White Township - Code Enforcement/Planning Department

Township of White, Pennsylvania (Indiana County)

city

950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, PA 15701

Required

White Township's own Uniform Construction Code chapter names no roof work as permit work or as exempt, but the Township Code has a separate, non-UCC assessment permit that reaches roof replacement. Chapter 92 of the Township Code, Assessment Permits (Ord. No. 35, April 25, 1963, amended 1983), says "no person shall cause or permit any building to be erected, altered or raised" without "first having obtained a permit therefor," and defines an alteration as "any work of repair, rearrangement, removal or replacement of any interior or exterior wall, roof, floor or support, or of any part thereof, of any building"; it lets work go without a permit only where "the alteration of any building, including labor and material, aggregating $1,000 or less in value annually" or "the normal, regular repairs to any building, including labor and materials, aggregating $1,000 or less in value annually." A full reroof costs more than that. The Township's 2026 fee resolution (Resolution No. R-1-2026, adopted January 5, 2026) lists "TOWNSHIP BUILDING/ASSESSMENT PERMIT FEES (NON-UCC)" with a "Township Permit" at $25.00, and says "UCC Building Permit fees are established by the Township and the third-party building code inspector." Neither the Township's permit applications nor its fee resolution names roofing; the Township Permit Application's boxes are accessory structures, decks, mobile home relocation and demolition. 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." The assessment permit is a Township permit separate from the Uniform Construction Code building permit, and no Township text read says whether an ordinary reroof needs a UCC building permit, so this record does not decide whether one is needed. Ask the Township office or TKL Code Inspection Services before work starts. A reroof costing more than $1,000 may need the Township's $25 assessment permit. Section 92-5 says a violator "shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs," and "Each day that a violation of this chapter continues" is a separate offense. The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application asks for a sketch plan with setbacks and two sets of drawings, says "All applicable provisions of the UCC must be met on every dicipline," and has the applicant agree to pay the plan review fee; a contractor's workers' compensation certificate must list White Township as certificate holder. The Township office telephone is 724-463-8585. Read for this answer: Chapter 120 of the Township Code, Construction, in full (Article I, multifamily and commercial structures, and Article II, the Uniform Construction Code election); Chapter 92, Assessment Permits, in full; Chapter 12, Department of Code Enforcement; every page of a search of the whole Township Code and its posted documents for "roof" and for "reroofing"; the Township's Departments page; its Building Permit & Plans Examination Application and Township Permit Application; and the 2026 fee resolution, a scanned copy read from the page images.

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, White Township has elected to administer and enforce the code (Section 120-14 of the Township Code), and its Code Enforcement/Planning Department, at the municipal building, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, "reviews and issues Township Building Permits." The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application names TKL Code Inspection, Inc., and at their January 5, 2026 organization meeting the Supervisors designated TKL Code Inspection Services as the Township's building code inspector. Section 120-15 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code, and Section 120-18 A keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 that equal or exceed the code. Article I of Chapter 120 adopts older International codes for multifamily and commercial structures only and excludes detached one- and two-family dwellings; Chapter 120 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions.

Not required — No impact-resistance requirement under state law. The State's adoption of the 2021 International Residential Code (34 Pa. Code 403.21) contains no hail or impact rule, and it makes no change to the code's roof assemblies chapter, which itself has no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement for roof coverings. A municipality could add one only by an ordinance that equals or exceeds the Uniform Construction Code under Act 45 section 503, filed with the Department of Labor and Industry; none of the filings on the Department's register of municipal code change ordinances mentions hail or impact resistance. An owner may still choose an impact-rated roof covering. Everything above is Pennsylvania state law, the same in every municipality. Locally, White Township has elected to administer and enforce the code (Section 120-14 of the Township Code), and its Code Enforcement/Planning Department, at the municipal building, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, "reviews and issues Township Building Permits." The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application names TKL Code Inspection, Inc., and at their January 5, 2026 organization meeting the Supervisors designated TKL Code Inspection Services as the Township's building code inspector. Chapters 92 and 120 of the Township Code, read in full, contain no UL 2218, Class 4 or hail-impact requirement.

White Township's own Uniform Construction Code chapter names no roof work as permit work or as exempt, but the Township Code has a separate, non-UCC assessment permit that reaches roof replacement. Chapter 92 of the Township Code, Assessment Permits (Ord. No. 35, April 25, 1963, amended 1983), says "no person shall cause or permit any building to be erected, altered or raised" without "first having obtained a permit therefor," and defines an alteration as "any work of repair, rearrangement, removal or replacement of any interior or exterior wall, roof, floor or support, or of any part thereof, of any building"; it lets work go without a permit only where "the alteration of any building, including labor and material, aggregating $1,000 or less in value annually" or "the normal, regular repairs to any building, including labor and materials, aggregating $1,000 or less in value annually." A full reroof costs more than that. The Township's 2026 fee resolution (Resolution No. R-1-2026, adopted January 5, 2026) lists "TOWNSHIP BUILDING/ASSESSMENT PERMIT FEES (NON-UCC)" with a "Township Permit" at $25.00, and says "UCC Building Permit fees are established by the Township and the third-party building code inspector." Neither the Township's permit applications nor its fee resolution names roofing; the Township Permit Application's boxes are accessory structures, decks, mobile home relocation and demolition. 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." The assessment permit is a Township permit separate from the Uniform Construction Code building permit, and no Township text read says whether an ordinary reroof needs a UCC building permit, so this record does not decide whether one is needed. Ask the Township office or TKL Code Inspection Services before work starts. 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, White Township has elected to administer and enforce the code (Section 120-14 of the Township Code), and its Code Enforcement/Planning Department, at the municipal building, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, "reviews and issues Township Building Permits." The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application names TKL Code Inspection, Inc., and at their January 5, 2026 organization meeting the Supervisors designated TKL Code Inspection Services as the Township's building code inspector. The only threshold the Township Code states for roof work is the assessment-permit line in Section 92-1 quoted at the start: alterations and normal, regular repairs aggregating $1,000 or less in value a year need no assessment permit.

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, White Township has elected to administer and enforce the code (Section 120-14 of the Township Code), and its Code Enforcement/Planning Department, at the municipal building, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, "reviews and issues Township Building Permits." The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application names TKL Code Inspection, Inc., and at their January 5, 2026 organization meeting the Supervisors designated TKL Code Inspection Services as the Township's building code inspector. Chapter 120 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's reroofing provisions, and the Township's pages say nothing on roof layers.

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, White Township has elected to administer and enforce the code (Section 120-14 of the Township Code), and its Code Enforcement/Planning Department, at the municipal building, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, "reviews and issues Township Building Permits." The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application names TKL Code Inspection, Inc., and at their January 5, 2026 organization meeting the Supervisors designated TKL Code Inspection Services as the Township's building code inspector. Chapter 120 of the Township Code changes nothing in the code's roof sheathing provisions; Chapter 92 counts replacement of a roof "or of any part thereof" as an alteration without drawing a separate line for sheathing.

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. White Township is in Indiana County. The Township's permit applications and 2026 fee resolution say nothing on sales tax.