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

Roofing questions: Borough of Hatboro, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Borough of Hatboro, PA. Hatboro Borough's permits page lists roofing among work that requires a building permit for residential properties. The Borough's Permits & Licenses page (read October 9, 2026) says "Building Permits are required for the following work in the Borough of Hatboro (for both residential and non-residential properties)" and lists "Roofing/Siding" with new construction, additions/alterations and demolitions, and it says "Not sure you need a permit? Call Borough Hall at 215-443-9100." The Borough's 2026 fee schedule (Resolution 2025-45, a scanned document read from its page images) has a line "Re-Roofing/Re-Siding: $148.00" under the heading "The following sections pertain to specific Residential projects only when the Municipality has amended the UCC," and prices "Alterations, renovations, repairs or modifications of existing buildings or structures where floor area does not apply (i.e. doors, windows, roofs, structural openings or beams, etc.)" at "$200 plus $28 for each $1,000 of estimated construction value." Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Borough Code, the Uniform Construction Code part, names no roof work on houses, and a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing" found no permit provision naming roof work on houses. 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 Borough to require a building permit for a reroof; the Borough's page says the permit is issued and inspected through Barry Isett & Associates and paid for at Borough Hall. 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, Hatboro Borough adopts and administers the code through Section 5-101 of the Borough Code (Ord. 951, June 28, 2004), which adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and provides for its administration and enforcement. The Borough's Permits & Licenses page says completed permit applications "should be submitted to Borough Hall for review by our 3rd Party Building Code Official, Barry Isett & Associates," whose assigned inspector reviews and issues the permit and performs the inspections; permit fees are paid at Borough Hall, 414 South York Road. The Borough's page lists roofing as building permit work without a size or cost threshold, and no Borough text read for this record sets one for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Hatboro, 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, Hatboro Borough adopts and administers the code through Section 5-101 of the Borough Code (Ord. 951, June 28, 2004), which adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and provides for its administration and enforcement. The Borough's Permits & Licenses page says completed permit applications "should be submitted to Borough Hall for review by our 3rd Party Building Code Official, Barry Isett & Associates," whose assigned inspector reviews and issues the permit and performs the inspections; permit fees are paid at Borough Hall, 414 South York Road. Chapter 5, Part 1 changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Hatboro, 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, Hatboro Borough adopts and administers the code through Section 5-101 of the Borough Code (Ord. 951, June 28, 2004), which adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and provides for its administration and enforcement. The Borough's Permits & Licenses page says completed permit applications "should be submitted to Borough Hall for review by our 3rd Party Building Code Official, Barry Isett & Associates," whose assigned inspector reviews and issues the permit and performs the inspections; permit fees are paid at Borough Hall, 414 South York Road. Chapter 5, Part 1 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions, and the Borough's permit page and application name no code edition.