Jurisdiction
Township of Uwchlan, Pennsylvania
Address
715 North Ship Road, Exton, PA 19341
Contact
- url: https://www.uwchlan.com/326/Building-Zoning-Department
- phone: 610-363-9450
Roofing permit required
Required
Contractor registration required
Required
Permit process note
Uwchlan Township's Building & Zoning Department lists re-roofing of more than 25% of the roof as permit work. The Township's Project Guides page (read October 7, 2026), under "Do I need a permit?", says "The following projects need a permit in Uwchlan Township" and lists "Re-roofing, where replacing is greater than 25% of the roof area." Its re-roofing guide, "Apply for a re-roof permit," asks for a building permit application with a description of the work, a contractor estimate and any HOA approval letter, and says "The permit fee is $104.50." The Township's Fee Schedule 2026 lists Re-Roofing, Residential, at $100.00 and says "A PENNSYLVANIA LABOR AND INDUSTRY FEE OF $4.50 IS REQUIRED FOR EACH CONSTRUCTION OR BUILDING PERMIT." Section 106-7.B(4) of the Township Code, among its "Previous additions," says "Permits for alterations and repairs to structures shall be required for all construction except for the following," and item (i) of that list is "The repair of existing roofing material with like material not exceeding 25% of the total roof area within any twelve-month period." Section 106-33 supplements the Uniform Construction Code with the provisions of Exhibit A "which were adopted by Uwchlan Township before July 1, 1999 and equal or exceed the requirements of the Uniform Construction Code." The amended Exhibit A to Ordinance 2021-01, as published with the code (January 2021 supplement), lists three previous additions (fire walls, floor construction and fire suppression) and does not include the alterations-and-repairs item. The two published texts differ, and this record does not decide which the Township applies; the office's project guide draws the same 25% line. 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 re-roof permit for a reroof of more than 25% of the roof area. The Fee Schedule says "Any inspection resulting in a determination that work requiring permits had been performed without permits shall be surcharged $100.00," and Section 106-5 makes building "in violation of an approved plan or directive of the Code Official or of a permit" subject to "a criminal fine in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each violation." Applications go to the Township Building at 715 North Ship Road, Exton, with the fee payable to Uwchlan Township. The department is open Monday to Thursday, 8:00am to 4:00pm, and Friday, 8:00am to 12:30pm, at 610-363-9450. Read for this answer: Chapter 106 of the Township Code, Construction Codes, Uniform (Articles I to V), in full, with its Exhibit A; a search of the whole Township Code for "roof," which finds no other permit provision naming roof work, and for "reroofing," which finds none; the Building & Zoning Department page; the Project Guides page and its re-roof permit guide; the Permit Application Forms page and the building permit application; and the Fee Schedule 2026.
Adopted code
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, Uwchlan Township administers the code itself: Section 106-30 of the Township Code says "Uwchlan Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code," and the Township's Building & Zoning Department at 715 North Ship Road, Exton, takes building permit applications, including re-roof permits. Section 106-1 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" without naming an edition, and the pre-1999 provisions it keeps refer to the 1993 BOCA codes, while the only edition the Township's project guides name is in the solar guide, which asks for documentation "compliant with 2018 ICC"; this record has not read the 2018 edition's text. Chapter 106 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions for houses; its only roof text outside the permit exemption list is a roof-hatch rule for nonresidential buildings and a fire-wall rule.
Repair permit threshold
Uwchlan Township exempts only small roof repairs from its permit and has a re-roof permit. The Township's Project Guides page (read October 7, 2026), under "Do I need a permit?", says "The following projects need a permit in Uwchlan Township" and lists "Re-roofing, where replacing is greater than 25% of the roof area." Its re-roofing guide, "Apply for a re-roof permit," asks for a building permit application with a description of the work, a contractor estimate and any HOA approval letter, and says "The permit fee is $104.50." The Township's Fee Schedule 2026 lists Re-Roofing, Residential, at $100.00 and says "A PENNSYLVANIA LABOR AND INDUSTRY FEE OF $4.50 IS REQUIRED FOR EACH CONSTRUCTION OR BUILDING PERMIT." Section 106-7.B(4) of the Township Code, among its "Previous additions," says "Permits for alterations and repairs to structures shall be required for all construction except for the following," and item (i) of that list is "The repair of existing roofing material with like material not exceeding 25% of the total roof area within any twelve-month period." Section 106-33 supplements the Uniform Construction Code with the provisions of Exhibit A "which were adopted by Uwchlan Township before July 1, 1999 and equal or exceed the requirements of the Uniform Construction Code." The amended Exhibit A to Ordinance 2021-01, as published with the code (January 2021 supplement), lists three previous additions (fire walls, floor construction and fire suppression) and does not include the alterations-and-repairs item. The two published texts differ, and this record does not decide which the Township applies; the office's project guide draws the same 25% line. 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 re-roof permit for a reroof of more than 25% of the roof area. The Fee Schedule says "Any inspection resulting in a determination that work requiring permits had been performed without permits shall be surcharged $100.00," and Section 106-5 makes building "in violation of an approved plan or directive of the Code Official or of a permit" subject to "a criminal fine in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each violation." 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, Uwchlan Township administers the code itself: Section 106-30 of the Township Code says "Uwchlan Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code," and the Township's Building & Zoning Department at 715 North Ship Road, Exton, takes building permit applications, including re-roof permits. The Township's threshold is the 25% line quoted at the start; no Township text sets a cost threshold for residential roof work.
Roof layer limit / recover
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, Uwchlan Township administers the code itself: Section 106-30 of the Township Code says "Uwchlan Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code," and the Township's Building & Zoning Department at 715 North Ship Road, Exton, takes building permit applications, including re-roof permits. Chapter 106 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the department's pages say nothing on roof layers; the project guide lists re-roofing of more than 25% of the roof area as permit work. Section 106-1 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" without naming an edition, and the pre-1999 provisions it keeps refer to the 1993 BOCA codes, while the only edition the Township's project guides name is in the solar guide, which asks for documentation "compliant with 2018 ICC"; the text above is the 2021 edition's, and the 2018 edition's text was not read for this record.
Deck & sheathing requirements
State rules from the base code, where the state code reaches the job. Pennsylvania adopts the 2021 International Residential Code without changing Section R803, Roof Sheathing (34 Pa. Code 403.21(a)(7); the State's changes to Chapter 8 are to ridge framing and attic ventilation). Lumber roof sheathing follows Table R803.1: over rafters or beams 24 inches apart it must be at least 5/8 inch net thick. Wood structural panels "shall be identified for grade, bond classification and performance category by a grade mark or certificate of inspection issued by an approved agency," and their spans "shall not exceed the values set forth in Table R503.2.1.1(1) or APA E30." For shingles, "Asphalt shingles shall be fastened to solidly sheathed decks" (R905.2.1), and on any reroof "The structural roof components shall be capable of supporting the roof covering system and the material and equipment loads that will be encountered during installation of the roof covering system" (R908.2). 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)). Act 45 section 104(b)(5) excludes alterations "which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and says only that "a structural change does not include a minor framing change needed to replace existing windows or doors"; 34 Pa. Code 403.62(d)(2) lists "The removal or cutting of any structural beam or load-bearing support" as not an ordinary repair. Neither names roof sheathing; this record does not decide whether replacing it is either. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, Uwchlan Township administers the code itself: Section 106-30 of the Township Code says "Uwchlan Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code," and the Township's Building & Zoning Department at 715 North Ship Road, Exton, takes building permit applications, including re-roof permits. Chapter 106 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's roof sheathing provisions, and the department's pages draw no separate line for roof sheathing. Section 106-1 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" without naming an edition, and the pre-1999 provisions it keeps refer to the 1993 BOCA codes, while the only edition the Township's project guides name is in the solar guide, which asks for documentation "compliant with 2018 ICC"; the text above is the 2021 edition's, and the 2018 edition's text was not read for this record.
Sales & use tax
6% Pennsylvania sales and use tax, with a local tax added on purchases made in Allegheny County (1%) and Philadelphia (2%). On a reroof the roofer pays the tax on the materials and does not add it to the homeowner's bill. The Department of Revenue says: "The Pennsylvania sales tax rate is 6 percent. By law, a 1 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Allegheny County, and 2 percent local tax is added to purchases made in Philadelphia." Roof work is a construction activity: the rule's list of items "presumed to become a permanent part of real estate" includes "Roofing (repairs)" (61 Pa. Code 31.11). For construction activities, "A contractor shall pay tax upon the purchase price ... of all property, including materials, equipment, components and supplies, which he furnishes and installs" (61 Pa. Code 31.12(a)(1)), and the rule's example says the contractor "does not charge sales tax on this transaction to his customer. The contractor may include the tax he must pay in his bid proposal but not as a separately stated item." Apart from limited exceptions set out in the rule, the same holds on jobs for tax-exempt owners: "a contractor erecting a building, repairing a roof, replacing a door for a governmental agency, ... school district, charitable or religious organization, and the like, shall pay tax upon the property which he consumes" (61 Pa. Code 31.13(a)). Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Uwchlan Township is in Chester County. The Township's permit pages and Fee Schedule 2026 say nothing on sales tax.