Warrington Township - Building and Code Enforcement

Township of Warrington, Pennsylvania (Bucks County)

city

852 Easton Road, Warrington, PA 18976

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Required

Warrington Township's Building / Code Enforcement department lists replacing roof shingles as permit work, though the Township Code exempts roofing "on condition that snow and ice shields are provided." The department's Permit Forms and Information page (read October 6, 2026), which both its Residential and its Commercial Building Forms & Information links open, says under "When a Permit Is Required" that "A permit is required for any work involving the installation, modification, or extension of:" and lists "Replacement of more than 25% of roofing plywood/sheathing on single family homes" and "Replacement of roofing plywood/sheathing/shingles." The Township's 2026 Fee Schedule (Resolution 2026-R-07) lists under Miscellaneous Construction Permits a line for residential roofing, with commercial roofing charged under alterations, and its fee column for that line reads "None"; a $75 non-refundable application fee is due with each submission. The Township Code exempts roofing on a condition. Section 140-18, which amends the 2018 International Residential Code for Warrington, rewrites R105.1 so that anyone who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure" must "first make application to the Building Code Official and obtain the required permit," and rewrites R105.2, work exempt from permit, so that its building list includes item 10: "Roofing and siding, on condition that snow and ice shields are provided." The enacted exemption and the department's list differ; the department's current page lists replacing shingles as permit work. 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 a Warrington Township ordinance that "Requires a building permit for residential alterations and repairs, and establishes exceptions," with a limited approval letter mailed January 27, 2006 ("All but two of changes found to be in compliance") and "Enacted 08 / 29 / 07," and a 2010 filing on building sewer pipe approved by letter mailed August 4, 2010. In practice, expect the department to require a permit for a reroof. Its page says "Permit fees may be doubled for work completed without approval," and the fee schedule says that where work requiring a permit "is commenced prior to the issuance of said permit, the violator shall pay an administrative fee equal to 100% of the normal permit fee, in addition to the normal permit fee." The page also says "Emergency work may proceed immediately. A permit must be submitted within 72 hours." Applications go to the Township Building by mail, by e-mail or in person, Monday to Friday between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm, with the $75 application fee and a link or PDF copy of the plans; the Township does not perform same-day inspections, which are booked 2 to 4 days ahead at 215-343-9350 ext. 309. Chapter 146 of the Township Code requires a Township contractor's license, and its definition of contractor names "reroofing"; the department's page says "Each calendar year all contractors working on new construction or commercial properties must register with Warrington Township" and lists a $140 registration fee. Read for this answer: Chapter 140 of the Township Code, Construction Codes, Article II, Uniform Construction Code (Section 140-11), and Article IV, Amendments to Construction Codes (Sections 140-14 to 140-23), in full; Chapter 146, Contractors, in full; the first 20 results of a search of the whole Township Code for "roof" and a search for "reroofing", which found no other permit provision naming roof work; the department's Building / Code Enforcement and Permit Forms and Information pages; its Building and Zoning Permit Application; its Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria sheet; and the 2026 Fee Schedule. Articles I and III of Chapter 140 were not read.

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, Warrington Township administers the code itself: Section 140-11 of the Township Code says "Warrington Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building / Code Enforcement department, at the Township Building, 852 Easton Road, takes permit applications and makes the inspections ("Inspections can be scheduled Monday - Friday between 8:30am and 4:30 pm by calling the Building Department at 215-997-7501"). Section 140-11 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code. Article IV of Chapter 140 (Sections 140-14 to 140-23) makes local changes to the 2018 International Building, Residential, Plumbing, Fire, Mechanical, Fuel Gas and Existing Building Codes; for houses, Section 140-18 adds appendices, rewrites the permit and exempt-work sections R105.1 and R105.2, fills in the climatic table and adds sprinkler and basement rules, and it changes nothing in the code's roofing technical provisions. Its R105.2 building list exempts "Roofing and siding, on condition that snow and ice shields are provided." Section 140-18 of the Township Code amends the 2018 International Residential Code, and the department's Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria sheet says "Buildings and Structures shall be designed to comply with IRC 2009 Table 301.2(1) as adopted by Warrington Township Ordinance"; neither names the 2021 edition, and this record has not read the 2018 or 2009 edition's roofing text.

