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

Roofing questions: Borough of Swarthmore, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Borough of Swarthmore, PA. Swarthmore Borough's fee schedule lists a roofing permit for repairs and for an entire re-roof. The Borough's Resolution No. 13-2025, its schedule of fees for 2026 (resolved December 8, 2025, read October 9, 2026), lists a "Roofing Permit" at "Repair up to 50% of the roof $150.00" and "Entire re-roof $250.00". The Borough's Forms & Permits page lists the "Building Permit Application (Includes new buildings, additions and alterations, fences, sheds, roofing, driveways and demolition)", and that application has a Roofing section asking whether the work is a "Roof Repair" or a "New Roof/Total Reroof" and for the "Number of roofing layers when permitted work is complete." 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 Swarthmore Borough filing requiring a building permit for utility and miscellaneous use structures and other accessory structures "which propose a building area greater than 200 square feet" (and smaller ones with electricity, HVAC or plumbing), with the note "Change found to be in compliance with 35 P.S. § 7210.503 (b); approval letter mailed 10 / 22 / 2013"; that filing names no roof work. In practice, expect the Borough to require a roofing permit for a reroof: its 2026 fee schedule prices an "Entire re-roof" at $250.00, and "All building permits carry a $4.50 Labor and Industry Fee." No Borough text read for this record states a penalty for roofing without a 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, Swarthmore Borough in Delaware County issues building permits from the Borough office at 121 Park Avenue, on its own Application for Building Permit, which provides for sign-off by the Borough's Zoning Officer, Building Inspector and Building Code Official; the Borough's pages read for this record do not name a third-party inspection firm. The Borough's 2026 fee schedule prices roofing repair "up to 50% of the roof" and an "Entire re-roof" separately; no Borough text read for this record exempts any roof work from the roofing permit. The Borough Code is published on a host that refused automated access when read for this record, so the Borough's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code and any permit or exemption section in it were not read.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Swarthmore, 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, Swarthmore Borough in Delaware County issues building permits from the Borough office at 121 Park Avenue, on its own Application for Building Permit, which provides for sign-off by the Borough's Zoning Officer, Building Inspector and Building Code Official; the Borough's pages read for this record do not name a third-party inspection firm. The Borough Code is published on a host that refused automated access when read for this record, so the Borough's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code and any permit or exemption section in it were not read. The Borough's building permit application asks for the "Number of roofing layers when permitted work is complete" and states no limit.

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

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Swarthmore, 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, Swarthmore Borough in Delaware County issues building permits from the Borough office at 121 Park Avenue, on its own Application for Building Permit, which provides for sign-off by the Borough's Zoning Officer, Building Inspector and Building Code Official; the Borough's pages read for this record do not name a third-party inspection firm. The Borough Code is published on a host that refused automated access when read for this record, so the Borough's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code and any permit or exemption section in it were not read. The Borough's permit pages and forms name no residential code edition.