Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Borough of Red Lion, PA?

Roofing questions: Borough of Red Lion, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Borough of Red Lion, PA?

No Red Lion Borough text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. Section 5-102 adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401-405, "as may be amended from time to time," "as the municipal building code of the Borough of Red Lion," and Chapter 5 adds no permit requirement or exemption of its own; it names no roof work. The Borough's Building Permits page and its Guide to the UCC Permit Process name no roof work. The 2026 Borough fee schedule has no roofing line, and DCCS's 2026 residential fee schedule posted by the Borough has none. The PMCA 2026 supplemental fee schedule posted by the Borough (a scanned document, transcribed from the rendered page image) lists "Residential Re-Roof" at $160 "(with structural repairs, framing & final)"; that line names neither Red Lion nor a reroof without structural repairs. 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, Red Lion Borough takes every building permit application at the Borough Office, 438 E. Lancaster Street. Section 5-101 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2004-06-04) says "The Borough of Red Lion hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act of 1999," and the Borough's Building Permits page says "The Borough has authorized the following agencies to conduct plan reviews and inspections under the UCC": Dependable Construction Code Services (DCCS), Middle Department Inspection Agency (MDIA) and Pennsylvania Municipal Code Alliance (PMCA), adding "ALL building permits MUST be submitted through the Red Lion Borough Office." 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 Red Lion, 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, Red Lion Borough takes every building permit application at the Borough Office, 438 E. Lancaster Street. Section 5-101 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2004-06-04) says "The Borough of Red Lion hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act of 1999," and the Borough's Building Permits page says "The Borough has authorized the following agencies to conduct plan reviews and inspections under the UCC": Dependable Construction Code Services (DCCS), Middle Department Inspection Agency (MDIA) and Pennsylvania Municipal Code Alliance (PMCA), adding "ALL building permits MUST be submitted through the Red Lion Borough Office." Chapter 5 of the Borough Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers. The Borough's code names no code edition, and the only edition named on the Borough's permit pages is on an undated "RESIDENTIAL DECK CONSTRUCTION NOTES" sheet headed "2018 IRC" (a scanned document, transcribed from the rendered page image); the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2018 edition's reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Borough applies.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Borough of Red Lion, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Red Lion, 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, Red Lion Borough takes every building permit application at the Borough Office, 438 E. Lancaster Street. Section 5-101 of the Borough Code (Ord. 2004-06-04) says "The Borough of Red Lion hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act of 1999," and the Borough's Building Permits page says "The Borough has authorized the following agencies to conduct plan reviews and inspections under the UCC": Dependable Construction Code Services (DCCS), Middle Department Inspection Agency (MDIA) and Pennsylvania Municipal Code Alliance (PMCA), adding "ALL building permits MUST be submitted through the Red Lion Borough Office." Section 5-102 adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401-405, "as may be amended from time to time," "as the municipal building code of the Borough of Red Lion," and Chapter 5 adds no permit requirement or exemption of its own; it names no roof work. The Borough's code names no code edition, and the only edition named on the Borough's permit pages is on an undated "RESIDENTIAL DECK CONSTRUCTION NOTES" sheet headed "2018 IRC" (a scanned document, transcribed from the rendered page image); this record has not read the 2018 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Borough applies to a house.