Do you need a permit to replace a roof in Township of West Nottingham, PA?

Roofing questions: Township of West Nottingham, PA

When does a roof repair need a permit in Township of West Nottingham, PA?

Section 1405.A.2 of the Township's zoning chapter (Chapter 27, adopted August 1, 2012) says "A building permit shall be required prior to the erection, alteration, extension, enlargement, or demolition of any building or other structure or portion thereof, unless exempted by another law, code, or ordinance." It names no roof work and does not use the word "repair," and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an "alteration" under it. Section 1404 of the same chapter requires a zoning permit "Prior to the erection, alteration, extension, enlargement, or demolition of any building, structure, sign, or portion thereof" and says a zoning permit shall not be required "For repair to a structure other than a non-conforming structure, when such repair does not change the nature or intensity of the existing use"; it is a zoning permit, it names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is a repair under it. The Township's Permits & Applications page (read October 11, 2026) says "Zoning Permit Application : Required for all residential projects." The Township's Application for Plan Examination and Building Permit lists "Repair and/or Replacement" among its types of improvement and names no roofing permit type, its Building Permit Application Requirements sheet names no roof work, and its fee schedule lists residential building permit work as new principal construction, accessory structures, agricultural structures, additions, decks and "any structural renovations" with a separate line for roof-mounted solar panels and no line for reroofing. Chapter 5 of the Township's posted Code of Ordinances (Ord. No. 3-1991) adopts the "BOCA Basic National Building Code, 1990, Eleventh Edition" for buildings "except for detached one (1) or two (2) family dwellings," and Part 2 adopts the CABO "One and Two Family Dwelling Code, 1989 Edition," which it says shall be controlling in the "fabrication, erection, construction, reconstruction, enlargement, alteration, addition to, repair, location and use of detached one (1) and two (2) family dwellings." The text of those two model codes was not read for this record, and this record does not decide whether Chapter 5 remains in effect beside the Uniform Construction Code ordinance. The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code (Ordinance No. 1-2004) is not in the Code of Ordinances the Township posts, which has no chapter for it, and was not read for this record. Under state law, Act 45 section 104(b)(5) and (6) list "Alterations to residential buildings which do not make structural changes or changes to means of egress" and "Repairs to residential buildings" among work the Act does not apply to, "except as might be required by ordinances in effect pursuant to section 303(b)(1) or adopted pursuant to section 503," and 34 Pa. Code 403.62(c) says "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." 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, West Nottingham Township takes zoning and building permit applications itself: its Permits & Applications page says "Please call the Codes/Zoning Officer at 610-932-4072 ext. 302 for questions regarding subdivision, land development, building permits and applications" and lists a Residential Building Permit Application; its Contact Information page lists, under "Permitting (Zoning & Building)," a Zoning Officer, a "Building Codes Official" and a "Building Inspector"; and its fee schedule (Resolution No. 6-2024) recites "Ordinance No. 1-2004 enacted to adopt, with certain amendments thereto, the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code." The Township office is at 100 Park Road, Nottingham (610-932-4072). The Township's fee schedule and sheets set no area or cost threshold for roof work.

Can you roof over an existing roof in Township of West Nottingham, 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, West Nottingham Township takes zoning and building permit applications itself: its Permits & Applications page says "Please call the Codes/Zoning Officer at 610-932-4072 ext. 302 for questions regarding subdivision, land development, building permits and applications" and lists a Residential Building Permit Application; its Contact Information page lists, under "Permitting (Zoning & Building)," a Zoning Officer, a "Building Codes Official" and a "Building Inspector"; and its fee schedule (Resolution No. 6-2024) recites "Ordinance No. 1-2004 enacted to adopt, with certain amendments thereto, the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code." The Township office is at 100 Park Road, Nottingham (610-932-4072). The Township's pages, sheets and zoning chapter say nothing on roof layers, and Chapter 5 of its posted Code of Ordinances names the 1990 BOCA code and the 1989 CABO dwelling code; the text above is the 2021 edition's, and those codes' text was not read for this record.

Do roofing contractors need a license or registration in Township of West Nottingham, PA?

Yes.

What building code does Township of West Nottingham, 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, West Nottingham Township takes zoning and building permit applications itself: its Permits & Applications page says "Please call the Codes/Zoning Officer at 610-932-4072 ext. 302 for questions regarding subdivision, land development, building permits and applications" and lists a Residential Building Permit Application; its Contact Information page lists, under "Permitting (Zoning & Building)," a Zoning Officer, a "Building Codes Official" and a "Building Inspector"; and its fee schedule (Resolution No. 6-2024) recites "Ordinance No. 1-2004 enacted to adopt, with certain amendments thereto, the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code." The Township office is at 100 Park Road, Nottingham (610-932-4072). The Township's pages name no residential code edition, while Chapter 5 of its posted Code of Ordinances names the 1990 BOCA code and the 1989 CABO dwelling code; this record has not read those codes' text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.