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

Roofing questions: Township of Upper Moreland, PA

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

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Township of Upper Moreland, PA. Upper Moreland Township requires a permit for roofing work on a house, without a size threshold. Section 115-5.A of the Township Code (read October 6, 2026) says "It shall be unlawful for any person to commence work for the erection, alteration, addition, repair, roofing, siding, removal or demolition of any building or structure" without "first filing an application with the Code Official in writing and obtaining the required permit therefor, except for ordinary repairs," and Section 115-5.A(1) says "ordinary repairs shall not include additions to, alteration or replacement of roofing or siding"; the only roof work it lists among ordinary repairs is "(b) Roofing of residential detached accessory buildings." Section 140-4.D sets the permit fee "for an addition to an existing building, for its repair, alteration, re-roofing, siding, removal, demolition or moving" at "$25 for the first $500 of the cost of construction," $25 for the next $500 and $15 for each additional $1,000. The Code Enforcement Department's Guidelines & Regulations page says "Building permits are needed for all repairs, additions, and alterations to properties. This includes work done to roofs, siding, windows," and the Township's fee schedule charges "Additions, decks, repairs, roofing, siding, demolition, etc" by cost, plus the $4.50 UCC surcharge. 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). In practice, expect the Township to require a permit for a reroof of a house. Section 115-6 sets a penalty on summary conviction of "not less than $100 or more than $1,000" for each violation, and the department's page says "Fines can be issued for any work begun prior to the issuance of the permits required." 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 Moreland Township administers the code itself: Section 115-2 of the Township Code says "Administration and enforcement of the Uniform Construction Code shall be undertaken by the designation of the Director of Code Enforcement to serve as the Township's Code Official to act on behalf of the Township," and the Code Enforcement Department's page says "We issue permits for all construction, demolition, signs and licenses for all business conducted in the Township." Neither Chapter 115 nor the department's pages set an area or cost threshold for roof work on a house; the only roof exemption is for residential detached accessory buildings.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Upper Moreland, 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 Moreland Township administers the code itself: Section 115-2 of the Township Code says "Administration and enforcement of the Uniform Construction Code shall be undertaken by the designation of the Director of Code Enforcement to serve as the Township's Code Official to act on behalf of the Township," and the Code Enforcement Department's page says "We issue permits for all construction, demolition, signs and licenses for all business conducted in the Township." Chapter 115 of the Township Code requires a permit for roofing work and changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions; the department's pages say nothing on roof layers. Section 115-15 still adopts the 2000 edition of the International Residential Code; this record has not read that edition's reroofing text.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of Upper Moreland, 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 Moreland Township administers the code itself: Section 115-2 of the Township Code says "Administration and enforcement of the Uniform Construction Code shall be undertaken by the designation of the Director of Code Enforcement to serve as the Township's Code Official to act on behalf of the Township," and the Code Enforcement Department's page says "We issue permits for all construction, demolition, signs and licenses for all business conducted in the Township." Section 115-1 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the Township's building code, and the department's Guidelines & Regulations page says "Effective January 1, 2026 the following codes are enforced under the UCC" and lists the "2021 International Residential Code" and the "2021 International Existing Building Code." Article V of Chapter 115 still adopts, for detached one- and two-family dwellings, the "International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, 2000 Edition" (Section 115-15), with local changes in Section 115-16 that replace its administration chapter and fill in its design criteria table and touch no roofing provision; this record has not read the 2000 edition's roofing text. Section 115-3 keeps in force Township building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 that equal or exceed the code; those older ordinances were not read. Section 115-5.A requires a permit for "roofing" and excludes "alteration or replacement of roofing or siding" from the ordinary repairs that need none.