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

Roofing questions: Township of South Union, PA

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

South Union Township's own building permit ordinance exempts repairs that involve no structural change, without naming roof work. South Union Township's own building permit ordinance, Ordinance No. 4-74, makes it unlawful to undertake "the construction, reconstruction, enlargement, alteration, or relocation of any building or structure unless an approved building permit has been obtained from the Municipal Building Permit Officer," and says "A building permit shall not be required for repairs to existing buildings or structures, provided that no structural changes or modifications are involved." Ordinance No. 2-2020 (September 2, 2020, read October 9, 2026, transcribed from the scanned copy) replaced its fee section, setting residential building permit applications at "25% of the permit fee charged by the Township Engineer," and says "In all other respects, South Union Township Ordinance No. 4-74 shall remain in full force and effect." Neither ordinance names roof work or defines "repairs," and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is a repair, a reconstruction or an alteration under it. Ordinance No. 7-88 adopts "The BOCA Basic National Building Code/1987" by reference, and Ordinance No. 2-04 keeps building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 that equal or exceed the code in effect; the BOCA text is not published with the ordinance and was not read. The Township's pages and its Zoning Certificate Application, which has boxes for "Repairs" and "Roof Over Existing Decks," say nothing on whether a reroof needs a building permit. 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 Union Township administers the code through a third-party agency: its Ordinance No. 2-04 says "This Municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and lets it retain "one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies," and the Township's Zoning Certificate Application instructions say "Circumstances that require Building Permits will be directed K2 Engineering; Inc after a Zoning Certificate has been issued by a South Union Township Zoning Officer," giving K2 Engineering's office at 234 Pittsburgh Street, Suite 1, Uniontown, and 724-439-3440. Zoning certificates are applied for at the Township office, 151 Township Drive, Uniontown. No threshold for roof work was found; Ordinance No. 4-74's line is repairs with "no structural changes or modifications."

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of South Union, 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 Union Township administers the code through a third-party agency: its Ordinance No. 2-04 says "This Municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and lets it retain "one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies," and the Township's Zoning Certificate Application instructions say "Circumstances that require Building Permits will be directed K2 Engineering; Inc after a Zoning Certificate has been issued by a South Union Township Zoning Officer," giving K2 Engineering's office at 234 Pittsburgh Street, Suite 1, Uniontown, and 724-439-3440. Zoning certificates are applied for at the Township office, 151 Township Drive, Uniontown. Ordinance No. 2-04 changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers; the BOCA 1987 text adopted by Ordinance No. 7-88 was not read.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of South Union, 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 Union Township administers the code through a third-party agency: its Ordinance No. 2-04 says "This Municipality hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and lets it retain "one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies," and the Township's Zoning Certificate Application instructions say "Circumstances that require Building Permits will be directed K2 Engineering; Inc after a Zoning Certificate has been issued by a South Union Township Zoning Officer," giving K2 Engineering's office at 234 Pittsburgh Street, Suite 1, Uniontown, and 724-439-3440. Zoning certificates are applied for at the Township office, 151 Township Drive, Uniontown. Ordinance No. 2-04 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code and changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions; neither it nor the Township's pages name an edition. Ordinance No. 7-88 adopted "The BOCA Basic National Building Code/1987" before the Uniform Construction Code, and Ordinance No. 2-04 keeps earlier building code ordinances that equal or exceed the code in effect; the BOCA text was not read.