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

Roofing questions: Township of Lower Makefield, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Lower Makefield, PA. Lower Makefield Township's code deletes the State's permit exemptions for house repairs and sets no size threshold for roof work. Section 97-3 of the Township Code (Ord. No. 342, adopted July 7, 2004) makes these changes to the Uniform Construction Code: "Section 403.1 is amended to delete the exclusions contained in subsection (b)"; "Section 403.62 (Permit requirements and exemptions) is amended to delete subsection (c)"; and "The Code is amended to delete, to the extent permissible, any exclusion of repairs/nonstructural alterations for homeowners contained in the Code." It names no roof work. Section 403.62 has been amended since 2004 (in 2006 and 2009), and this record does not decide which of its current subsections Section 97-3 reaches, including the sentence "An ordinary repair does not require a permit" now in 403.62(d). The Community Development Department's General Instructions for Permit Applications (read October 6, 2026) say "A permit is always required for any addition or structural modification to your existing living space," list other permit work without naming roofing, and add "Please know that this list is not inclusive; permits for other activities may be required." The 2026 fee schedule's residential (R-3 and R-4) building permit fees name no roof work; its only roofing line, "Includes roofing, doors, windows, etc. requiring no structurual changes to building or structure," sits under "Miscellaneous Renovations for use groups other than R-3." 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). 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 Makefield Township administers the code itself: Section 97-1 of the Township Code says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code, Act 45 of 1999," and its Community Development Department is "responsible for the administration of the Township" building codes and takes permit applications through the Township's online portal. Chapter 97, read in full, names no roof work and sets no threshold for it.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Lower Makefield, 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 Makefield Township administers the code itself: Section 97-1 of the Township Code says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code, Act 45 of 1999," and its Community Development Department is "responsible for the administration of the Township" building codes and takes permit applications through the Township's online portal. Section 97-3 of the Township Code amends the Uniform Construction Code to "delete the exclusions contained in subsection (b)" of Section 403.1, the State's scope section, and Chapter 97 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. The department's permit instructions and fee schedule say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of Lower Makefield, 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 Makefield Township administers the code itself: Section 97-1 of the Township Code says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code, Act 45 of 1999," and its Community Development Department is "responsible for the administration of the Township" building codes and takes permit applications through the Township's online portal. Section 97-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the Township's building code. Section 97-3 of the Township Code (Ord. No. 342, adopted July 7, 2004) makes these changes to the Uniform Construction Code: "Section 403.1 is amended to delete the exclusions contained in subsection (b)"; "Section 403.62 (Permit requirements and exemptions) is amended to delete subsection (c)"; and "The Code is amended to delete, to the extent permissible, any exclusion of repairs/nonstructural alterations for homeowners contained in the Code." It names no roof work. Section 403.62 has been amended since 2004 (in 2006 and 2009), and this record does not decide which of its current subsections Section 97-3 reaches, including the sentence "An ordinary repair does not require a permit" now in 403.62(d). The Township's permit portal describes its UCC Building Permit under the State's 2021 codes, effective January 1, 2026. Chapter 97 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions.