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

Roofing questions: Township of East Earl, PA

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

No, Township of East Earl, PA does not require a permit to replace a roof. East Earl Township's permit page says a dwelling reroof that only replaces shingles needs no permit, and its permit list requires one for replacement of roofing materials if structural modifications are needed. The Township's "Do I need a permit for..." page (read October 9, 2026) says "REPLACEMENT ROOF - Yes , if you have a dwelling and are changing the slope of the roof or adding dormers (windows). No , if you have a dwelling and just replacing shingles (re-roofing) or applying a rubber roof. Yes , if it is a non-residential building." The list on the Township's building permit application headed "Building / Zoning Permits are required for the following" names "Replacement of roofing materials IF structural modifications are needed." No Township enacted text read names roof work as permit work or as exempt. Section 175-14 of the Township Code (as amended in 2010 and by Ord. No. 207, January 8, 2019) says "The Uniform Construction Code does not apply to those exclusions and exemptions provided in the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code and, specifically, 34 Pa. Code Chapter 403.1(b) through (g)," and Section 175-16 repeals the Township's 2004 construction code ordinance. The Department of Labor and Industry's register of municipal code change ordinances lists an earlier East Earl Township filing that "Requires a building permit for all residential alterations and repairs and specifies thirteen exceptions," with the entries "Enacted 4 / 14 / 09" and "Challenged on 5 / 14 / 09"; that requirement does not appear in the current Chapter 175. The Township's fee schedule for applications, permits and licenses says of building permits "These rates are adopted by separate resolution," a resolution not published on the Township's site, and its general fee schedule lists zoning permit fees, including "Alterations/Additions—Existing" at $50.00, with no roofing line. 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." The no-permit line is the Township's stated practice; this record does not decide whether it is the Township's reading of the state exclusions. A reroof that changes the roof slope, adds dormers or needs structural modifications needs a permit, and so does roof replacement on a non-residential building. 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 Earl Township takes zoning and building permit applications at the Township office, 4610 Division Highway, East Earl. Section 175-1 of the Township Code says "East Earl Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's building permit application (a scanned form, transcribed from the rendered page images) says "The Township allows the applicant to choose one of the following third party inspection agencies for Uniform Construction Code compliance," listing Building Inspection Underwriters, Associated Building Inspections, Code Administrators, Inc. and Technicon Enterprises Inc., II. The Township's line, quoted at the start, falls at the roof structure: changing the slope, adding dormers or needing structural modifications brings a permit, and no Township text sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of East Earl, 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 Earl Township takes zoning and building permit applications at the Township office, 4610 Division Highway, East Earl. Section 175-1 of the Township Code says "East Earl Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's building permit application (a scanned form, transcribed from the rendered page images) says "The Township allows the applicant to choose one of the following third party inspection agencies for Uniform Construction Code compliance," listing Building Inspection Underwriters, Associated Building Inspections, Code Administrators, Inc. and Technicon Enterprises Inc., II. Chapter 175 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of East Earl, 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 Earl Township takes zoning and building permit applications at the Township office, 4610 Division Highway, East Earl. Section 175-1 of the Township Code says "East Earl Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's building permit application (a scanned form, transcribed from the rendered page images) says "The Township allows the applicant to choose one of the following third party inspection agencies for Uniform Construction Code compliance," listing Building Inspection Underwriters, Associated Building Inspections, Code Administrators, Inc. and Technicon Enterprises Inc., II. Section 175-2 is reserved, an editor's note saying the former incorporation by reference section "was repealed 1-8-2019 by Ord. No. 207," and Chapter 175 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Neither Chapter 175 nor the Township's pages name an edition of the International Residential Code.