Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of East Donegal, PA?

Roofing questions: Township of East Donegal, PA

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of East Donegal, PA?

No, Township of East Donegal, PA does not require a permit to replace a roof. East Donegal Township's permit process sheet says replacing roof shingles needs no permit where there is no increase in exterior dimension and no change in use. The Township's Zoning/Building Residential Permit Process sheet (read October 9, 2026) lists among "Residential projects that do NOT require a permit(s)": "Alterations and renovations when there is no increase in exterior dimension AND no change in use, including replacement siding, or roof shingles, shutters, etc." It lists "Changes to the structural integrity of the house (exterior walls, floors, roof trusses, beams and the like)" as needing a Building Permit, and it says "If you are not certain if a permit is required, PLEASE CALL. Failure to get a permit will result in a Notice of Violation." Article II of Chapter 8 of the Township Code, the East Donegal Township Construction Code Ordinance (Ord. No. 2004-1, June 3, 2004, last amended by Ord. No. 2022-3, July 7, 2022), adopts sections 403.61 and 403.62 of the State's regulations to govern construction code permits for residential construction and names no roof work either way, and Section 52-328(a) of the zoning chapter says "No zoning permit shall be required for repairs to and maintenance of any building" that do not change the use or "alter the exterior dimensions". Neither the Township's 2026 fee schedule nor the 2026 residential fee schedule of Code Administrators it points to has a roofing line, and the Township's permit application names no roof work. The enacted text names no roof work on houses either way; the no-permit line is the Township's stated practice, and this record does not decide whether it is the Township's reading of the State's exclusion for house repairs. 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." 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, East Donegal Township in Lancaster County administers the code through its Zoning Officer/Building Code Official, with a third-party agency: the Township's Zoning/Code Enforcement page names Code Administrators, 1862 Charter Lane, Lancaster, as its "Building Code Inspection Agency," and the Township's permit process sheet says building permit applications "are also to be submitted to the Township office" and that "Our residential third-party building code inspection agency is Code Administrators." Section 8-22 of the Township Code has the building code official "issuing building permits" and the construction code official, who "may be a third party agency," perform plan review and inspections. The Township's line, quoted at the start, falls at exterior dimension, use and structure: replacing roof shingles with no increase in exterior dimension and no change in use needs no permit, while changes to roof trusses and other structural members need a Building Permit; no Township text sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of East Donegal, 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, East Donegal Township in Lancaster County administers the code through its Zoning Officer/Building Code Official, with a third-party agency: the Township's Zoning/Code Enforcement page names Code Administrators, 1862 Charter Lane, Lancaster, as its "Building Code Inspection Agency," and the Township's permit process sheet says building permit applications "are also to be submitted to the Township office" and that "Our residential third-party building code inspection agency is Code Administrators." Section 8-22 of the Township Code has the building code official "issuing building permits" and the construction code official, who "may be a third party agency," perform plan review and inspections. Article II of Chapter 8 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers. Section 8-21 of the Township Code adopts the State's Uniform Construction Code "with the following additions to the International Code Council's family of codes, 2018 editions," Section 8-22 adopts chapter 1 of "the International Residential Code, 2018 edition," and Section 8-20 says the 2003 editions it names include "all subsequent codes and standards as may be adopted from time to time by the Department of Labor and Industry"; the Township's permit pages name no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2018 edition's reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Township of East Donegal, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of East Donegal, 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, East Donegal Township in Lancaster County administers the code through its Zoning Officer/Building Code Official, with a third-party agency: the Township's Zoning/Code Enforcement page names Code Administrators, 1862 Charter Lane, Lancaster, as its "Building Code Inspection Agency," and the Township's permit process sheet says building permit applications "are also to be submitted to the Township office" and that "Our residential third-party building code inspection agency is Code Administrators." Section 8-22 of the Township Code has the building code official "issuing building permits" and the construction code official, who "may be a third party agency," perform plan review and inspections. Section 8-21 adopts "the standards which the state department of labor and industry has made a part of the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code" as the Township construction code, and Section 8-22 fills in Table R301.2(1), including "Ice-barrier Underlayment: Yes"; Article II changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Section 8-21 of the Township Code adopts the State's Uniform Construction Code "with the following additions to the International Code Council's family of codes, 2018 editions," Section 8-22 adopts chapter 1 of "the International Residential Code, 2018 edition," and Section 8-20 says the 2003 editions it names include "all subsequent codes and standards as may be adopted from time to time by the Department of Labor and Industry"; the Township's permit pages name no edition; this record has not read the 2018 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.