Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of Slippery Rock, PA?

Roofing questions: Township of Slippery Rock, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Township of Slippery Rock, PA?

No Slippery Rock Township text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. Section 101 of Chapter 4 of the Township Code (Ord. 6, 1973, as amended in 2002) says "It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to proceed with the erection, alteration or improvement of any building in Slippery Rock Township, unless application for a permit shall have been made by the owner to the Permit Officer"; it names no roof work and does not name repairs. Part 1 of Chapter 5 (Ord. 2002-1) adopts the 2000 International Residential Code for the "alteration, repair, location, relocation, replacement" of one- and two-family dwellings "and providing for the issuance of permits," and Part 2 (Ord. 2004-1) adopts the Uniform Construction Code by reference; neither names roof work. The Township's 2026 fee schedule (Resolution 26-1-1) prices residential building permits for new homes, additions, garages, decks, "Roof over existing porch/deck" and "Roof Mount Solar Panels" and has no line for reroofing, and no Township page read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. 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, Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, has its office at 155 Branchton Road, Slippery Rock, and Section 201 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code (Ord. 2004-1) says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provision of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act"; the Township's Directory lists Construction Code Inspectors, Inc., of Seneca, as its "Building Code Inspector (Commercial & Residential)" for general and permit information, at 814-432-2630. No Township text read states a square-footage, percentage or dollar threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Slippery Rock, 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, Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, has its office at 155 Branchton Road, Slippery Rock, and Section 201 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code (Ord. 2004-1) says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provision of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act"; the Township's Directory lists Construction Code Inspectors, Inc., of Seneca, as its "Building Code Inspector (Commercial & Residential)" for general and permit information, at 814-432-2630. Chapters 4 and 5 of the Township Code change nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers. Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code still adopts the 2000 edition of the International Residential Code, the chapter's revision page records that the Supervisors adopted the updated Uniform Construction Code including "the 2015 International Code Council Codes" on February 25, 2019, and the Township's pages name no current edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2000 and 2015 editions' reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Township of Slippery Rock, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of Slippery Rock, 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, Slippery Rock Township, Butler County, has its office at 155 Branchton Road, Slippery Rock, and Section 201 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code (Ord. 2004-1) says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provision of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act"; the Township's Directory lists Construction Code Inspectors, Inc., of Seneca, as its "Building Code Inspector (Commercial & Residential)" for general and permit information, at 814-432-2630. Section 202 adopts "The Uniform Construction Code, contained in 34 PA Code, Chapters 401-405, as amended from time to time" as the municipal building code. Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code still adopts the 2000 edition of the International Residential Code, the chapter's revision page records that the Supervisors adopted the updated Uniform Construction Code including "the 2015 International Code Council Codes" on February 25, 2019, and the Township's pages name no current edition; this record has not read the 2000 or 2015 editions' text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.