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

Roofing questions: Township of Upper Salford, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Township of Upper Salford, PA?

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 Salford Township administers the code itself, with a contracted inspection firm: its Building & Zoning page says the Board of Supervisors "adopted the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code as the building code for the Township of Upper Salford," Section 5-103 of the Township Code has the Board appoint a Building Code Official annually, and the page says "TEI handles all residential and commercial inspections," naming Technicon Enterprises Inc. II as the Township Building Inspector's firm, at (610) 286-1622. Applications are received by the Township Secretary and Assistant Secretary at the Township office, 1441 Salford Station Road. The Township has published nothing on reroofing. Its Building & Zoning page (read October 10, 2026) says "Permits are required for, but not limited to, all new construction, additions and/or structural alterations, decks, patios, sheds, above ground and in-ground pools, solar panel arrays, generators, outdoor furnaces, temporary and permanent signs, road occupancy and driveways," and names no roof work. Its 2025 fee resolution (Resolution 2025-3, read from the rendered pages of a scanned document) says "Building Permits are required for the following, with the fees set as follows" and lists "Alterations, renovations, or modifications" of existing buildings, with no roofing line. The 2026 permit list through September 30, 2026 shows entries for roof-mounted solar and a raised garage roof and none described as a reroof; a permit log is not a statement of the rule. Section 27-2302 of the zoning chapter says "No buildings shall be constructed or altered in the Township" and and bars a change of use or the occupancy of vacant land "until a zoning permit is secured from the Zoning Officer," and Section 27-207 defines ALTERATIONS as "a change or rearrangement in the structural parts, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position to another"; this is a zoning permit, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an alteration under Section 27-207. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code: Section 5-101 says the Township "opts into" it and adopts the International codes it lists by reference as the Township's building codes, Section 5-102 includes agricultural buildings and residential accessory structures over 600 square feet, and Section 5-104 changes only the Property Maintenance Code. None of Chapter 5 names roofing or reroofing.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of Upper Salford, 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 Salford Township administers the code itself, with a contracted inspection firm: its Building & Zoning page says the Board of Supervisors "adopted the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code as the building code for the Township of Upper Salford," Section 5-103 of the Township Code has the Board appoint a Building Code Official annually, and the page says "TEI handles all residential and commercial inspections," naming Technicon Enterprises Inc. II as the Township Building Inspector's firm, at (610) 286-1622. Applications are received by the Township Secretary and Assistant Secretary at the Township office, 1441 Salford Station Road. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code: Section 5-101 says the Township "opts into" it and adopts the International codes it lists by reference as the Township's building codes, Section 5-102 includes agricultural buildings and residential accessory structures over 600 square feet, and Section 5-104 changes only the Property Maintenance Code. None of Chapter 5 names roofing or reroofing. The Township's pages read say nothing on roof layers.

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

Yes.

What building code does Township of Upper Salford, 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 Salford Township administers the code itself, with a contracted inspection firm: its Building & Zoning page says the Board of Supervisors "adopted the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code as the building code for the Township of Upper Salford," Section 5-103 of the Township Code has the Board appoint a Building Code Official annually, and the page says "TEI handles all residential and commercial inspections," naming Technicon Enterprises Inc. II as the Township Building Inspector's firm, at (610) 286-1622. Applications are received by the Township Secretary and Assistant Secretary at the Township office, 1441 Salford Station Road. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Township Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code: Section 5-101 says the Township "opts into" it and adopts the International codes it lists by reference as the Township's building codes, Section 5-102 includes agricultural buildings and residential accessory structures over 600 square feet, and Section 5-104 changes only the Property Maintenance Code. None of Chapter 5 names roofing or reroofing. The Township's pages name no code edition.