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

Roofing questions: Township of Hepburn, PA

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

No, Township of Hepburn, PA does not require a permit to replace a roof. Hepburn Township's Permit Information page lists replacing roof shingles among basic items that do not require a permit. Hepburn Township's Permit Information page, read October 12, 2026, says "Permits are required for most work that is completed within the township" and lists, under "Basic items which do not require a permit:", "Replacing roof shingles (if replacing trusses or rafter framing, permit IS required)", "Replacing siding" and "Painting"; it lists "New homes", "Additions", "Garages", "Pools", "Porches and Decks" and "Accessory Structures including Sheds" as projects needing a zoning and building permit. The Township's code on eCode360 (read October 12, 2026) has Chapter 5, Part 1, whose section 5-102 says "The Uniform Construction Code, contained in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, as amended from time to time, is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the municipal building code of Hepburn Township" (Ord. 07.6.04, July 6, 2004), section 5-103 lets the Board of Supervisors retain "third-party agencies to act on behalf of Hepburn Township," and section 5-105 keeps in force building code ordinances adopted by the Township "or before July 1, 1999" only where they "equal or exceed the requirements of the code." Section 5-108 adopts the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 edition. A search of the whole code for "roof", for "reroofing" and for "building permit" found no building-permit chapter apart from Chapter 5, no pre-1999 building ordinance, and no section requiring a permit for roof work. Hepburn Township's zoning chapter, section 27-802, says "A zoning permit shall be required: prior to the erection, addition, or alteration of any structure, building or portion thereof," and exempts from the zoning permit "General maintenance and repair to existing buildings or structures; including siding, roofing, painting, the addition of storm windows, and similar activities." That exemption speaks to the zoning permit only. Section 8-302 of the Floodplains chapter says "A permit shall be required before any construction or development is undertaken within any area of the Township of Hepburn"; this record does not decide whether a house reroof is "construction or development" under it. 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, Hepburn Township's Permit Information page says "Zoning and Building permits are required in Hepburn Township" and that the zoning permit comes first from the Zoning Officer, after which "you will be directed to the Building Codes Official," who "is a third party inspector and payment will be payable to him"; it lists "Code Inspections Inc. – Building Codes Inspector – 570-547-0488" and the Zoning & Codes Enforcement Officer at 570-435-0919. The Township office is at 1936 State Route 973 East Highway, Cogan Station (570-494-1907). The Township's page sets the work condition quoted above (replacing trusses or rafter framing) and no area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Hepburn, 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, Hepburn Township's Permit Information page says "Zoning and Building permits are required in Hepburn Township" and that the zoning permit comes first from the Zoning Officer, after which "you will be directed to the Building Codes Official," who "is a third party inspector and payment will be payable to him"; it lists "Code Inspections Inc. – Building Codes Inspector – 570-547-0488" and the Zoning & Codes Enforcement Officer at 570-435-0919. The Township office is at 1936 State Route 973 East Highway, Cogan Station (570-494-1907). The Township's pages say nothing on roof layers. The Township's pages and Chapter 5 name no edition of the International Residential Code, so this record does not decide which edition the Township applies to a house.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Township of Hepburn, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of Hepburn, 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, Hepburn Township's Permit Information page says "Zoning and Building permits are required in Hepburn Township" and that the zoning permit comes first from the Zoning Officer, after which "you will be directed to the Building Codes Official," who "is a third party inspector and payment will be payable to him"; it lists "Code Inspections Inc. – Building Codes Inspector – 570-547-0488" and the Zoning & Codes Enforcement Officer at 570-435-0919. The Township office is at 1936 State Route 973 East Highway, Cogan Station (570-494-1907). The Township's code on eCode360 (read October 12, 2026) has Chapter 5, Part 1, whose section 5-102 says "The Uniform Construction Code, contained in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, as amended from time to time, is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the municipal building code of Hepburn Township" (Ord. 07.6.04, July 6, 2004), section 5-103 lets the Board of Supervisors retain "third-party agencies to act on behalf of Hepburn Township," and section 5-105 keeps in force building code ordinances adopted by the Township "or before July 1, 1999" only where they "equal or exceed the requirements of the code." Section 5-108 adopts the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 edition. A search of the whole code for "roof", for "reroofing" and for "building permit" found no building-permit chapter apart from Chapter 5, no pre-1999 building ordinance, and no section requiring a permit for roof work. The Township's pages and Chapter 5 name no edition of the International Residential Code, so this record does not decide which edition the Township applies to a house.