Roofing in Butler Township (Adams 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, Butler Township's Officials page lists a Permit Officer at the Middle Department Inspection Agency, Inc., and the agency's instruction sheet for Butler Township, posted on the Township's website, says "Building Permit applications will be returned to the Township for pick up" and that "two payments will be required: 1. Butler Township fees and 2. MDIA fees for review, inspections and fees." The Township office is at 344 Arendtsville Road, Biglerville, and Section 15-33 of the Township Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the building code of Butler Township. Chapter 15 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions that this record read. Section 15-33 and the Township's pages name no edition, so this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

No Butler Township text this record could settle says that a reroof needs a building permit or needs none, so this record does not decide whether the Township requires a permit for an ordinary reroof. Chapter 15 of the Township Code, Building Construction, has three building-permit parts, read October 12, 2026 from the scanned code, which has no text layer (transcribed from the rendered page images). Part 1 (Ord. No. 84-1, 1985) defines "MINOR REPAIR[Amended 8-13-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-1]" as "The replacement of existing work with equivalent materials for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep, to include but not be limited to the replacement of a roof and siding," and Section 15-4B says "A building permit shall not be required for minor repairs to existing buildings or structures." Part 3 (Ord. No. 2009-1) repeats that Section 15-4B sentence as Section 15-41B and defines "MINOR REPAIR" in Section 15-71 as "The replacement of existing work with equivalent materials for the purpose of its routine maintenance and upkeep," followed by the same structural, egress and piping exclusions, without the words "roof" or "roofing." The Township's land-use page also lists a 2019-3 and a 2020-1 Flood Plain Ordinance, which are scanned images and were not read for this record. This record does not decide which of these provisions applies to a house reroof. The Township's fee schedule (Resolution 2024-5, read from the rendered page image) lists under Building permits "Connected Structures" with "Garage, carport, deck, roof, etc." at ".10 per sq/ft" and says "There will be additional fees charged by the Permit Officers, MDIA, (Middle Department Inspection Agency)." It names no reroof or roof replacement line, and this record does not decide whether that line reaches a reroof. Section 1812.A of the Arendtsville Borough and Butler Township Zoning Ordinance says "A Zoning Permit shall be required prior to the erection, addition, or alteration of any Building or structure or portion thereof" and "No Zoning Permit shall be required in cases of normal maintenance and repairs which do not structurally change a Building or structure." It is a zoning permit and names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an alteration under it. 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." Read for this answer: Chapter 15 of the Township Code (Parts 1, 2 and 3, the sections quoted above); the Township's Officials, Land Use Records and Documents and Forms pages; the agency's instruction sheet; the Township's 2024 fee resolution; the MDIA building permit application the Township posts, whose "Type of Work or Improvement" boxes include "Alteration" and "Repair" and name no roofing; and the Arendtsville Borough and Butler Township Zoning Ordinance, searched for "roof" and "reroof" (no permit provision for roof work). The Township's 2019 and 2020 flood plain ordinances and the remainder of the scanned Township Code were not read. The Township's instruction sheet says "Zoning approval is REQUIRED before applying for your building permit" and asks for a Building Permit application on the MDIA form with two sets of drawings, and a workers' compensation insurance certificate from the contractor. Ask before work starts: the Township office is open Tuesday and Thursday 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM at 717-677-6712, and the Middle Department Inspection Agency, Inc. lists an office at 717-761-5340.