Roofing in Allegheny Township (Blair County), Pennsylvania

Required

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, Allegheny Township in Blair County takes building permit applications at its office at 3131 Colonial Drive, Duncansville; its Building Permits page links a permit application on the form of Bureau Veritas North America, Inc., which lists that firm's Huntingdon office at 814.643.3480, and a cross-section submittal "AS REQUIRED BY BUREAU VERITAS NORTH AMERICA, INC." The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not published online and was not read for this record, and the Township's permit pages and forms name no code edition.

Allegheny Township's pages read for this record do not say whether a house reroof needs a permit. The Township's Building Permits page says "Building Permits are required for new residential construction, manufactured housing, decks and ramps, swimming pools (in ground and above ground), and attached garages, as well as ALL Commercial activity" and that "each type of construction permit application must include a completed permit application and municipal approval form." The page names no roof work, and neither the linked permit application nor the municipal approval form has a roofing category. The page also says "Allegheny Township has no zoning." The Township publishes a few ordinances online (burn, sign, setback, and subdivision and land development); its ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not among them, no codified Township code was found online, and no Township fee schedule is published, so none of these was 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." This record does not state whether the Township requires a permit for a house reroof; the Building Permits page asks residents to contact the Coordinator of Planning and Development with any questions regarding permits, at the Township office (814-695-9563), open Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 4pm. Read for this answer: the Township's Building Permits and Contact pages; the Bureau Veritas North America permit application and the municipal prior approval form the Township links; and the Township's single-family and residential addition submittal requirement sheets.