Conewago Township (Dauphin County) - Township Office

Township of Conewago, Pennsylvania (Dauphin County)

city

3279 Old Hershey Road, Elizabethtown, PA 17022

Not required

Required

Conewago Township's Building Permit Ordinance (Ordinance No. 1986-2, as amended by Ordinance No. 1996-3, December 11, 1996), which the Township's Code of Ordinances carries as Chapter 8, Part 1, Section 102 and posts on its website (read October 10, 2026), says it is unlawful "to undertake, or cause to be undertaken, any construction or development anywhere within the Township unless a building permit has been obtained from the Building Permit Officer," and then says "A building permit shall not be required for the replacement of down spouts, gutters, facia boards, siding, windows or roofing (if replacement is of shingles and paper only), nor shall a permit be necessary for minor repairs to existing buildings or structures. Minor repairs shall be defined as those repairs having a fair market value cost of less than $1,000 and which do not involve structural changes or modification." The condition on roofing is a fact about the work: the replacement must be "of shingles and paper only." Under state law, Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6) list "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and "Repairs to residential buildings" among work the Act does not apply to, "except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503," and 34 Pa. Code 403.62(c) says "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." Chapter 5, Part 1, Section 109(3), which adopts the Uniform Construction Code, says "This Part shall not repeal or in any way affect the following: the floodplain regulations adopted by Ordinance No. 1986-2 as set forth in Chapter 8 of the Conewago Township Code of Ordinances," and its Section 105(2) says "All construction code ordinances or portions of ordinances which are in effect as of the effective date of this Part and whose requirements are less than the minimum requirements of the Uniform Construction Code are hereby amended to conform with the comparable provisions of the Uniform Construction Code." This record quotes both sections and does not decide how they bear on the Chapter 8 exemption. Chapter 8 sits in the Township's floodplain chapter, its Section 106 gives it the short title "Conewago Township Building Permit Ordinance," and its Section 201 says "Building permits shall be required before any construction or development is undertaken within any area of the Township." The Township's zoning chapter (Chapter 27, Section 1711) says "A building and/or zoning permit shall be required prior to" the "Erection, addition or alteration of any building or portion thereof," and that no such permit is required in the case of "normal maintenance activities, minor repairs and alterations which do not structurally change a building or structure." Section 1711 names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an "alteration" or a "minor repair" under it. The Township's fee resolution lists no roofing fee, and the Township's Construction Code Permit Application and Zoning Permit Application name no roofing box or permit type. Section 211 of the same chapter sets, for a violation of that Part, "a judgment of not more than $1,000 plus all court costs," with each day a separate violation unless a good faith basis is found. Section 202 has the Building Permit Officer issue a permit only where the work "will be in conformance with the requirements of this and all other applicable codes and ordinances." No later ordinance amending or repealing Chapter 8 appears on the Township's 2021 to 2025 ordinance pages, and Chapter 8 remains in the Code of Ordinances posted on the Township's website. Ask the Township office (717-534-8556), open Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Friday, 7:00 a.m. to noon, before starting. Read for this answer: Chapter 5 (Code Enforcement), Part 1, Uniform Construction Code (Ordinance 2004-1), in full; Chapter 8 (Floodplains), Parts 1 and 2, including Sections 102, 106, 201 and 211; Chapter 27 (Zoning), including Section 1711; a text search of Chapters 1, 10, 13, 23 and 27 of the Code for roof words; the Township's Ordinances pages for later ordinances (none on building permits); the Documents & Forms page; the fee resolution; and the Construction Code and Zoning Permit Applications.

