Roofing in Eden Township (Lancaster 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, Eden Township's building/zoning permit application, posted on its Forms page and marked Rev 1/2019, names as the "Third Party Plan Review and Code Inspection Agency" the Commonwealth Code Inspection Service, Manheim, (717) 278-0964, and says "All permit applications shall be returned to" Solanco Engineering Associates, LLC, 103 Fite Way, Suite C, Quarryville, (717) 786-0355, the office the Township's Zoning page lists for its Zoning Officer; the Township office is at 489 Stony Hill Road, Quarryville (717-786-7915). The pages read name no edition of the International Residential Code or International Building Code.

No Eden Township text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. The Township's Zoning page says "Permits are required by the Township for, but not limited to, the following: new construction, additions, alterations, in-ground and above-ground pools, storage buildings, and fences," and Section 702.1 of its Zoning Ordinance says "A zoning permit shall be required prior to a change in use of land or structure, or the erection, construction, improvement or alteration of any structure or portion thereof" and also says "No zoning permit shall be required for repairs or maintenance of any structure or land provided such repairs do not change the use or the exterior dimensions of the structure." Those lines speak to the zoning permit and name no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an alteration, a repair or maintenance under them. The Township's building/zoning permit application lists "New Building", "Addition", "Alteration", "Repair", "Demolition" and "Relocation" as project types and has no roofing line, and the Township's Forms page says the application is "Required for any building project within the township." Read for this answer: the Township's Zoning, Forms, Administration, Other Officials and Fast Facts pages; its building/zoning permit application; its 2025 fee schedule, read from the rendered pages, which has zoning, use and occupancy and other fee lines but no roofing line; and Article 7, Section 702 of its Zoning Ordinance. The Township's pages read publish no ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code, and none was read for this record. Ask the Township's Zoning Officer at (717) 786-0355 before work starts.