, and permit pickup and status checks run through the SDL portal linked from its page.
4. Trim and gutters can go in the same job
Two more items on the state list matter on a re-side. The repair, replacement or installation of interior or exterior trim, decoration and moldings is ordinary maintenance, and so is the repair, replacement or installation of exterior gutters and leaders. Doing trim and gutters while the walls are open adds no permit step on a one- or two-family house.
5. Olcott Avenue houses mix clapboard and shingle
The Olcott Historic District, built between 1899 and about 1930, is on the National Register of Historic Places as #09000940. The Borough's walking tour describes several houses there with clapboard siding on the first story and shingles above it, plus Shingle Style, Tudor Revival and Craftsman homes with stucco and wood shingle walls.
If your house has that split, ask for a quote that prices the first-floor and upper-floor profiles separately so the pattern survives the re-side.
6. Listing on the National Register does not, by itself, restrict you
The National Park Service says that under federal law, National Register listing places no restrictions on what a non-federal owner does with the property, unless the project has federal funding, licensing or permitting. It adds that state or local preservation laws may still apply. Bernardsville's body is the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, founded in 2002, and its page describes its work as planning, outreach, conservation, education and public programs. We haven't read a Borough rule that requires review of residential siding, so ask the Construction Office when you call about the permit question.
7. Get the estimate itemized
A one-line quote that says "siding, labor and material" is hard to compare. Ours are written and itemized, and on a siding job we check the house wrap and flashing before the new panels go on. Look for the panel and its thickness, the house wrap, the trim pieces, flashing at the window heads and hauling the old material away, each on its own line.
Larry U. hired us for siding and wrote this in a Google review:
“Hired 4 seasons to do my siding and I’m very happy with the work! The owner Bes was there every step of the way, answered all my questions, sent me pictures, I felt very comfortable trusting 4 seasons. I will be using them again to do my roof. Thank you 4 Bes and 4 seasons! P.S A+ on cleanup”
If you aren't sure the old siding has to go, our guide to signs your siding needs replacing walks through what to look for, and whether vinyl siding can be painted covers the other option.
Get a siding estimate in Bernardsville
Four Seasons Roofing and Construction works from 38 Speer Ave in Clifton. For the full list of what we do on exterior walls, see our siding installation page, or call (862) 318-3997.
Sources (read October 24, 2026): State of New Jersey, N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.7, Ordinary maintenance; Borough of Bernardsville, Construction and Historic Preservation Advisory; Borough of Bernardsville, Olcott Historic District Walking Tour; National Park Service, National Register FAQs.