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, Conewago Township administers the Uniform Construction Code through its Township office, 3279 Old Hershey Road, Elizabethtown. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code (Ordinance 2004-1, July 14, 2004) says "Conewago Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and that administration and enforcement "shall initially be through a third-party agency," and the Township's fee resolution (Resolution No. 2024-006) charges a "Conewago Township Administration Fee" that "is paid in addition to fees charged by the appointed Township Third Party Inspection Agency." The Township's own Construction Code Permit Application is posted on its Documents & Forms page. Section 106 of Part 1 inserts values in Table 301.2(1) for the International Residential Code, including "Ice Shield Underlayment Required = No," and adds no other roofing rule. Part 1 adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401, 403 and 405 "as amended from time to time" and lists the International Residential Code and the other model codes by name without a year, and the Township's pages name no code edition. Chapter 8, Section 102, quoted in the permit fields, names roofing replacement among work for which "A building permit shall not be required."

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement under state law. The State's adoption of the 2021 International Residential Code (34 Pa. Code 403.21) contains no hail or impact rule, and it makes no change to the code's roof assemblies chapter, which itself has no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement for roof coverings. A municipality could add one only by an ordinance that equals or exceeds the Uniform Construction Code under Act 45 section 503, filed with the Department of Labor and Industry; none of the filings on the Department's register of municipal code change ordinances mentions hail or impact resistance. An owner may still choose an impact-rated roof covering. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Conewago Township administers the Uniform Construction Code through its Township office, 3279 Old Hershey Road, Elizabethtown. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code (Ordinance 2004-1, July 14, 2004) says "Conewago Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and that administration and enforcement "shall initially be through a third-party agency," and the Township's fee resolution (Resolution No. 2024-006) charges a "Conewago Township Administration Fee" that "is paid in addition to fees charged by the appointed Township Third Party Inspection Agency." The Township's own Construction Code Permit Application is posted on its Documents & Forms page. Chapter 5 and the Township's other texts read for this record add no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact provision.

Conewago Township's Building Permit Ordinance (Ordinance No. 1986-2, as amended by Ordinance No. 1996-3, December 11, 1996), which the Township's Code of Ordinances carries as Chapter 8, Part 1, Section 102 and posts on its website (read October 10, 2026), says it is unlawful "to undertake, or cause to be undertaken, any construction or development anywhere within the Township unless a building permit has been obtained from the Building Permit Officer," and then says "A building permit shall not be required for the replacement of down spouts, gutters, facia boards, siding, windows or roofing (if replacement is of shingles and paper only), nor shall a permit be necessary for minor repairs to existing buildings or structures. Minor repairs shall be defined as those repairs having a fair market value cost of less than $1,000 and which do not involve structural changes or modification." The condition on roofing is a fact about the work: the replacement must be "of shingles and paper only." Under state law, Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6) list "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and "Repairs to residential buildings" among work the Act does not apply to, "except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503," and 34 Pa. Code 403.62(c) says "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." Chapter 5, Part 1, Section 109(3), which adopts the Uniform Construction Code, says "This Part shall not repeal or in any way affect the following: the floodplain regulations adopted by Ordinance No. 1986-2 as set forth in Chapter 8 of the Conewago Township Code of Ordinances," and its Section 105(2) says "All construction code ordinances or portions of ordinances which are in effect as of the effective date of this Part and whose requirements are less than the minimum requirements of the Uniform Construction Code are hereby amended to conform with the comparable provisions of the Uniform Construction Code." This record quotes both sections and does not decide how they bear on the Chapter 8 exemption. Chapter 8 sits in the Township's floodplain chapter, its Section 106 gives it the short title "Conewago Township Building Permit Ordinance," and its Section 201 says "Building permits shall be required before any construction or development is undertaken within any area of the Township." 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, Conewago Township administers the Uniform Construction Code through its Township office, 3279 Old Hershey Road, Elizabethtown. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code (Ordinance 2004-1, July 14, 2004) says "Conewago Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and that administration and enforcement "shall initially be through a third-party agency," and the Township's fee resolution (Resolution No. 2024-006) charges a "Conewago Township Administration Fee" that "is paid in addition to fees charged by the appointed Township Third Party Inspection Agency." The Township's own Construction Code Permit Application is posted on its Documents & Forms page. The Township's Building Permit Ordinance sets the condition quoted at the start, replacement "of shingles and paper only," and no area or percentage threshold for roof work; its separate limit for "minor repairs" is a fair market value under $1,000 with no structural change.

