Roofing in Independence Township (Beaver 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, Independence Township's 2026 fee resolution lists "BUILDING/DEMOLITION" at "Code.sys UCC Fee plus 5%," and its website's Building Permits list links the Building Permit item to the website of Code.sys Code Consulting, Inc., 321 Grant Avenue, Pittsburgh (412-821-0337); Section 61-1 of the Township Code (Ord. 2-2004) has the Township elect to administer and enforce the Construction Code Act, Section 61-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code in 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401 through 405, "as amended from time to time," and Section 61-3 lets the Township retain "third-party agencies to act on behalf of the Township"; the Township office is at 104 School Road, Aliquippa (724-378-3739). Section 61-2 names no edition ("as amended from time to time") and the pages read name none.

No Independence Township text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. Section 200-64 of the Township's zoning chapter, Zoning-building permit, says "No building or structure, including mobile homes, shall be erected, added to, or structurally altered until a permit therefor has been issued by the Zoning Officer" and "No permit shall be required for the following: (1) Minor repairs or maintenance." Those lines speak to the zoning permit and name no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is a minor repair or maintenance under them. The Township's Building Permits sheet lists detached accessory structures, fences, decks and covered porches, pools, manufactured homes and demolition, and names no roof work. Read for this answer: Chapter 61 of the Township Code, Building Construction, in full; Sections 200-36 and 200-64 of the zoning chapter; every page of a search of the whole Township Code for "roof" and for "reroofing", which returned no roofing permit text; the Township's home, Contact and Building Permits pages, its Building Permits sheet and its 2026 fee resolution, transcribed from the rendered page image because the scan has no text layer, which has no roofing line; and the code agency's FAQ and one- and two-family services pages, which name no roof work for this Township. Ask the Township office at 724-378-3739 before work starts.