Do you need a permit to replace a roof in St. Marys, PA?

Roofing questions: St. Marys, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in St. Marys, PA?

No City of St. Marys text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. The City's Forms and Permits page lists building permit forms for commercial buildings, residential decks, porches and porch roofs, new homes and additions, pole buildings, garages and accessory structures, solar systems and pools, and says "Some construction that takes place such as accessory structures less than 1,000 square feet may be exempted from the building code and building permits"; neither it nor the Code Enforcement page names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. The City's fee schedule, effective January 1, 2025, prices "Signs, Demolition, Repairs, Alterations" and other minor work by the dollar value of work and has a "Commercial Roofing Inspection" fee only for commercial work. Section 701 of the City Code (Ord. 181 and 185 of 2004) adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," by reference as the municipal building code, names no roof work either way and adds no permit clause of its own. Section 701(5)(A) keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the Code"; the City Code's former Chapter 4, Buildings, "was superseded by Ord. 85, 10/19/1998." The zoning chapter's own permit section, Section 27-701, says "No building permit shall be required for repairs or maintenance of any structure or land, provided that such repairs do not change the use or the exterior dimensions of the structure"; it names no roof work. 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." So no City text read answers whether the ordinary reroof of a house needs a permit; for that, the City says "If you have any questions regarding City codes, zoning, inspections, or permit requirements, please contact City Hall for assistance." 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, The City of St. Marys administers the code itself: Section 701 of the City Code says "Saint Marys hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999," and the City's Code Enforcement page says its Code Enforcement Department "is responsible for permitting, code enforcement, zoning, inspections, and other City related matters," at 11 Lafayette Street. No City text read sets an area, percentage or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in St. Marys, 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, The City of St. Marys administers the code itself: Section 701 of the City Code says "Saint Marys hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999," and the City's Code Enforcement page says its Code Enforcement Department "is responsible for permitting, code enforcement, zoning, inspections, and other City related matters," at 11 Lafayette Street. Section 701 of the City Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the City's pages say nothing on roof layers. The City's Residential Building Permit Application asks for "Energy Code Compliance (REScheck, 2015 IRC Ch. 11, 2015 IECC Ch. 4 or PA Alternative)", and Section 701 names no edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2015 edition's reroofing text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the City applies.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in St. Marys, PA?

Yes.

What building code does St. Marys, 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, The City of St. Marys administers the code itself: Section 701 of the City Code says "Saint Marys hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999," and the City's Code Enforcement page says its Code Enforcement Department "is responsible for permitting, code enforcement, zoning, inspections, and other City related matters," at 11 Lafayette Street. Section 701 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. The City's Residential Building Permit Application asks for "Energy Code Compliance (REScheck, 2015 IRC Ch. 11, 2015 IECC Ch. 4 or PA Alternative)", and Section 701 names no edition; this record has not read the 2015 edition's text and does not decide which edition the City applies.