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

Roofing questions: Township of Morris, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Township of Morris, PA?

The Township also posts its own "Morris Township Building Permit Application," which names no roof work, and Ordinance No. 1990-01 (August 7, 1990), titled as an ordinance "REQUIRING ALL PROPERTY OWNERS (PERSONS, PARTNERSHIPS, BUSINESS AND CORPORATIONS) TO OBTAIN A BUILDING PERMIT FOR ANY CONSTRUCTION OR DEVELOPMENT," says in Section 1.01 that "It shall be unlawful for any property owner (persons, partnerships, business and corporations) to undertake, or cause to be undertaken, any construction or development anywhere within the Township of Morris unless a Building Permit has been obtained from the Code Enforcement Officer" and "A Building Permit shall not be required for minor repairs or new construction costing $1,000.00 or less for materials." Its Section 3.01 defines "Construction" as "the construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, extension, expansion, alteration, or relocation of a building or structure," and Ordinance 95-11-06 (November 6, 1995) says "Section 3.01 E. of Ordinance Numbered 1990-01 Adopted August 7, 1990 is deleted," the paragraph that had defined "Minor repair," and that "All other provisions of Ordinance Numbered 1990-01 Adopted August 7, 1990, are hereby reaffirmed." The ordinance names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is "construction" or a "minor repair" under it. The Township's floodplain permit ordinance (Ordinance No. 2011-10-17, which also carries the title of an ordinance "REQUIRING ALL PERSONS, PARTNERSHIPS, BUSINESSES, AND CORPORATIONS TO OBTAIN A PERMIT FOR ANY CONSTRUCTION OR DEVELOPMENT" in areas "SUBJECT TO FLOODING") says "A Permit shall not be required for minor repairs to existing buildings or structures," and names no roof work. The inspection agency's building permit applications page lists a "Commercial Roof" packet and a "Deck/Porch" packet and no packet for a house reroof. No Township page read names roof work as permit work or as exempt, and the Township's pages and ordinances read do not say whether a house reroof needs a Township building permit, a Uniform Construction Code building permit, or neither. 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, Morris Township takes permit applications at its business office, 1189 Oak Grove Road, Morrisdale (814-342-4411), open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Its Permits / Fees and Costs page says "Pennsafe Building Inspection Service serves as the UCC Building Inspection Service for Morris Township" and lists "Building Permits $35.00 Flat Fee (Township Issued)"; its Forms page says "UCC Building Permit Applications are available by visiting www.pennsafebis.com"; and its Township Directory lists a Code Enforcement Officer. Ordinance No. 04-07-01 (July 1, 2004) says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, "as amended form time to time," by reference "as the municipal building code of this Municipality." The Township's permit ordinance read for this record sets no area or cost threshold for roof work; its only dollar figure is the $1,000.00 materials figure quoted above, and this record does not decide how it bears on a reroof.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Morris, 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, Morris Township takes permit applications at its business office, 1189 Oak Grove Road, Morrisdale (814-342-4411), open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Its Permits / Fees and Costs page says "Pennsafe Building Inspection Service serves as the UCC Building Inspection Service for Morris Township" and lists "Building Permits $35.00 Flat Fee (Township Issued)"; its Forms page says "UCC Building Permit Applications are available by visiting www.pennsafebis.com"; and its Township Directory lists a Code Enforcement Officer. Ordinance No. 04-07-01 (July 1, 2004) says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, "as amended form time to time," by reference "as the municipal building code of this Municipality." The Township's pages and the ordinances read for this record change nothing in the code's reroofing provisions and say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of Morris, 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, Morris Township takes permit applications at its business office, 1189 Oak Grove Road, Morrisdale (814-342-4411), open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Its Permits / Fees and Costs page says "Pennsafe Building Inspection Service serves as the UCC Building Inspection Service for Morris Township" and lists "Building Permits $35.00 Flat Fee (Township Issued)"; its Forms page says "UCC Building Permit Applications are available by visiting www.pennsafebis.com"; and its Township Directory lists a Code Enforcement Officer. Ordinance No. 04-07-01 (July 1, 2004) says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, "as amended form time to time," by reference "as the municipal building code of this Municipality." The Township's pages name no residential code edition, and Ordinance No. 04-07-01 names none.