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

Roofing questions: Township of Lower Allen, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Lower Allen, PA. Lower Allen Township requires a building permit for residential roof replacement and charges a flat roof-covering fee. The Community and Economic Development Department's "Do I Need a Permit?" page (read October 7, 2026) says under Roof "A Building permit is required for both commercial and residential roof replacements and reshingling," and lists for submittal a General Permit Application and a "Copy of contractor's proposal"; its list of residential work that needs no permit does not name roofing. The department's Roof Replacement Application Checklist says "Submit contract that includes scope of work, materials, project cost, and roof slope." The Township's 2026 Schedule of Fees (Resolution 2025-R-50, effective January 1, 2026) charges residential work to enlarge, alter or repair a building "1% x construction contract cost. $50.00 minimum. Exception for replacement roof covering $50." Section 70-8 of the Township Code, added in 2005 under Act 45 section 503(c), says "The exclusion from UCC application to alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, contained in Section 104(B)(5) of Act 92 of 2004, is hereby deleted" and "The exclusion from UCC application to repairs to residential buildings, contained in Section 104(B)(6) of Act 92 of 2004, is hereby deleted. Permit exclusions stated in Section R 105.2 of the IRC, 2003 Edition, shall apply." It names no roof work. 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 Lower Allen Township ordinance that "Requires a building permit for certain residential repairs and alterations," with an approval letter mailed January 6, 2005, "Enacted 1 / 24 / 05." 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, Lower Allen Township administers the code itself: Section 70-2 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the PCCA," Section 70-4 provides for "the designation of an employee of the Township to serve as the municipal Building Code Official (BCO) to act on behalf of the Township," and the Township's Chapter 70 Exhibit No. 1 says "The Lower Allen Township Community and Economic Development (CED) Department has employees designated for administration and enforcement of the UCC." The department is at 2233 Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill. The Township sets no area or cost threshold for roof work: its permit page names residential roof replacements and reshingling without a size limit, and Chapter 70 sets none.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Lower Allen, 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, Lower Allen Township administers the code itself: Section 70-2 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the PCCA," Section 70-4 provides for "the designation of an employee of the Township to serve as the municipal Building Code Official (BCO) to act on behalf of the Township," and the Township's Chapter 70 Exhibit No. 1 says "The Lower Allen Township Community and Economic Development (CED) Department has employees designated for administration and enforcement of the UCC." The department is at 2233 Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill. Chapter 70 of the Township Code and its Exhibit No. 1 change nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the department's pages say nothing on roof layers. Section 70-8 deletes Act 45's exclusions for residential repairs and for alterations without structural or egress changes, so the Township's code reaches residential repairs, subject to the permit exclusions it names. The Township's Chapter 70 Exhibit No. 1, authorized by Resolution 2026-R-05, fills in the local data of the "International Residential Code, 2021 Ed.," while Section 70-8 points to the permit exclusions of "Section R 105.2 of the IRC, 2003 Edition"; this record has not read the 2003 edition's Section R105.2.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of Lower Allen, 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, Lower Allen Township administers the code itself: Section 70-2 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the PCCA," Section 70-4 provides for "the designation of an employee of the Township to serve as the municipal Building Code Official (BCO) to act on behalf of the Township," and the Township's Chapter 70 Exhibit No. 1 says "The Lower Allen Township Community and Economic Development (CED) Department has employees designated for administration and enforcement of the UCC." The department is at 2233 Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill. Section 70-3 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code of the Township. Exhibit No. 1 fills in Table R301.2, including "ICE BARRIER UNDERLAYMENT REQUIRED = Yes," and changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Section 70-8 of the Township Code, added in 2005 under Act 45 section 503(c), says "The exclusion from UCC application to alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, contained in Section 104(B)(5) of Act 92 of 2004, is hereby deleted" and "The exclusion from UCC application to repairs to residential buildings, contained in Section 104(B)(6) of Act 92 of 2004, is hereby deleted. Permit exclusions stated in Section R 105.2 of the IRC, 2003 Edition, shall apply." It names no roof work. The Township's Chapter 70 Exhibit No. 1, authorized by Resolution 2026-R-05, fills in the local data of the "International Residential Code, 2021 Ed.," while Section 70-8 points to the permit exclusions of "Section R 105.2 of the IRC, 2003 Edition"; this record has not read the 2003 edition's Section R105.2.