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

Roofing questions: Borough of Sharon Hill, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Borough of Sharon Hill, PA. Sharon Hill Borough's ordinance requires a permit for repair or replacement of a roof over 50 square feet. Borough Ordinance No. 1398 (2018), enacting supplemental standards to the Uniform Construction Code, says "the Borough shall also enforce the International Residential Code 2015, as it applies to the Alteration and Repair of Residential Buildings, and property owners shall be required to obtain permits for all such alterations and repairs," and Ordinance No. 1408 (2023), amending it, says "Ordinary repair(s)" does not include the following activities, "which will specifically require a permit," the first being "Any and all repairs and/or replacement of a roof in excess of 50 square feet net of roof area"; the list also names "Installation of roof gutter systems." Under state law, Act 45 says the Act "shall not apply to" "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress, except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503" or to "Repairs to residential buildings, except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503" (section 104(b)(5) and (6)), and of a municipal ordinance that adds to the code, 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 a Sharon Hill Borough filing that proposes to enforce the International Residential Code 2015 for residential alterations and repairs and lists "Repairs or replacement of a roof in excess of 50 square feet net roof area" among activities that will require a permit, with the note "Change found to be in compliance with 35 P.S. § 7210.503 (b); approval letter mailed 7 / 18 / 2018" and a public meeting on September 13, 2018. In practice, expect the Borough to require a building permit for any reroof over 50 square feet. Its Building Permit Application says "PERMIT FEES DOUBLE IF WORK BEGINS PRIOR TO ISSUANCE OF PERMITS" and sets the residential building permit fee at $84.50 for the first $1,000 of the project's cost plus $30.00 for each additional $1,000 or fraction of it. 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, Sharon Hill Borough, in Delaware County, issues building permits itself from the Borough office at 250 Sharon Avenue, 610-586-8200: its Applications and Forms page says "Any time one of these activities occurs a permit must be obtained" and posts the Borough's own Building Permit Application, payable to "The Borough of Sharon Hill," with a block for the Building Code Official's approval. Ordinance No. 1408 recites that the Borough Council "adopted the UCC, as amended, in Ordinance No. 1298 on April 22, 2004." The threshold the Borough's ordinance states for roof work is "in excess of 50 square feet net of roof area"; it defines ordinary repairs as changes "which do not involve structural changes to the characteristics of the building, and which are not specifically excluded."

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Sharon Hill, 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, Sharon Hill Borough, in Delaware County, issues building permits itself from the Borough office at 250 Sharon Avenue, 610-586-8200: its Applications and Forms page says "Any time one of these activities occurs a permit must be obtained" and posts the Borough's own Building Permit Application, payable to "The Borough of Sharon Hill," with a block for the Building Code Official's approval. Ordinance No. 1408 recites that the Borough Council "adopted the UCC, as amended, in Ordinance No. 1298 on April 22, 2004." Chapter 125 of the Borough Code and Ordinances No. 1398 and 1408 change nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers. Section 125-17 of the codified Borough Code (Ord. No. 1284, 2002) adopts the "International Residential Code, 2000 edition" for one- and two-family dwellings, Ordinance No. 1398 names the International Residential Code 2015 for alterations and repairs, and the Borough's permit page names no edition; this record has not read the 2000 or 2015 edition's text.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Borough of Sharon Hill, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Sharon Hill, 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, Sharon Hill Borough, in Delaware County, issues building permits itself from the Borough office at 250 Sharon Avenue, 610-586-8200: its Applications and Forms page says "Any time one of these activities occurs a permit must be obtained" and posts the Borough's own Building Permit Application, payable to "The Borough of Sharon Hill," with a block for the Building Code Official's approval. Ordinance No. 1408 recites that the Borough Council "adopted the UCC, as amended, in Ordinance No. 1298 on April 22, 2004." Section 125-17 of the codified Borough Code (Ord. No. 1284, 2002) adopts the "International Residential Code, 2000 edition" for one- and two-family dwellings, Ordinance No. 1398 names the International Residential Code 2015 for alterations and repairs, and the Borough's permit page names no edition; this record has not read the 2000 or 2015 edition's text.