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

Roofing questions: Township of North Londonderry, PA

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

No, Township of North Londonderry, PA does not require a permit to replace a roof. The Lebanon County Planning Department, which administers the code for North Londonderry Township, lists replacement of roof shingles or other roof coverings among residential work that needs no permit. The Lebanon County Planning Department's Building Code Administration sheet (read October 9, 2026) lists "Replacement of roof shingles or other roof coverings" under "What are some examples of when a residential construction code permit is NOT required?" Its list of work needing a permit includes "Structural Alterations to an existing dwelling," such as "replacement of floor joists, rafters or trusses," and adds "This DOES NOT include new roof coverings or replacement of roof sheathing." The sheet says "Please understand that this is a limited list of examples. Exact requirements of when a code permit is or is not required are defined in the PA UCC and depend on many job-specific details. Please reach out to discuss with one of our inspectors if you have any questions." The Township's own Zoning, Building & Land page links, under "Do I Need A Permit?", an older Department sheet marked "Revised 5-15-13" that lists among residential work needing a permit "Any change to or replacement of an existing roof, (i.e. roof rafters or roof trusses). Not including roof sheathing or shingles." Article I of Chapter 55 of the Township Code, the North Londonderry Township Construction Code Ordinance (Ord. No. 131, June 21, 2004), names no roof work either way; Section 55-4 says the code applies to existing or proposed structures "unless exempted by the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code (UCC)." The Department's Residential Permit Fee Worksheet has no roofing line; its smallest category is "Plumbing, Mechanical, Non-Structural, and Misc. Project." The enacted text names no roof work on houses either way; the no-permit line is the Department's stated practice, and this record does not decide whether it is the Department's reading of the State's exclusion for house repairs. 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, North Londonderry Township's code is administered by the Lebanon County Planning Department: the Township's Zoning, Building & Land page says "North Londonderry Township has contracted the Lebanon County Planning Department as a PA Certified 3rd Party Inspection Agency to administer and enforce the PA Uniform Construction Code," Section 55-5 of the Township Code says administration and enforcement "is hereby delegated to the County of Lebanon," and the Department's Building Code Administration sheet lists North Londonderry Township among the municipalities it is "under contract with" to administer the code. The Department's office is Room 206, Lebanon County Courthouse, 400 S. 8th Street, Lebanon, and for commercial work it "contracts with Commonwealth Code Inspection Agency (CCIS)." The Department's line, quoted at the start, falls at structural alterations such as replacing rafters or trusses, which need a permit; no Township text sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of North Londonderry, 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, North Londonderry Township's code is administered by the Lebanon County Planning Department: the Township's Zoning, Building & Land page says "North Londonderry Township has contracted the Lebanon County Planning Department as a PA Certified 3rd Party Inspection Agency to administer and enforce the PA Uniform Construction Code," Section 55-5 of the Township Code says administration and enforcement "is hereby delegated to the County of Lebanon," and the Department's Building Code Administration sheet lists North Londonderry Township among the municipalities it is "under contract with" to administer the code. The Department's office is Room 206, Lebanon County Courthouse, 400 S. 8th Street, Lebanon, and for commercial work it "contracts with Commonwealth Code Inspection Agency (CCIS)." Chapter 55 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Department lists replacement of roof shingles or other roof coverings among work that needs no permit; its pages say nothing on roof layers. The Department's current sheet says the current codes are "The 2021 series of i-codes, as amended by the PA UCC. Most notably, this includes the 2021 IBC and 2021 IRC." The older sheet the Township's page links, marked "Revised 5-15-13," lists the "International Residential Code, 2009 Edition"; it predates the current State adoption.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of North Londonderry, 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, North Londonderry Township's code is administered by the Lebanon County Planning Department: the Township's Zoning, Building & Land page says "North Londonderry Township has contracted the Lebanon County Planning Department as a PA Certified 3rd Party Inspection Agency to administer and enforce the PA Uniform Construction Code," Section 55-5 of the Township Code says administration and enforcement "is hereby delegated to the County of Lebanon," and the Department's Building Code Administration sheet lists North Londonderry Township among the municipalities it is "under contract with" to administer the code. The Department's office is Room 206, Lebanon County Courthouse, 400 S. 8th Street, Lebanon, and for commercial work it "contracts with Commonwealth Code Inspection Agency (CCIS)." Section 55-3 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as contained in 34 PA. Code, Chapters 401 through 405 and amendments thereto," and Chapter 55 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. The Department's current sheet says the current codes are "The 2021 series of i-codes, as amended by the PA UCC. Most notably, this includes the 2021 IBC and 2021 IRC." The older sheet the Township's page links, marked "Revised 5-15-13," lists the "International Residential Code, 2009 Edition"; it predates the current State adoption.