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

Roofing questions: Borough of Forty Fort, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Borough of Forty Fort, PA. Forty Fort Borough's code requires a permit for residential repairs and alterations, and its list of exceptions names no roof work. Section 5-212 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2006-13, December 18, 2006; Ord. No. 5-2024, November 18, 2024) says "the Borough, pursuant to the authorization of Act 92 of 2004, shall require persons to obtain permits under the Borough of Forty Fort Construction Code for all of the following," including "All alterations or repairs to residential building which are exempt from the UCC by Act 92 of 2004; provided, however, that the following types of alterations and repairs shall continue to be exempt, and no permit will be required." Its building exceptions are fences not over six feet high, low retaining walls, "Sidewalks and driveways," "Painting, papering, tiling, and carpeting," shallow prefabricated pools, and "Swings and other playground equipment"; the rest are listed electrical, gas, mechanical and plumbing items. No exception names roof work. The Borough's pages read for this record say nothing that takes a reroof out of that requirement; its Building Permit Application Submittal Guidelines for residential repair and renovation ask for "Whether existing roof covering (shingles, etc.) will be removed or overlaid." 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). The Department of Labor and Industry's register of municipal code change ordinances lists a Forty Fort Borough ordinance that "Requires a building permit for all residential alterations and repairs, and establishes 9 exceptions," found "in compliance with 35 P.S. § 7210.503 (b)" with an approval letter mailed November 9, 2006, and "Enacted 12 / 18 / 06," and a second filing that "Requires a building permit for all residential alterations and repairs, and establishes 5 exceptions," with an approval letter mailed November 24, 2010. In practice, expect the Borough to require a permit for a reroof. Section 5-103 of the Borough Code, as the Borough posts it, says "Any person who shall perform any work requiring a permit* without first securing said permit for such work shall be issued a stop work order and shall be liable for a fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) if paid within ten (10) days," rising to $1,000, and "Each day that such violation shall continue shall constitute a separate offense." 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, Forty Fort Borough's Code Enforcement office, on the second floor of the Borough building at 1271 Wyoming Ave., takes building permit applications, and its online portal says "Permits, complaints can be filed here." The Borough's residential repair and renovation guide says "The homeowner or contractor must contact Building Inspection Underwriters to schedule all required inspections." Section 5-201 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2004-5, June 7, 2004) says "The Borough of Forty Fort hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and Section 5-202 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as "the building code of the Borough of Forty Fort." No Borough text read for this record sets an area or cost threshold for roof work; Section 5-212, quoted at the start, reaches residential repairs and alterations apart from its listed exceptions.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Forty Fort, 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, Forty Fort Borough's Code Enforcement office, on the second floor of the Borough building at 1271 Wyoming Ave., takes building permit applications, and its online portal says "Permits, complaints can be filed here." The Borough's residential repair and renovation guide says "The homeowner or contractor must contact Building Inspection Underwriters to schedule all required inspections." Section 5-201 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2004-5, June 7, 2004) says "The Borough of Forty Fort hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and Section 5-202 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as "the building code of the Borough of Forty Fort." Section 5-212 brings residential repairs and alterations back within the permit requirement apart from listed exceptions, none of them roof work, and Part 2 of Chapter 5 changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions; the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers, and its repair and renovation guidelines ask whether the existing roof covering will be removed or overlaid.

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

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Forty Fort, 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, Forty Fort Borough's Code Enforcement office, on the second floor of the Borough building at 1271 Wyoming Ave., takes building permit applications, and its online portal says "Permits, complaints can be filed here." The Borough's residential repair and renovation guide says "The homeowner or contractor must contact Building Inspection Underwriters to schedule all required inspections." Section 5-201 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2004-5, June 7, 2004) says "The Borough of Forty Fort hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and Section 5-202 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as "the building code of the Borough of Forty Fort." Section 5-212 requires permits for residential repairs and alterations that Act 92 of 2004 exempted from the UCC, apart from listed exceptions, and Part 2 of Chapter 5 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. The Borough's code and pages name no code edition.