Warrington Township's Building / Code Enforcement department lists replacing roof shingles as permit work, while the Township Code exempts roofing on condition that snow and ice shields are provided. The department's Permit Forms and Information page (read October 6, 2026), which both its Residential and its Commercial Building Forms & Information links open, says under "When a Permit Is Required" that "A permit is required for any work involving the installation, modification, or extension of:" and lists "Replacement of more than 25% of roofing plywood/sheathing on single family homes" and "Replacement of roofing plywood/sheathing/shingles." The Township's 2026 Fee Schedule (Resolution 2026-R-07) lists under Miscellaneous Construction Permits a line for residential roofing, with commercial roofing charged under alterations, and its fee column for that line reads "None"; a $75 non-refundable application fee is due with each submission. The Township Code exempts roofing on a condition. Section 140-18, which amends the 2018 International Residential Code for Warrington, rewrites R105.1 so that anyone who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure" must "first make application to the Building Code Official and obtain the required permit," and rewrites R105.2, work exempt from permit, so that its building list includes item 10: "Roofing and siding, on condition that snow and ice shields are provided." The enacted exemption and the department's list differ; the department's current page lists replacing shingles as permit work. 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 a Warrington Township ordinance that "Requires a building permit for residential alterations and repairs, and establishes exceptions," with a limited approval letter mailed January 27, 2006 ("All but two of changes found to be in compliance") and "Enacted 08 / 29 / 07," and a 2010 filing on building sewer pipe approved by letter mailed August 4, 2010. In practice, expect the department to require a permit for a reroof. Its page says "Permit fees may be doubled for work completed without approval," and the fee schedule says that where work requiring a permit "is commenced prior to the issuance of said permit, the violator shall pay an administrative fee equal to 100% of the normal permit fee, in addition to the normal permit fee." 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, Warrington Township administers the code itself: Section 140-11 of the Township Code says "Warrington Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building / Code Enforcement department, at the Township Building, 852 Easton Road, takes permit applications and makes the inspections ("Inspections can be scheduled Monday - Friday between 8:30am and 4:30 pm by calling the Building Department at 215-997-7501"). The department's list draws a 25 percent line only for replacing roof plywood or sheathing on single-family homes, and its next line lists replacing plywood, sheathing or shingles without a limit; the Township Code's exemption for roofing turns on snow and ice shields, not on area.

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, Warrington Township administers the code itself: Section 140-11 of the Township Code says "Warrington Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building / Code Enforcement department, at the Township Building, 852 Easton Road, takes permit applications and makes the inspections ("Inspections can be scheduled Monday - Friday between 8:30am and 4:30 pm by calling the Building Department at 215-997-7501"). Chapter 140 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the department's pages say nothing on roof layers. Section 140-18 of the Township Code amends the 2018 International Residential Code, and the department's Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria sheet says "Buildings and Structures shall be designed to comply with IRC 2009 Table 301.2(1) as adopted by Warrington Township Ordinance"; neither names the 2021 edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, and the 2018 and 2009 editions' reroofing text was not read for this record.

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, Warrington Township administers the code itself: Section 140-11 of the Township Code says "Warrington Township hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and the Township's Building / Code Enforcement department, at the Township Building, 852 Easton Road, takes permit applications and makes the inspections ("Inspections can be scheduled Monday - Friday between 8:30am and 4:30 pm by calling the Building Department at 215-997-7501"). Chapter 140 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's roof sheathing provisions. The department's Permit Forms and Information page lists as permit work "Replacement of more than 25% of roofing plywood/sheathing on single family homes" and, on the next line, "Replacement of roofing plywood/sheathing/shingles." Section 140-18 of the Township Code amends the 2018 International Residential Code, and the department's Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria sheet says "Buildings and Structures shall be designed to comply with IRC 2009 Table 301.2(1) as adopted by Warrington Township Ordinance"; neither names the 2021 edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, and the 2018 and 2009 editions' sheathing text was not read for this record.

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. Warrington Township is in Bucks County. The department's pages say nothing on sales tax.