Hempfield Township - Code Enforcement Department

Township of Hempfield, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County)

city

1132 Woodward Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601

Required

Required

Hempfield's Township Code requires a permit for roof replacement costing more than $100. Chapter 41, Building Permits (https://ecode360.com/10765721, read October 5, 2026), defines an alteration to include "any work of repair, rearrangement, removal or replacement of any exterior or interior wall, roof, floor or support or any part thereof of any building," and Section 41-3 says "It shall be unlawful to construct, alter or raze any building or structure in the Township, except fences, when the cost of such construction or alteration exceeds $100 or where the effect of such construction or alteration is to enlarge the capacity or affect the bearing walls of any building or the roof thereof, without having first secured a permit therefor." The Township's questions page, read the same day, answers "Is a permit required to replace shingles on a roof?" with "No." and adds "If you are unsure please call our department for information before you build or install." That answer is the department's stated practice; the enacted chapter supplies this record's answer. 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 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, call the Code Enforcement Department before a reroof and ask whether it wants a permit, since its enacted chapter and its questions page answer differently; a violation of Chapter 41 is "punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000 for each offense, together with all costs of prosecution, court costs and reasonable attorney fees," and the Code Enforcement Officer may serve "a stop-work order." Permit applications go through the Township's OpenGov permit portal or the office at 1132 Woodward Drive, Greensburg (phone 724-834-7232, ext. 633 for Code); the questions page lists with an application a "Contractor's Certificate of Worker's Compensation Insurance" and says building permits take "up to 30 business days." Its Building Inspections page names "the Township's third-party inspector, Code Enforcement Associates" for electrical and final inspections, while its questions page says "Residential Inspections are performed by Hempfield Township building inspectors."

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, Hempfield Township administers the code itself, with a retained third-party agency for some inspections. Chapter 40 of the Township Code, Building Code (Ord. No. 2009-04, effective October 5, 2009), "adopts the Uniform Construction Code" as "the Township of Hempfield Building Code" and says "The Township of Hempfield hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter"; a third-party agency may "perform plan reviews, approvals and inspections (but not the issuance of building, compliance or occupancy permits)." The Township's Building Inspections page names "the Township's third-party inspector, Code Enforcement Associates" for electrical and final inspections. Chapter 40's own revisions fill in Table R301.2(1) and touch no roofing section. A separate, older chapter reaches roof work: Chapter 41, Building Permits, defines an alteration to include "any work of repair, rearrangement, removal or replacement of any exterior or interior wall, roof, floor or support or any part thereof of any building," and Section 41-3 makes it unlawful to "construct, alter or raze any building or structure in the Township, except fences, when the cost of such construction or alteration exceeds $100" without a permit. Chapter 40 says "All ordinances, resolutions, regulations and policies of the Township of Hempfield not affected, modified or repealed by this chapter, the code, Act or Regulations shall remain in full force and effect." Chapters 40 and 41 were read in full, with a search of the whole Township Code for "roof".

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement under state law. The State's adoption of the 2021 International Residential Code (34 Pa. Code 403.21) contains no hail or impact rule, and it makes no change to the code's roof assemblies chapter, which itself has no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement for roof coverings. A municipality could add one only by an ordinance that equals or exceeds the Uniform Construction Code under Act 45 section 503, filed with the Department of Labor and Industry; none of the filings on the Department's register of municipal code change ordinances mentions hail or impact resistance. An owner may still choose an impact-rated roof covering. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Hempfield Township administers the code itself under Chapter 40 of its Code, with Code Enforcement Associates as its third-party inspector. Neither Chapter 40 (Building Code) nor Chapter 41 (Building Permits), read in full, contains a UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement, and Chapter 40's revisions touch no roofing section; Chapter 41 requires a permit for an alteration, which it defines to include roof replacement, costing more than $100.

