Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Borough of Bridgeville, PA?

Roofing questions: Borough of Bridgeville, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Borough of Bridgeville, PA?

Bridgeville Borough's page says "you do not need a building permit to replace roof shingles," and the inspection firm's guide posted on the Borough's site exempts "Replacement of up to 25% of roof." The Borough's two published statements differ. Its Building and Zoning page lists "Alterations/Repairs" among work for which "Building Permits are required," and under "When is a building permit not required?" says "Also you do not need a building permit to replace roof shingles. These are just some examples to give you a general guideline. You can contact our office if you have any questions." The inspection firm's step-by-step permitting guide, posted on the Borough's Permits and Applications page as "Important Note About Submitting Building Permit Applications," says "A permit is not required for the following items as long as the work does not violate a law or ordinance" and lists "Replacement of up to 25% of roof," and it adds "Please contact your local Building Department for help in determining if a permit is required before undertaking any home improvement projects." A full reroof replaces more than 25% of a roof; this record does not decide which statement answers for it. Chapter 5, Part 2 still adopts the "Boca National Building Code, 12th Edition, 1993" (Ordinance 837 of 1996) for "the design, construction, alteration, enlargement, repair, demolition, removal, maintenance and use of all buildings and structures," and Part 4 keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 that equal or exceed the code; this record has not read that model code's text. Neither part names roof work, and a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing" found no permit provision naming roof work. The Borough's Fee Resolution (Supp 27, November 2025) prices residential "Alterations and repairs" at "1.25% of construction cost" and has no roofing line. State law sets no square-footage or percentage threshold for roof work; any threshold is set locally. The Uniform Construction Code "does not apply to" "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, except as required by ordinances in effect under sections 303(b)(1) or 503 of the act" or to "Repairs to residential buildings, except as required by ordinances in effect under sections 303(b)(1) and 503 of the act" (34 Pa. Code 403.1(b)(8) and (9)), and "A permit is not required for the exceptions listed in § 403.1(b) (relating to scope) and the following, if the work does not violate a law or ordinance" (34 Pa. Code 403.62(c)). For houses the regulation adds: "An ordinary repair does not require a permit." Its list of work that is not an ordinary repair names cutting away a load-bearing wall, "The removal or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support," changes to a required means of egress, and new or relocated piping, wiring or mechanical work (34 Pa. Code 403.62(d)); roofing is not named. A municipality may require more: under Act 45 section 503(c) it "may enact ordinances pursuant to this section which adopt additional code requirements for alterations or repairs to residential buildings," after a public hearing and after filing the proposed ordinance with the Department of Labor and Industry. These rules concern a "Residential building," which the regulation defines as "Detached one-family and two-family dwellings and townhouses which are not more than three stories above grade plane in height with a separate means of egress and their accessory structures" (34 Pa. Code 401.1). Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Bridgeville Borough in Allegheny County administers the Uniform Construction Code under Chapter 5, Part 4 of its Code (Ordinance 902, June 14, 2004), which says the Borough "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the municipal building code. The Borough's Building and Zoning page names Building Inspection Underwriters as the Borough's third-party inspection firm for building permits and says the application "is available at the Borough Office," 425 Bower Hill Road. The firm's guide draws its line at 25% of the roof; the Borough's own page draws none for replacing shingles.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Bridgeville, PA?

Two layers at most where the state code reaches the job. Pennsylvania adopts the 2021 International Residential Code without changing its reroofing section, R908 (34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7); the State's list of changes names no Chapter 9 section). Section R908.3.1.1 says "A roof recover shall not be permitted where any of the following conditions occur," and the third condition is "Where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering." So one existing layer may be covered once, and a roof that already has two layers is torn off to the deck. The same section also bars a recover "Where the existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that the existing roof or roof covering is not adequate as a base for additional roofing" and "Where the existing roof covering is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile." The existing-building code the State also adopts, the 2021 International Existing Building Code (34 Pa. Code 403.21(f)), carries the same three conditions in Section 705.2.1.1. These rules bind work the Uniform Construction Code reaches. The Act does not apply to "Repairs to residential buildings" or to alterations that make no structural change, "except as might be required by ordinances" (Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6)), so whether R908 binds a particular house reroof turns on that exclusion and on the municipality's own ordinances. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Bridgeville Borough in Allegheny County administers the Uniform Construction Code under Chapter 5, Part 4 of its Code (Ordinance 902, June 14, 2004), which says the Borough "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the municipal building code. The Borough's Building and Zoning page names Building Inspection Underwriters as the Borough's third-party inspection firm for building permits and says the application "is available at the Borough Office," 425 Bower Hill Road. Chapter 5 names no roof work and says nothing on roof layers. Chapter 5, Part 2 names the 1993 BOCA National Building Code, while Part 4 incorporates the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time"; the Borough's pages name no residential code edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 1993 code's reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Borough applies.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Borough of Bridgeville, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Bridgeville, PA use?

The 2021 International Residential Code, as adopted by the State in the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code (UCC). 34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7) adopts "The 'International Residential Code of 2021,' except that:" followed by the State's list of exclusions and modifications, effective January 1, 2026 (55 Pa.B. 7701). None of the State's changes touches Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, or Section R803, Roof Sheathing, so those apply as the International Code Council publishes them. Work on existing buildings is also pointed to the State's existing-building code: "The repair, alteration, change of occupancy, addition and relocation of existing buildings must comply with Chapter 34 of the 'International Building Code of 2021' or with the 'International Existing Building Code of 2021'" (34 Pa. Code 403.21(f)). The UCC is the minimum everywhere in the state: "no municipality may propose or enact any ordinance which is less than the minimum requirement of the Uniform Construction Code" (Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999, section 503(b)). The Act also lists work it "shall not apply to", including "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" or to "Repairs to residential buildings," in each case "except as might be required by ordinances" kept in force under section 303(b)(1) or adopted under section 503 (Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6); 34 Pa. Code 403.1(b)(8) and (9)). The Act defines a repair as "The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance." So whether the code's roofing rules reach a given house reroof depends on the municipality's own ordinances. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Bridgeville Borough in Allegheny County administers the Uniform Construction Code under Chapter 5, Part 4 of its Code (Ordinance 902, June 14, 2004), which says the Borough "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the municipal building code. The Borough's Building and Zoning page names Building Inspection Underwriters as the Borough's third-party inspection firm for building permits and says the application "is available at the Borough Office," 425 Bower Hill Road. Chapter 5, Part 2 names the 1993 BOCA National Building Code, while Part 4 incorporates the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time"; the Borough's pages name no residential code edition; the 1993 code's text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Borough applies.