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

Roofing questions: Borough of Sewickley, PA

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

Sewickley Borough's pages read for this record do not say whether a house reroof needs a permit. Chapter 156 of the Borough Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code by reference (Ord. No. 1223, 2004) and names no roof work either way. Its Article I keeps two amendments from the Borough's 1996 adoption of the BOCA National Building Code (a permit time limit and an exterior wall-finish rule), and Section 156-2F(1) keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the code"; this record has not read the 1996 BOCA code's text. A search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing" found no permit provision naming roof work. The Borough's Building & Zoning page, its permit application guidelines and its Residential UCC Building Permit Application name no reroof or roof replacement as permit work or as exempt. The application's Plan Review Checklist, for plan submissions, asks for "Roof Construction" details including "sheathing thickness, roof covering, and underlayment"; the guidelines say "All Exterior Work in a designated Historic District must receive a Certificate of Appropriateness from Borough Council." 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, Sewickley Borough in Allegheny County administers the code through its own Building & Zoning department: Section 156-2A of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Sewickley hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Borough's Building & Zoning page and staff directory list a Zoning & Building Code Officer (412-741-4015) at the Borough building, 601 Thorn Street, who takes the Borough's Residential UCC Building Permit Application. No Borough text read for this record sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Sewickley, 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, Sewickley Borough in Allegheny County administers the code through its own Building & Zoning department: Section 156-2A of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Sewickley hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Borough's Building & Zoning page and staff directory list a Zoning & Building Code Officer (412-741-4015) at the Borough building, 601 Thorn Street, who takes the Borough's Residential UCC Building Permit Application. Chapter 156 changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers. The Borough's permit application guidelines say "All work must comply with the 2018 International Building Code as amended by Ordinance 1223," an older edition than the State's current 2021 adoption and a building code rather than the residential code, and Chapter 156 names no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2018 edition's 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 Sewickley, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Sewickley, 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, Sewickley Borough in Allegheny County administers the code through its own Building & Zoning department: Section 156-2A of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Sewickley hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Borough's Building & Zoning page and staff directory list a Zoning & Building Code Officer (412-741-4015) at the Borough building, 601 Thorn Street, who takes the Borough's Residential UCC Building Permit Application. Section 156-2B says "The Uniform Construction Code, contained in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401 to 405, as amended from time to time, is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the Municipal Building Code of the Borough of Sewickley." The Borough's permit application guidelines say "All work must comply with the 2018 International Building Code as amended by Ordinance 1223," an older edition than the State's current 2021 adoption and a building code rather than the residential code, and Chapter 156 names no edition; this record has not read the 2018 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Borough applies.