Hempfield's Township Code sets a $100 threshold that reaches roof replacement. Chapter 41, Building Permits (https://ecode360.com/10765721, read October 5, 2026), defines an alteration as "Any enlargement of any building, or any work of repair, rearrangement, removal or replacement of any exterior or interior wall, roof, floor or support or any part thereof of any building," and Section 41-3 says "It shall be unlawful to construct, alter or raze any building or structure in the Township, except fences, when the cost of such construction or alteration exceeds $100 or where the effect of such construction or alteration is to enlarge the capacity or affect the bearing walls of any building or the roof thereof, without having first secured a permit therefor." The Township's own questions page says otherwise for shingles: on October 5, 2026 it answered "Is a permit required to replace shingles on a roof?" with "No." That answer is the department's stated practice; the enacted chapter supplies this record's answer. The Township's 2024 fee schedule has no roofing line; its residential building permit lines include a general "Renovation/Alteration" fee, and the Township's permit portal lists a single "Building Permit" type. 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 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). 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). The state text from "Under state law" onward is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Hempfield Township administers the code itself under Chapter 40 of its Code, with Code Enforcement Associates as its third-party inspector; the threshold above is Chapter 41's, read in full with Chapter 40 and a search of the whole Township Code for "roof".

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, Hempfield Township administers the code itself under Chapter 40 of its Code, with Code Enforcement Associates as its third-party inspector. Chapter 40's revisions touch no roofing section, and no Township rule on roof layers was found in Chapters 40 and 41, read in full, or in a search of the whole Township Code for "roof." Chapter 41 requires a permit for an alteration, defined to include "replacement of any exterior or interior wall, roof, floor or support," when its cost "exceeds $100."

State rules from the base code, where the state code reaches the job. Pennsylvania adopts the 2021 International Residential Code without changing Section R803, Roof Sheathing (34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7); the State's changes to Chapter 8 are to ridge framing and attic ventilation). Lumber roof sheathing follows Table R803.1: over rafters or beams 24 inches apart it must be at least 5/8 inch net thick. Wood structural panels "shall be identified for grade, bond classification and performance category by a grade mark or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency," and their spans "shall not exceed the values set forth in Table R503.2.1.1(1) or APA E30." For shingles, "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks" (R905.2.1), and on any reroof "The structural roof components shall be capable of supporting the roof covering system and the material and equipment loads that will be encountered during installation of the roof covering system" (R908.2). 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)). Act 45 section 104(b)(5) excludes alterations "which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and says only that "a structural change does not include a minor framing change needed to replace existing windows or doors"; 34 Pa. Code 403.62(d)(2) lists "The removal or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support" as not an ordinary repair. Neither names roof sheathing; this record does not decide whether replacing it is either. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Hempfield Township administers the code itself under Chapter 40 of its Code, with Code Enforcement Associates as its third-party inspector. Chapter 40's revisions touch no sheathing section. Chapter 41 requires a permit for an alteration costing more than $100 and defines an alteration to include "replacement of any exterior or interior wall, roof, floor or support or any part thereof"; it does not mention sheathing. Both chapters were read in full.

6% Pennsylvania sales and use tax, with a local tax added on purchases made in Allegheny County (1%) and Philadelphia (2%). On a reroof the roofer pays the tax on the materials and does not add it to the homeowner's bill. The Department of Revenue says: "The Pennsylvania sales tax rate is 6 percent. By law, a 1 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Allegheny County, and 2 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Philadelphia." Roof work is a construction activity: the rule's list of items "presumed to become a permanent part of real estate" includes "Roofing (repairs)" (61 Pa. Code 31.11). For construction activities, "A contractor shall pay tax upon the purchase price ... of all property, including materials, equipment, components and supplies, which he furnishes and installs" (61 Pa. Code 31.12(a)(1)), and the rule's example says the contractor "does not charge sales tax on this transaction to his customer. The contractor may include the tax he must pay in his bid proposal but not as a separately stated item." Apart from limited exceptions set out in the rule, the same holds on jobs for tax-exempt owners: "a contractor erecting a building, repairing a roof, replacing a door for a governmental agency, ... school district, charitable or religious organization, and the like, shall pay tax upon the property which he consumes" (61 Pa. Code 31.13(a)). Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Hempfield Township is in Westmoreland County and administers the code itself under Chapter 40 of its Code, with Code Enforcement Associates as its third-party inspector; its pages say nothing on sales tax. Chapter 41 of its Code, read in full, requires a permit for an alteration, defined to include roof replacement, costing more than $100.