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

Roofing questions: Township of Upper Macungie, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Upper Macungie, PA. Upper Macungie Township requires a permit for removal or replacement of roofing, without a size threshold. Section 5-101.3 of the Township Code (Ord. 2004-5, as amended by Ord. No. 2021-04, effective July 18, 2021; read October 6, 2026) says "The Township hereby adopts certain provisions that exceed the requirements of Sections 403.1(b) and 403.62(c) of the Pennsylvania Construction Code as the Residential Code of the Township" and, under "Permits shall be required for the following," lists "(2) Removal/replacement of roofing." The Permit Department's forms list includes a "Roof Recovering or Re-shingling" application; its "Roof Re-Covering or Re-Shingling Permit Submittal and Installation Guide" (revised 11/21/2025) says "All work shall meet the requirements of the 2021 International Residential Code." The Township's fee schedule (effective January 5, 2026) charges for residential work, under "Roof Replacement," "Roof – Material Replacement $75.00," plus a 25 percent administrative fee and the $4.50 PA UCC fee, with a "MINIMUM JOB FEE: $85.00." 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 one filing for Upper Macungie Township, a 2008 carbon monoxide detector ordinance shown as "Not enacted"; no filing for the roofing provision appears on it. In practice, expect the Township to require a permit for a reroof: its enacted list, its application packet and its fee schedule all name roof replacement, and neither the Township Code nor the department's pages set a size below which a reroof needs 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, Upper Macungie Township administers the code itself: Section 5-101.1 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Permit Department page says "Upper Macungie Township enforces the PA Uniform Construction Codes and all questions should be addressed to Building Code Officials." Neither Part 1 of Chapter 5 nor the department's pages set an area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Upper Macungie, 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 Macungie Township administers the code itself: Section 5-101.1 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Permit Department page says "Upper Macungie Township enforces the PA Uniform Construction Codes and all questions should be addressed to Building Code Officials." Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code requires a permit for removal or replacement of roofing and changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions; the department's pages say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of Upper Macungie, 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 Macungie Township administers the code itself: Section 5-101.1 of the Township Code says "The Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Permit Department page says "Upper Macungie Township enforces the PA Uniform Construction Codes and all questions should be addressed to Building Code Officials." Section 5-101.2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," by reference and names no edition; the Permit Department's page says the State "has approved the 2021 ICC Code Series for enforcement starting on January 1, 2026," and the Township's roof application guide cites the 2021 International Residential Code. Section 5-101.3 adopts provisions that exceed Sections 403.1(b) and 403.62(c) of the State's regulation, including a permit for "(2) Removal/replacement of roofing." Section 5-101.4 fills in the code's climatic table, Table R301.2(1), with a ground snow load of 40 psf, a wind design speed of 115 mph and "Ice Barrier Underlayment Required" marked "Yes." Part 1 of Chapter 5 changes nothing else in the code's roofing provisions.