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

Roofing questions: Borough of Emsworth, PA

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

Emsworth Borough's Uniform Construction Code ordinance names no roof work. Section 100-2 of Chapter 100 (Ord. No. 941, June 9, 2004, read October 12, 2026) says the Uniform Construction Code "is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the municipal building code of this municipality" and adds no permit clause of its own for house repairs. Article II of the same chapter (Ord. No. 956, August 22, 2007) says "The 2006 International Building Code, the 2006 International Fire Code, the 2006 International Residential Code" and three other 2006 codes "are hereby adopted as the Building Code, Fire Code, Residential Code, One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, Mechanical Code, and Property Maintenance Code of the Borough of Emsworth." This record has not read the text of those 2006 codes, including their permit and exemption sections, and does not decide whether they reach a house reroof. Section 245-15 of the Zoning chapter says "Before a landowner may have a nonsign structure erected, reconstructed, structurally altered, or moved on his or her lot" a zoning permit is needed and names no roof work. The residential UCC building permit application the Forms page posts says "A UCC Permit is not required for the following items:" and the list that follows includes "Roofing Surfaces (shingles/metal surfaces. NOT sheathing or truss work)" (transcribed from the rendered page image, because the text layer merges the list's two columns). The same sheet says "Municipal Permits including, but not limited to, zoning, driveway, land development, sewage and utility may be required prior to the issuance of a building permit." 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, Emsworth Borough's Chapter 100 says in Section 100-1 "This municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Borough's Forms page (read October 12, 2026) says its third-party building inspector reviews the zoning permit application and building permit application and that "Once the zoning permit is approved and paid, the building permit application will be reviewed, approved and issued." The Borough's Government page lists "BUILDING INSPECTION/CODE ENFORCEMENT" among its borough contacts, and the building permit application it posts carries the inspector's address and telephone, (724) 993-4505. The Borough office is at 171 Center Ave., Pittsburgh, telephone (412) 761-1161. No Borough text read for this record sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Emsworth, 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, Emsworth Borough's Chapter 100 says in Section 100-1 "This municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Borough's Forms page (read October 12, 2026) says its third-party building inspector reviews the zoning permit application and building permit application and that "Once the zoning permit is approved and paid, the building permit application will be reviewed, approved and issued." The Borough's Government page lists "BUILDING INSPECTION/CODE ENFORCEMENT" among its borough contacts, and the building permit application it posts carries the inspector's address and telephone, (724) 993-4505. The Borough office is at 171 Center Ave., Pittsburgh, telephone (412) 761-1161. Chapter 100 of the Borough Code adds no reroofing rule of its own, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers. Article II of Chapter 100 adopts the 2006 International Residential Code, Section 100-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time," and the Borough's Forms page and application name no edition (the application says "Uniform Construction standards, as specified in PA Code 34 §401-405"); the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2006 codes' reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which code the Borough applies to a house.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Borough of Emsworth, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Emsworth, 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, Emsworth Borough's Chapter 100 says in Section 100-1 "This municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Borough's Forms page (read October 12, 2026) says its third-party building inspector reviews the zoning permit application and building permit application and that "Once the zoning permit is approved and paid, the building permit application will be reviewed, approved and issued." The Borough's Government page lists "BUILDING INSPECTION/CODE ENFORCEMENT" among its borough contacts, and the building permit application it posts carries the inspector's address and telephone, (724) 993-4505. The Borough office is at 171 Center Ave., Pittsburgh, telephone (412) 761-1161. Article II of Chapter 100 adopts the 2006 International Residential Code, Section 100-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time," and the Borough's Forms page and application name no edition (the application says "Uniform Construction standards, as specified in PA Code 34 §401-405"); the text above is the 2021 edition's, this record has not read the 2006 codes' text, and this record does not decide which code the Borough applies to a house.