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

Roofing questions: Borough of Trafford, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Borough of Trafford, PA?

Trafford Borough's Code and the pages read for this record say nothing on reroofs. Chapter 85 of the Borough Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code as the Borough Building Code and adds no permit clause for house repairs or alterations, and Section 85-4 says "All ordinances, resolutions, regulations and policies of the Borough of Trafford not affected, modified or repealed by this chapter, the Codes, Act or regulations, shall remain in full force and effect." The Borough's 2025 fee schedule prices "85-5 UCC PERMIT" for a house at "RESIDENTIAL: $0.35 PER SQ FT" and names no roof work, and its Building Permit Application lists a project description of house, addition, remodeling, garage, porch, patio, deck, swimming pool and shed, without a roofing line. Section 202-37 of the Zoning chapter says "No building shall be constructed or structurally altered until a permit therefor has been issued by the Zoning Officer"; it names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is "structurally altered." A search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing" found, on permits, only that zoning clause; Article III of Chapter 152 says "All roofs within the Borough of Trafford shall be maintained to be free of leaks and rot" and requires no 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, Trafford Borough's Code Enforcement page says its building inspector "is responsible for addressing matters which fall under the Uniform Construction Code (UCC)" and lists "Residential/Commercial Building Permits, Demolition Permits, Commercial Occupancy Permits" among the permits that go to that review, and Section 85-2 of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Trafford hereby elects to administer and enforce this chapter, the Codes, the Act and regulations" through a Borough employee serving "as the Municipal Building Code Official." The Borough office is at 414 Brinton Avenue, Trafford (412-372-7652). Its Code names no area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Borough of Trafford, 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, Trafford Borough's Code Enforcement page says its building inspector "is responsible for addressing matters which fall under the Uniform Construction Code (UCC)" and lists "Residential/Commercial Building Permits, Demolition Permits, Commercial Occupancy Permits" among the permits that go to that review, and Section 85-2 of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Trafford hereby elects to administer and enforce this chapter, the Codes, the Act and regulations" through a Borough employee serving "as the Municipal Building Code Official." The Borough office is at 414 Brinton Avenue, Trafford (412-372-7652). Chapter 85 adds nothing to the code's reroofing provisions, and the Borough's pages say nothing on roof layers. Chapter 85 (Ord. No. 697, June 29, 2004) lists the 2003 International Residential Code and the 2003 International Existing Building Code among the codes that make up the Uniform Construction Code, and the Borough's Code Enforcement page names no edition; this record has not read the 2003 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Borough applies; the text above is the 2021 edition's.

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

Yes.

What building code does Borough of Trafford, 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, Trafford Borough's Code Enforcement page says its building inspector "is responsible for addressing matters which fall under the Uniform Construction Code (UCC)" and lists "Residential/Commercial Building Permits, Demolition Permits, Commercial Occupancy Permits" among the permits that go to that review, and Section 85-2 of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Trafford hereby elects to administer and enforce this chapter, the Codes, the Act and regulations" through a Borough employee serving "as the Municipal Building Code Official." The Borough office is at 414 Brinton Avenue, Trafford (412-372-7652). Section 85-1 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended and supplemented from time to time" as the Borough of Trafford Building Code and fills in Table R301.2(1), including "Ice shield underlayment: Yes." Chapter 85 (Ord. No. 697, June 29, 2004) lists the 2003 International Residential Code and the 2003 International Existing Building Code among the codes that make up the Uniform Construction Code, and the Borough's Code Enforcement page names no edition; this record has not read the 2003 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Borough applies.