Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Borough of New Brighton, PA?

Roofing questions: Borough of New Brighton, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Borough of New Brighton, PA?

New Brighton Borough's Building Department says roofing needs no permit. The Building Department's page says "Pursuant to the UCC and the Borough's zoning ordinance, permits are required for the following actions," the first of which is "Any construction, alterations, repair, moving, installation, enlarging, or changing of any building or structure," and then says "Permits are not required for painting, replacement of siding, roofing, windows, door, soffit and fascia, gutters, or re-pointing masonry. However, it is recommended to speak with the Building Department before any construction begins." The Borough's Building & Zoning Permit Application lists its types of work as New Building, Addition, Fire Protection, Repair, Energy, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Change of Use, Alteration, Manufactured Housing, Swimming Pool and Deck, with no roofing type. The Borough's Uniform Construction Code ordinance is not published online: the Borough's Forms & Ordinances page posts its permit applications, the multi-municipal zoning ordinance and other ordinances but not a building code ordinance, and no codified Borough code was found online. So this record has not read whether that ordinance changes the Act's treatment of residential repairs or alterations, and does not state whether a house reroof needs a permit. 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, New Brighton Borough's Building Department, on the first floor of the Borough Municipal Building at 610 Third Avenue, "reviews and issues all permits required by code for the repair, alteration, or addition to all public and private dwellings and structures," and its page says "The Borough of New Brighton has opted to enforce the provision of the Commonwealth's Uniform Construction Code (UCC)" and "Middle Department Inspection Agency is the only inspection agency authorized to perform inspections within the Borough." The only line the Borough draws for roof work is the Building Department's statement quoted at the start. Section 1102 of the multi-municipal zoning ordinance the Borough adopted in 2023 says "No building or structure shall be erected, added to, or structurally altered until a permit therefore has been issued by the applicable Zoning Officer" and exempts "Remodeling or improvement of existing buildings which does not alter the basic structure, create additional lot area coverage or change the use of the parcel or building"; it names no roof work. No Borough text read states a square-footage, percentage or dollar threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of New Brighton, 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, New Brighton Borough's Building Department, on the first floor of the Borough Municipal Building at 610 Third Avenue, "reviews and issues all permits required by code for the repair, alteration, or addition to all public and private dwellings and structures," and its page says "The Borough of New Brighton has opted to enforce the provision of the Commonwealth's Uniform Construction Code (UCC)" and "Middle Department Inspection Agency is the only inspection agency authorized to perform inspections within the Borough." The Borough's Uniform Construction Code ordinance was not read for this record, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Borough of New Brighton, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of New Brighton, 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, New Brighton Borough's Building Department, on the first floor of the Borough Municipal Building at 610 Third Avenue, "reviews and issues all permits required by code for the repair, alteration, or addition to all public and private dwellings and structures," and its page says "The Borough of New Brighton has opted to enforce the provision of the Commonwealth's Uniform Construction Code (UCC)" and "Middle Department Inspection Agency is the only inspection agency authorized to perform inspections within the Borough." The Borough's Uniform Construction Code ordinance is not published online and was not read for this record, and the Borough pages read name no code edition.