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

Roofing questions: Borough of New Holland, PA

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

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 Holland Borough takes building permit applications at its office, 436 East Main Street, and has the plans reviewed by an inspection firm: its Building Permit Info page says "The plans are then reviewed by the selected firm for code applicability and completeness" and "New Holland Borough allows selection of one of the following three inspection firms for residential, commercial and manufacturing construction work," naming Associated Building Inspections, Inc., Code Administrators and Commonwealth Code Inspection Service. Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Borough Code (Ord. 502, May 4, 2004) says the Borough "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Act and its regulations, "as amended from time to time," as "the municipal building code of the Borough of New Holland." Part 2 of Chapter 4 of the Borough Code (Building Permits, Ord. 279 of 1975) says "It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, firm or corporation to erect, construct, rebuild, enlarge, alter or move any building or structure within the limits of the Borough of New Holland without having first obtained a building permit" (Section 201), and Section 209 says "Repairs of a maintenance nature such as, but not limited to, caulking and painting, or repairs of a replacement nature wherein new materials are used that are reasonably of the same type, grade and quality as those being replaced, shall not require the issuance of a building permit." Neither section names roof work. Section 105 of Chapter 5 keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the Code." Separately, the zoning chapter (Section 1502) says "A permit shall be required prior to the erection or structural alteration of any building, structure, or portion thereof," and defines ALTERATIONS, STRUCTURAL as "any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, partitions, columns, beams, foundations or girders, any change in the roof or the piercing of exterior walls." This record does not decide whether a reroof is a repair of a replacement nature under Section 209 or a change in the roof under the zoning definition. None of the three firms' residential fee schedules the Borough posts (Associated Building Inspections 2026, Code Administrators 2025, Commonwealth Code Inspection Services 2026) has a roofing line. No Borough text read sets a square-footage, percentage or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of New Holland, 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 Holland Borough takes building permit applications at its office, 436 East Main Street, and has the plans reviewed by an inspection firm: its Building Permit Info page says "The plans are then reviewed by the selected firm for code applicability and completeness" and "New Holland Borough allows selection of one of the following three inspection firms for residential, commercial and manufacturing construction work," naming Associated Building Inspections, Inc., Code Administrators and Commonwealth Code Inspection Service. Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Borough Code (Ord. 502, May 4, 2004) says the Borough "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Act and its regulations, "as amended from time to time," as "the municipal building code of the Borough of New Holland." Chapter 5 changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Borough of New Holland, 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 Holland Borough takes building permit applications at its office, 436 East Main Street, and has the plans reviewed by an inspection firm: its Building Permit Info page says "The plans are then reviewed by the selected firm for code applicability and completeness" and "New Holland Borough allows selection of one of the following three inspection firms for residential, commercial and manufacturing construction work," naming Associated Building Inspections, Inc., Code Administrators and Commonwealth Code Inspection Service. Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Borough Code (Ord. 502, May 4, 2004) says the Borough "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Act and its regulations, "as amended from time to time," as "the municipal building code of the Borough of New Holland." Chapter 5 also adds a 160-square-foot accessory structure exclusion and geothermal permit rules and changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions; neither Chapter 5 nor the Borough's permit pages name an edition of the International Residential Code.