Home / Roofing by City / Bristol, Pennsylvania

Yes, a permit is required to replace a roof in Bristol, PA, issued by Bristol Borough - Code Enforcement. Bristol Borough lists roofing as work needing a building permit. The Borough's Building Permit Guidelines, linked from its Code Enforcement page (read October 9, 2026), say "Permit approval must be obtained prior to commencing work" and "Building permits are required for, but not limited to, the following:" and list "Additions, roofing, siding, windows (not replacement)," with decks, sheds, fences and other work, adding "If you are in doubt whether or not you may need a permit, please call the inspection office at 215-785-4501." The Borough's building subcode form lists "Roofing" under "Alteration" among its types of work. Chapter 5, Part 1 of the Borough Code (Ord. 1189, May 10, 2004) adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and names no roof work either way. 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). In practice, expect the Borough to require a permit for a reroof. The Borough's fee schedule, Resolution 2022-09, says "ANY WORK PROCEEDING WITHOUT PERMITS ----DOUBLE THE PERMIT FEES," and prices residential alterations by the cost of construction, with a $50.00 application fee and 2.7% of the cost from $2,001.00 to $20,000.00. Building permits are picked up on the second floor of the Bristol Borough Office, 250 Pond Street, Bristol, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the Borough says a permit downloaded from its website "cannot be submitted as a permit to do work," that permits are "reviewed and issued within two to three business days barring any zoning issues or building code issues," and that "All work done with a permit needs an inspection." Its guidelines say "All outside construction work must include a site plan, drawn to scale," and "All Contractors must show proof of Worker's Compensation Insurance." Once paid for, "the green PERMIT card must be displayed in a window visible from the street during construction." Read for this answer: Chapter 5 of the Borough Code, Code Enforcement, in full, including Part 1 (the Uniform Construction Code adoption) and Part 2 (the Property Maintenance Code); Chapter 13, Licenses, Permits and General Business Regulations; every page of a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing"; the Code Enforcement page and its How Do I answers; the Building Permit Guidelines; the building subcode form; and the fee schedule, Resolution 2022-09, a scanned document read from its page images. This hub aggregates roofing permit and contractor-registration requirements for Bristol, Pennsylvania, along with sourced roofing material references — every fact linked to its directory record.