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

Roofing questions: Borough of Delmont, PA

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

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, Delmont Borough issues permits through its Borough office, 77 Greensburg Street, Delmont (724-468-4422), and retains a third-party code agency for the Uniform Construction Code. Section 51-1 of the Borough Code says "This municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and Section 51-3 lists "By the retention of one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies to act on behalf of the municipality" among the ways it may do so; the Borough's Forms page posts the agency's building permit application under the Borough's own letterhead, and the Borough's fee schedule says the agency "will provide up to (3) plan reviews per application." The Borough's fee schedule (updated December 2024, read October 12, 2026) says, in its list headed "Zoning & Code Officer Permits and Certifications $50 Flat Fee," "No permits or zoning certificates are necessary for replacing shingles, windows, doors or siding." Chapter 58 of the Borough Code, Article II (Ord. No. 96-8, amended through 2000, a scanned image transcribed from the rendered page), says "The entire BOCA National Building Code of 1996 is enacted as a borough ordinance" and amends its Section 101.2 to reach the "construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use, location, occupancy and maintenance of all buildings and structures." Section 51-5 of Chapter 51 continues building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the Code." This record does not decide whether that 1996 code still applies to a reroof, and the text of its permit and exemption sections is not in the Borough's Code as posted, so it was not read. The Borough's pages read state no area, percentage or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Delmont, 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, Delmont Borough issues permits through its Borough office, 77 Greensburg Street, Delmont (724-468-4422), and retains a third-party code agency for the Uniform Construction Code. Section 51-1 of the Borough Code says "This municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and Section 51-3 lists "By the retention of one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies to act on behalf of the municipality" among the ways it may do so; the Borough's Forms page posts the agency's building permit application under the Borough's own letterhead, and the Borough's fee schedule says the agency "will provide up to (3) plan reviews per application." Chapter 51 of the Borough Code adds no roofing provision, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers. Chapter 51 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and names no edition, Chapter 58 still enacts the 1996 BOCA National Building Code, and the Borough's pages name no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 1996 BOCA 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 Delmont, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Delmont, 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, Delmont Borough issues permits through its Borough office, 77 Greensburg Street, Delmont (724-468-4422), and retains a third-party code agency for the Uniform Construction Code. Section 51-1 of the Borough Code says "This municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and Section 51-3 lists "By the retention of one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies to act on behalf of the municipality" among the ways it may do so; the Borough's Forms page posts the agency's building permit application under the Borough's own letterhead, and the Borough's fee schedule says the agency "will provide up to (3) plan reviews per application." Section 51-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, 34 Pa. Code chapters 401 to 405, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code. Chapter 58 of the Borough Code, Article II (Ord. No. 96-8, amended through 2000, a scanned image transcribed from the rendered page), says "The entire BOCA National Building Code of 1996 is enacted as a borough ordinance" and amends its Section 101.2 to reach the "construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use, location, occupancy and maintenance of all buildings and structures." Section 51-5 of Chapter 51 continues building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the Code." This record does not decide whether that 1996 code still applies to a reroof, and the text of its permit and exemption sections is not in the Borough's Code as posted, so it was not read. Chapter 51 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and names no edition, Chapter 58 still enacts the 1996 BOCA National Building Code, and the Borough's pages name no edition; this record does not decide which edition the Borough applies.