Penn Township - Zoning and Codes Office

Township of Penn, Pennsylvania (Lancaster County)

city

97 N Penryn Rd, Manheim, PA 17545

Required

No Penn Township text read for this record names a house reroof as permit work or as exempt. Section 5-104 of the Township Code (Ord. 2004-04, as amended by Ord. 2014-01, read October 9, 2026) adopts the State's permit sections, 34 Pa. Code 403.62 among them, says "All construction which the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act or the L&I regulations exempt from compliance with the Uniform Construction Code are exempt from the provisions of this Construction Code," and, under the authority of Act 92 of 2004, adds a Township permit for one kind of house work only: "The conversion of any residential storage basement into residential living space." It names no roof work. The Department of Labor and Industry's register of municipal code change ordinances lists that Penn Township filing as one that "Requires a building permit for residential structures that convert an unfinished basement of an existing dwelling into usable residential space," "Enacted 2 / 24 / 14." The Township's Permit Information page (read October 9, 2026) lists work that needs a permit; its residential list includes "roof-mounted solar" and "roof over a deck/patio" and does not name reroofing, its non-residential list includes "re-roof of an existing non-residential structure," and it says "This is not a complete list of all projects that require permits or approvals." The building permit application's Type of Work or Improvement boxes include Alteration and Repair and none for roofing, and the 2026 fee resolution (Resolution 2026-07) has no roofing line. 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 decide whether the Township requires a permit for an ordinary house reroof; the Permit Information page asks readers to contact the Township office with questions, at 717-665-4508. Section 5-104 says "Any person who commences any work on a building, structure, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system before obtaining the necessary Construction Code permits shall be subject to an additional fee for expedited processing which shall be equal to the fee which should have been paid at permit application," and applications go to the Township by mail or in person. The office is open Monday to Thursday, 7am to 5:30pm. Read for this answer: Chapter 5 of the Township Code, Code Enforcement (Part 1, Uniform Construction Code, Sections 5-101 to 5-104, and Part 2), in full; every page of a search of the whole Township Code for "roof" and for "reroofing"; the Permit Information and Permit Applications & Forms pages; the building and zoning permit applications; and Resolution 2026-07 with its attached inspection agency fee schedules.

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, Penn Township administers the code from its office at 97 N Penryn Rd, Manheim: Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code, the Penn Township Construction Code Ordinance, has the Board of Supervisors appoint the building code official and construction code official, and the Township's building permit application says "Penn Township uses third-party building inspectors to provide PA Uniform Construction Code building permit plan reviews and inspections," letting the applicant choose Associated Building Inspections, LLC or Commonwealth Code Inspection Services. Section 5-103 adopts the standards the Department of Labor and Industry has adopted as the Uniform Construction Code "as such regulations and standard codes adopted by such regulations may be amended from time to time," as the Penn Township Construction Code, and Section 5-104 fills in Table R301.2(1), including "Ice shield underlayment required: Yes"; Chapter 5 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Section 5-103 names "the International Building Code/2006 or such future edition of the International Building Code as may be adopted from time to time," Section 5-104 adopts Chapter 1 of "the International Building Code/2003" and fills in Table R301.2(1) "of the International Residential Code/2003," and the Township's pages name no edition; this record has not read the 2003 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.

No Penn Township text read for this record names a house reroof as permit work or as exempt. Section 5-104 of the Township Code (Ord. 2004-04, as amended by Ord. 2014-01, read October 9, 2026) adopts the State's permit sections, 34 Pa. Code 403.62 among them, says "All construction which the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act or the L&I regulations exempt from compliance with the Uniform Construction Code are exempt from the provisions of this Construction Code," and, under the authority of Act 92 of 2004, adds a Township permit for one kind of house work only: "The conversion of any residential storage basement into residential living space." It names no roof work. The Department of Labor and Industry's register of municipal code change ordinances lists that Penn Township filing as one that "Requires a building permit for residential structures that convert an unfinished basement of an existing dwelling into usable residential space," "Enacted 2 / 24 / 14." The Township's Permit Information page (read October 9, 2026) lists work that needs a permit; its residential list includes "roof-mounted solar" and "roof over a deck/patio" and does not name reroofing, its non-residential list includes "re-roof of an existing non-residential structure," and it says "This is not a complete list of all projects that require permits or approvals." The building permit application's Type of Work or Improvement boxes include Alteration and Repair and none for roofing, and the 2026 fee resolution (Resolution 2026-07) has no roofing line. 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, Penn Township administers the code from its office at 97 N Penryn Rd, Manheim: Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code, the Penn Township Construction Code Ordinance, has the Board of Supervisors appoint the building code official and construction code official, and the Township's building permit application says "Penn Township uses third-party building inspectors to provide PA Uniform Construction Code building permit plan reviews and inspections," letting the applicant choose Associated Building Inspections, LLC or Commonwealth Code Inspection Services. No Township text read for this record sets an area or cost threshold for roof work on a house.

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, Penn Township administers the code from its office at 97 N Penryn Rd, Manheim: Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code, the Penn Township Construction Code Ordinance, has the Board of Supervisors appoint the building code official and construction code official, and the Township's building permit application says "Penn Township uses third-party building inspectors to provide PA Uniform Construction Code building permit plan reviews and inspections," letting the applicant choose Associated Building Inspections, LLC or Commonwealth Code Inspection Services. Chapter 5 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers. Section 5-103 names "the International Building Code/2006 or such future edition of the International Building Code as may be adopted from time to time," Section 5-104 adopts Chapter 1 of "the International Building Code/2003" and fills in Table R301.2(1) "of the International Residential Code/2003," and the Township's pages name no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2003 edition's reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

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, Penn Township administers the code from its office at 97 N Penryn Rd, Manheim: Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code, the Penn Township Construction Code Ordinance, has the Board of Supervisors appoint the building code official and construction code official, and the Township's building permit application says "Penn Township uses third-party building inspectors to provide PA Uniform Construction Code building permit plan reviews and inspections," letting the applicant choose Associated Building Inspections, LLC or Commonwealth Code Inspection Services. Chapter 5 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's roof sheathing provisions, and the Township's pages draw no separate line for roof sheathing; the building permit application asks residential plans to show "Roof Sheathing -thickness, type, and edge blocking." Section 5-103 names "the International Building Code/2006 or such future edition of the International Building Code as may be adopted from time to time," Section 5-104 adopts Chapter 1 of "the International Building Code/2003" and fills in Table R301.2(1) "of the International Residential Code/2003," and the Township's pages name no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2003 edition's sheathing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

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. Penn Township is in Lancaster County. The Township's permit pages and 2026 fee resolution say nothing on sales tax.