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

Roofing questions: Township of Easttown, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Easttown, PA. Easttown Township lists roof replacement or repair as building permit work. The Township's Permits page (read October 9, 2026) lists "Roof replacement or repair" among its examples of "Projects that Require Building Permits," and the Township's 2026 fee schedule has a "Re-Roofing Permits" line: "Application Fee $75.00" and "Permit Fee – Residential-Single Family $300.00." Chapter 160 of the Township Code, the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance, names no roof work either way and has no permit clause of its own. Under state law, Act 45 says the Act "shall not apply to" "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503" or to "Repairs to residential buildings, except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503" (section 104(b)(5) and (6)), and of a municipal ordinance that adds to the code, section 503(c) says "An ordinance under this subsection shall not be effective nor enforceable unless subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) have been satisfied." This record does not decide whether the municipality's requirement is one adopted under section 503 or kept in effect by section 303(b)(1). In practice, expect the Township to require a permit for a reroof. The 2026 fee schedule sets a "Fee for Performing Work without a Township Permit" of "1.5x cost of applicable Permit Fee." 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, Easttown Township administers the code itself: Section 160-1 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Permits page, for the Township office at 566 Beaumont Road, Devon, says "Building Permits (includes Mechanical and Re-roof) are reviewed and approved by the Township Building Code Official." Neither the Township Code nor the Township's Permits page or fee schedule states a square-footage or percentage threshold for roof work; the Permits page names "Roof replacement or repair" without a size limit.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Easttown, 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, Easttown Township administers the code itself: Section 160-1 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Permits page, for the Township office at 566 Beaumont Road, Devon, says "Building Permits (includes Mechanical and Re-roof) are reviewed and approved by the Township Building Code Official." Chapter 160 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers. Chapter 160 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" without naming an edition, and the Township's Permits page refers to "the 2009 International Residential Building Code , 2008 National Electrical Code , and Act 45 of 1999" and names no later residential edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2009 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 Easttown, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of Easttown, 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, Easttown Township administers the code itself: Section 160-1 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Permits page, for the Township office at 566 Beaumont Road, Devon, says "Building Permits (includes Mechanical and Re-roof) are reviewed and approved by the Township Building Code Official." Section 160-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the Municipal Building Code of the Township, and Chapter 160 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Chapter 160 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" without naming an edition, and the Township's Permits page refers to "the 2009 International Residential Building Code , 2008 National Electrical Code , and Act 45 of 1999" and names no later residential edition; this record has not read the 2009 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Township applies. Section 160-5A keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 that equal or exceed the code; none is published with the chapter.