Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of Upper Dublin, PA?

Roofing questions: Township of Upper Dublin, PA

Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of Upper Dublin, PA?

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Upper Dublin, PA. Upper Dublin Township requires a permit for roof replacement and sets no size threshold below which a reroof is exempt. The Township's online permit portal, which its Building & Trade Permits page links to and lists a "Roofing Permit" on (read October 6, 2026), says "A Roofing Permit is required for the installation, replacement, or alteration of roofing materials on residential or commercial structures." The Township's fee schedule (Chapter A265 of the Township Code, as amended by Resolution 26-2616 effective August 11, 2026; read October 6, 2026) lists "Roofing/reroofing ($150 minimum)" at $25 "Up to first $1,000 of construction cost" and $10 for each additional $1,000. Section 73-17.D(3) of the Township Code says "Contrary to 34 Pa.Code §§ 403.1(b)(8) and 403.1(b)(9) regarding alterations and repairs to residential buildings, the Uniform Construction Code as administered in Upper Dublin Township shall apply to alterations and repairs to residential buildings, including basement remodeling projects and the installation and replacement of doors and windows in historic resources." Section 73-8.A requires anyone who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure" to "first make application to the Code Official and obtain the required permit"; Section 73-8.D says "Application or notice to the Code Official is not required for ordinary repairs to structures" and lists what is not an ordinary repair without naming roof work; and Section 73-8.B says "The Code Official may by regulation exempt work from permit requirements." 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 an Upper Dublin Township ordinance that requires building permits for, among other things, "all residential alterations and repairs," with an approval letter mailed July 20, 2009, "Enacted 9 / 25 / 09." In practice, the Township says a roofing permit is needed for a reroof; Section 73-10.C charges anyone who starts work before obtaining a required permit "a late fee for each required permit" equal to the permit fee, which the Township's page caps at "a maximum of $1,000 per permit," and Section 73-15.B sets fines "not exceeding $1,000" for a violation of the code. 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, Upper Dublin Township administers the code itself: Section 73-6.A of the Township Code says "Upper Dublin Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," Section 73-7.A has the Board of Commissioners appoint a Code Official "with authority and direction to enforce the provisions of the Code," and the Code Enforcement Department takes every permit application through the Township's OpenGov portal ("All applications must be submitted online at: upperdublin.net/permits"). The Township's roofing fee is charged by construction cost with a $150 minimum, and neither the portal nor Chapter 73 sets an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Upper Dublin, 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, Upper Dublin Township administers the code itself: Section 73-6.A of the Township Code says "Upper Dublin Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," Section 73-7.A has the Board of Commissioners appoint a Code Official "with authority and direction to enforce the provisions of the Code," and the Code Enforcement Department takes every permit application through the Township's OpenGov portal ("All applications must be submitted online at: upperdublin.net/permits"). Section 73-17.D(3) of the Township Code says "Contrary to 34 Pa.Code §§ 403.1(b)(8) and 403.1(b)(9) regarding alterations and repairs to residential buildings, the Uniform Construction Code as administered in Upper Dublin Township shall apply to alterations and repairs to residential buildings, including basement remodeling projects and the installation and replacement of doors and windows in historic resources." Chapter 73 changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the department's pages say nothing on roof layers.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Township of Upper Dublin, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of Upper Dublin, 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, Upper Dublin Township administers the code itself: Section 73-6.A of the Township Code says "Upper Dublin Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," Section 73-7.A has the Board of Commissioners appoint a Code Official "with authority and direction to enforce the provisions of the Code," and the Code Enforcement Department takes every permit application through the Township's OpenGov portal ("All applications must be submitted online at: upperdublin.net/permits"). Section 73-6.B adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and the International Code Council codes in it "as are now and as may be hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended, revised, and adopted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"; it names no edition. Articles I and II of Chapter 73, adopted in 1995, still print the BOCA National Building Code of 1993 and the CABO One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code/1992 with local changes, and Section 73-16.A keeps codes the Township adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of this Code" in force; the 1992 and 1993 codes themselves were not read. Section 73-17.D(3) of the Township Code says "Contrary to 34 Pa.Code §§ 403.1(b)(8) and 403.1(b)(9) regarding alterations and repairs to residential buildings, the Uniform Construction Code as administered in Upper Dublin Township shall apply to alterations and repairs to residential buildings, including basement remodeling projects and the installation and replacement of doors and windows in historic resources." Chapter 73 changes nothing in the code's roof covering provisions. The department's pages name no code edition.