Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of South Fayette, PA?

Roofing questions: Township of South Fayette, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Township of South Fayette, PA?

South Fayette Township has published nothing that names roof work as permit work or as exempt. The Township Code publishes Ordinance No. 5-2004, its Uniform Construction Code ordinance, only as that editor's note, which says "A full copy of Ord. No. 5-2004 is on file in the Township offices"; its text was not read. Chapter 125 still carries Article II, adopted in 2002 by Ordinance No. 6-2002, which adopts the "International Residential Code, 2000 Edition" "for regulating the design, construction, quality of materials, erection, installation, alteration, repair, location, relocation, replacement, addition to, use or maintenance of one- and two-family dwellings," "providing for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor"; that edition's permit sections were not read, and the Code does not say how Article II stands beside the 2004 ordinance. No Township text read, and none of the department's pages, its Building Permit Application or the Township's 2025 fee resolution (Resolution No. 01 of 2025), names roofing or reroofing as permit work or as exempt; the fee resolution's residential building categories are new one- and two-family dwellings and "RESIDENTIAL, ADDITIONS, REMODELING AND ACCESSORY BUILDINGS," each priced at a flat rate plus a rate per square foot of floor space. The department's page says: "Any time you plan to build something in South Fayette, please check with the township first to see if you need a permit." The Department of Labor and Industry's register of municipal code change ordinances lists one South Fayette Township filing, which "Requires exterior wall surfaces of all new residential structures and all new non-residential structures to be finished to grade with brick, stone or other material approved by the building inspector," enacted July 16, 2007; it does not concern roofs. 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." Because the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance is not published and was not read, and no Township text or statement names roof work, this record does not state whether the Township requires a permit for an ordinary reroof. Ask the Building & Code department at 412-221-8700 before work starts. 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, South Fayette Township administers the code itself: the editor's note to Article VII of Chapter 125 of the Township Code records that by Ordinance No. 5-2004 "the Township elected to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building & Code department "issues permits for residential and commercial buildings." The department is at 100 Township Drive, South Fayette. No Township text or statement read sets a threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of South Fayette, 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, South Fayette Township administers the code itself: the editor's note to Article VII of Chapter 125 of the Township Code records that by Ordinance No. 5-2004 "the Township elected to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building & Code department "issues permits for residential and commercial buildings." The department is at 100 Township Drive, South Fayette. Chapter 125 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance (Ordinance No. 5-2004) is not published and was not read, and the department's pages say nothing on roof layers. So whether a Township ordinance brings a house reroof within the Uniform Construction Code is not stated here. Article II of Chapter 125 names the 2000 International Residential Code, and the department's pages name no edition (they say only that "The Uniform Construction Code (UCC) is applied throughout Pennsylvania, including South Fayette Township"); the text above is the 2021 edition's, and this record has not read the 2000 edition's reroofing text.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Township of South Fayette, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of South Fayette, 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, South Fayette Township administers the code itself: the editor's note to Article VII of Chapter 125 of the Township Code records that by Ordinance No. 5-2004 "the Township elected to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building & Code department "issues permits for residential and commercial buildings." The department is at 100 Township Drive, South Fayette. The Township Code publishes Ordinance No. 5-2004 only as an editor's note, and its text was not read. Article I of Chapter 125 (Ordinance No. 5-2002) adopts the International Building Code and Article II (Ordinance No. 6-2002) the International Residential Code, 2000 Edition; Article II's only amendment, Section R703.12, requires exterior walls of new residential structures to be finished to grade, and neither article changes the code's roofing provisions. Article II of Chapter 125 names the 2000 International Residential Code, and the department's pages name no edition (they say only that "The Uniform Construction Code (UCC) is applied throughout Pennsylvania, including South Fayette Township"); this record has not read the 2000 edition's text.