Lower Mount Bethel Township - Zoning and Building Permits

Township of Lower Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania (Northampton County)

city

2004 Hutchison Avenue, Martins Creek, PA 18063

Required

Lower Mount Bethel Township's code and pages read for this record do not say whether a house reroof needs a permit. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code, the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance (Ord. 2004-07, June 21, 2004, read October 10, 2026), says in Section 5-102 that the Uniform Construction Code "is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the Township building code of this Township," names no roof work and adds no permit clause of its own for house repairs. Its Section 5-105 says "All building code ordinances or portions of ordinances which were adopted by this Township on or before July 1, 1999, and which equal or exceed the requirements of the code shall continue in full force and effect"; no such earlier building ordinance was found in the Township Code. Part 3, Contractor Licensing, lists "roofs" among "HOME IMPROVEMENT" work ("driveways, swimming pools, pool houses, porches, garages, roofs, siding") for which contractors must show state registration or a Township contractors license; it licenses the contractor and sets no permit. Chapter 27, Zoning, Section 27-1703 1 A says "A zoning permit shall be required prior to" several kinds of activity, ending "and for new construction, reconstruction, or alterations"; it names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is "reconstruction" or an "alteration." The Zoning Office's Building Permit Procedures sheet asks "WHAT TYPE OF STRUCTURES REQUIRES A ZONING/CONSTRUCTION PERMIT?" and lists sheds, fences, decks, pools, "Interior and Exterior changes to a home or other structure, which includes any type of an addition and electrical work" and accessory buildings; it names no roofing, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an "Exterior change." The combined application's "APPLICATION FOR" boxes run from "NEW BUILDING" and "ADDITION TO BUILDING" to "ALTERATION" and "OTHER (SEE DESC.)" with no roofing box. The Township's 2026 fee schedule lists "UCC - Permit Administration Fee 20% of the total permit cost" and "Zoning Permit Application Fee (includes final inspection) $100," and no roofing line; its third-party plan review fee is priced by a 2026 schedule the Township has not published, and the scanned third-party fee schedule on its site (read from the rendered page image) is marked "Valid through December 31, 2023" and lists no roofing line, only "Renovations or Alterations" and "Minor Alterations/Demolition (1-2 disciplines)." 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." This record does not state whether the Township requires a permit for a house reroof; ask the Township office (610-252-5074) before starting. Read for this answer: Chapter 5 of the Township Code, Code Enforcement (Part 1, Uniform Construction Code, Sections 5-101 to 5-106; Part 2, Property Maintenance Code; Part 3, Contractor Licensing, Sections 5-304 to 5-306), Chapter 27, Part 17, Administration and Enforcement, and every page of a search of the whole Township Code for "roof" (39 results, none a permit provision for roof work) and for "reroofing" (no results); the Township's home, Departments, Zoning / Building and Forms and Documents pages; the Building Permit Procedures sheet; the combined Building / Zoning Permit Application; the 2026 fee schedule; and the third-party fee schedule.

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 Mount Bethel Township administers the code: Section 5-101 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Zoning / Building page lists a "PA UCC Building Code Official," a third-party firm (business line 484-223-0763), beside the Township Zoning Officer. Building and zoning permit applications go to the Zoning Office at the Township building, 2004 Hutchison Avenue, Martins Creek, on one combined "Building / Zoning Permit Application." The Zoning Office's Building Permit Procedures sheet says construction documents "must follow and implement the requirements of the 2009 International Building Code," while Chapter 5 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and names no edition; this record has not read the 2009 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Township applies to a house.

Lower Mount Bethel Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance names no roof work, and the Township has published nothing on reroofs. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code, the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance (Ord. 2004-07, June 21, 2004, read October 10, 2026), says in Section 5-102 that the Uniform Construction Code "is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the Township building code of this Township," names no roof work and adds no permit clause of its own for house repairs. Its Section 5-105 says "All building code ordinances or portions of ordinances which were adopted by this Township on or before July 1, 1999, and which equal or exceed the requirements of the code shall continue in full force and effect"; no such earlier building ordinance was found in the Township Code. Part 3, Contractor Licensing, lists "roofs" among "HOME IMPROVEMENT" work ("driveways, swimming pools, pool houses, porches, garages, roofs, siding") for which contractors must show state registration or a Township contractors license; it licenses the contractor and sets no permit. Chapter 27, Zoning, Section 27-1703 1 A says "A zoning permit shall be required prior to" several kinds of activity, ending "and for new construction, reconstruction, or alterations"; it names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is "reconstruction" or an "alteration." The Zoning Office's Building Permit Procedures sheet asks "WHAT TYPE OF STRUCTURES REQUIRES A ZONING/CONSTRUCTION PERMIT?" and lists sheds, fences, decks, pools, "Interior and Exterior changes to a home or other structure, which includes any type of an addition and electrical work" and accessory buildings; it names no roofing, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an "Exterior change." The combined application's "APPLICATION FOR" boxes run from "NEW BUILDING" and "ADDITION TO BUILDING" to "ALTERATION" and "OTHER (SEE DESC.)" with no roofing box. The Township's 2026 fee schedule lists "UCC - Permit Administration Fee 20% of the total permit cost" and "Zoning Permit Application Fee (includes final inspection) $100," and no roofing line; its third-party plan review fee is priced by a 2026 schedule the Township has not published, and the scanned third-party fee schedule on its site (read from the rendered page image) is marked "Valid through December 31, 2023" and lists no roofing line, only "Renovations or Alterations" and "Minor Alterations/Demolition (1-2 disciplines)." 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, Lower Mount Bethel Township administers the code: Section 5-101 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Zoning / Building page lists a "PA UCC Building Code Official," a third-party firm (business line 484-223-0763), beside the Township Zoning Officer. Building and zoning permit applications go to the Zoning Office at the Township building, 2004 Hutchison Avenue, Martins Creek, on one combined "Building / Zoning Permit Application." No Township text read for this record sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

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 Mount Bethel Township administers the code: Section 5-101 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Zoning / Building page lists a "PA UCC Building Code Official," a third-party firm (business line 484-223-0763), beside the Township Zoning Officer. Building and zoning permit applications go to the Zoning Office at the Township building, 2004 Hutchison Avenue, Martins Creek, on one combined "Building / Zoning Permit Application." Chapter 5 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers. The Zoning Office's Building Permit Procedures sheet says construction documents "must follow and implement the requirements of the 2009 International Building Code," while Chapter 5 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and names no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2009 edition's text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies to a house.

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, Lower Mount Bethel Township administers the code: Section 5-101 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Zoning / Building page lists a "PA UCC Building Code Official," a third-party firm (business line 484-223-0763), beside the Township Zoning Officer. Building and zoning permit applications go to the Zoning Office at the Township building, 2004 Hutchison Avenue, Martins Creek, on one combined "Building / Zoning Permit Application." Chapter 5 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's roof sheathing provisions, and the Township's pages draw no line for roof sheathing. The Zoning Office's Building Permit Procedures sheet says construction documents "must follow and implement the requirements of the 2009 International Building Code," while Chapter 5 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and names no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2009 edition's text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies to a house.

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. Lower Mount Bethel Township is in Northampton County. The Township's pages and 2026 fee schedule say nothing on sales tax.