Roofing in Armstrong Township (Indiana 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, Armstrong Township points building permit questions to its own office and its applications to a third-party code agency: the Township's Permits page says "Contact the Armstrong Township Office for building permits or questions" at 977 Parkwood Road, Indiana (724-465-4755) and "Residents can access permit applications and information on" that agency's website. The agency's Building Permits page lists Armstrong Township, posts the Township's "BUILDING PERMIT AND PLANS EXAMINATION APPLICATION," and says "All building permits must be returned to the appropriate township or borough." The Township's pages do not name the ordinance by which it adopted the Uniform Construction Code. The Township's pages name no residential code edition, while the agency's home page says "2021 ICC Codes adopted by PA on Jan.1st 2026"; this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

The agency's "UCC BUILDING CODE EXEMPTIONS" sheet (a scanned page, read from its rendered image on October 11, 2026), which does not name Armstrong Township, lists "REPAIRS TO RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS" and "ALTERATIONS TO RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS WHICH DO NOT MAKE STRUCTURAL CHANGES OR CHANGES TO MEANS OF EGRESS" and says "All of the above do not require a UCC permit but they may require a township or borough permit. This is not a complete list." Neither it nor the Township's application posted on the agency's site, which has a "Type of Improvement" blank and no roofing box, names roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is a repair or an alteration. No Armstrong Township ordinance, code book, fee schedule or permit list was found on the Township's website, whose search for "ordinance" and "roof" returns nothing, so no Township text that requires a permit for house repairs or alterations, or exempts roof work, 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." Ask the Township office (724-465-4755) before starting. Read for this answer: the Township's Permits, Township Information, Supervisors and Officials, Township History, Meetings and Agenda pages and its site search results; and the agency's home, Building Permits, FAQs, About Us, Links and Contact pages, its Armstrong Township application, its UCC building code exemptions sheet and its inspection procedures sheet.