Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Philadelphia, PA?

Roofing questions: Philadelphia, PA

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Philadelphia, PA?

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections treats roof covering replacement as permit work. Its construction permit fee summary (https://www.phila.gov/media/20260729134349/PG_012_INF_Summary-of-construction-permit-fees-Eff-1.1.2025-Rev-7.2026.pdf, effective October 1, 2026, read October 5, 2026) lists "Roof Covering (replacement only)" among "Minor Alterations (includes EZ permit)," at $69 for a one- or two-family dwelling, and its EZ Permit Standard for re-roofing (https://www.phila.gov/media/20260806124639/PB_012_F-EZ-Re-Roofing-Permit-Standard-2021-Code.pdf, revised July 2026, read October 5, 2026) says "Obtain permits for the installation of new roof coverings on existing roofs without submitting plans by meeting the Conditions and Requirements below." Its EZ permit page lists "Roof covering replacement" among the projects that may qualify for an EZ permit, and on the same list says of window and door replacement that "one-or-two-family dwellings don't need a permit for this, unless they are historic"; it gives roofing no such exception. Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code requires a building permit for "Altering, modifying, repairing, or improving a structure" (section A-301.1.1) and exempts "Ordinary repairs to restore to good or sound condition any part of an existing structure for the purpose of its maintenance" (A-301.2.1), which "shall not include the cutting away of any wall, partition or portion thereof, the removal or cutting of any structural beam or loadbearing support," among other work; the Department's building permit page says that, if a property is not on the Philadelphia Historic Registry, "you often don't need a permit for: Repairs related to regular maintenance." None of these documents states a square-footage or percentage line between a roof repair and a roof covering replacement. Under state law: 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 after "Under state law:" up to here is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, the City of Philadelphia administers the Uniform Construction Code itself, through its Department of Licenses and Inspections, under Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, the Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code. Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6) say the Act does not apply to "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 in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503," and section 503(c) says "An ordinance under this subsection shall not be effective nor enforceable unless subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (i) have been satisfied." This record does not decide whether the municipality's requirement is one adopted under section 503 or kept in effect by section 303(b)(1). The Department of Labor and Industry's register of municipal code change ordinances lists Philadelphia's 2026 ordinance amending the 2021 International Residential Code, with an approval letter issued May 18, 2026.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Philadelphia, 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, the City of Philadelphia administers the Uniform Construction Code itself, through its Department of Licenses and Inspections, under Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, the Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code. Title 4 requires a building permit for "Altering, modifying, repairing, or improving a structure" (section A-301.1.1), and the Department lists "Roof Covering (replacement only)" as a permit fee line and publishes an EZ permit standard for re-roofing. Subcode R's Chapter 9 amendments do not touch R908. The Department's EZ Permit Standard for re-roofing (revised July 2026) says "All existing layers of roof coverings shall first be removed prior to installation of new roof coverings under the following conditions," among them "Existing roof consists of two (2) or more roof coverings" and "Existing roof or roof covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos-cement tile." Its layer condition is the same as R908.3.1.1's; its material list also names wood shake.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Philadelphia, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Philadelphia, 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, the City of Philadelphia administers the Uniform Construction Code itself, through its Department of Licenses and Inspections, under Title 4 of The Philadelphia Code, the Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code. Its own Residential Code, Subcode R of Title 4, adopts the 2021 International Residential Code "as the Residential Code of the City of Philadelphia" and "subject to the amendments provided in this Subcode R" (section R-1.1, as repealed and replaced by Bill No. 260395, approved June 12, 2026). Subcode R says its provisions "shall apply to the construction, alteration, movement, enlargement, replacement, repair, equipment, use and occupancy, location, removal and demolition of detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses not more than three stories above grade plane in height" (section R-R101.2). Its Chapter 9, Roof Assemblies, carries one amendment, section R-R905.18, a cool-roof reflectance rule for low-slope roof coverings "on newly constructed buildings and additions to existing buildings"; it does not amend the reroofing section, R908. The Department's Code Bulletin B-2501 (October 20, 2025) says "The Philadelphia Administrative Code shall continue as a local construction code and remains a component of the Uniform Construction Code (UCC) as applicable within the City of Philadelphia," that "Permit applications received before July 1, 2026, may be reviewed under either the 2018 or 2021 editions," and that applications received on or after July 1, 2026 "must comply with the 2021 editions of the adopted codes." Title 4 requires a building permit for "Altering, modifying, repairing, or improving a structure" (section A-301.1.1), and the Department lists "Roof Covering (replacement only)" as a permit fee line and publishes an EZ permit standard for re-roofing.