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, Conewago Township administers the Uniform Construction Code through its Township office, 3279 Old Hershey Road, Elizabethtown. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code (Ordinance 2004-1, July 14, 2004) says "Conewago Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and that administration and enforcement "shall initially be through a third-party agency," and the Township's fee resolution (Resolution No. 2024-006) charges a "Conewago Township Administration Fee" that "is paid in addition to fees charged by the appointed Township Third Party Inspection Agency." The Township's own Construction Code Permit Application is posted on its Documents & Forms page. Part 1's revisions to the model codes in its Section 106 concern flood hazard, Table 301.2(1) entries, plumbing and electrical sections, and none changes the code's reroofing text; no Township text read for this record speaks to roof layers.

State rules from the base code, where the state code reaches the job. Pennsylvania adopts the 2021 International Residential Code without changing Section R803, Roof Sheathing (34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7); the State's changes to Chapter 8 are to ridge framing and attic ventilation). Lumber roof sheathing follows Table R803.1: over rafters or beams 24 inches apart it must be at least 5/8 inch net thick. Wood structural panels "shall be identified for grade, bond classification and performance category by a grade mark or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency," and their spans "shall not exceed the values set forth in Table R503.2.1.1(1) or APA E30." For shingles, "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks" (R905.2.1), and on any reroof "The structural roof components shall be capable of supporting the roof covering system and the material and equipment loads that will be encountered during installation of the roof covering system" (R908.2). 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)). Act 45 section 104(b)(5) excludes alterations "which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and says only that "a structural change does not include a minor framing change needed to replace existing windows or doors"; 34 Pa. Code 403.62(d)(2) lists "The removal or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support" as not an ordinary repair. Neither names roof sheathing; this record does not decide whether replacing it is either. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Conewago Township administers the Uniform Construction Code through its Township office, 3279 Old Hershey Road, Elizabethtown. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code (Ordinance 2004-1, July 14, 2004) says "Conewago Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and that administration and enforcement "shall initially be through a third-party agency," and the Township's fee resolution (Resolution No. 2024-006) charges a "Conewago Township Administration Fee" that "is paid in addition to fees charged by the appointed Township Third Party Inspection Agency." The Township's own Construction Code Permit Application is posted on its Documents & Forms page. Chapter 8, Section 102 limits its "minor repairs" to those "which do not involve structural changes or modification" and names roofing "(if replacement is of shingles and paper only)"; no Township text read for this record draws a separate line for roof sheathing.

6% Pennsylvania sales and use tax, with a local tax added on purchases made in Allegheny County (1%) and Philadelphia (2%). On a reroof the roofer pays the tax on the materials and does not add it to the homeowner's bill. The Department of Revenue says: "The Pennsylvania sales tax rate is 6 percent. By law, a 1 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Allegheny County, and 2 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Philadelphia." Roof work is a construction activity: the rule's list of items "presumed to become a permanent part of real estate" includes "Roofing (repairs)" (61 Pa. Code 31.11). For construction activities, "A contractor shall pay tax upon the purchase price ... of all property, including materials, equipment, components and supplies, which he furnishes and installs" (61 Pa. Code 31.12(a)(1)), and the rule's example says the contractor "does not charge sales tax on this transaction to his customer. The contractor may include the tax he must pay in his bid proposal but not as a separately stated item." Apart from limited exceptions set out in the rule, the same holds on jobs for tax-exempt owners: "a contractor erecting a building, repairing a roof, replacing a door for a governmental agency, ... school district, charitable or religious organization, and the like, shall pay tax upon the property which he consumes" (61 Pa. Code 31.13(a)). Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Conewago Township is in Dauphin County. No Township text read for this record says anything on sales tax.