Roofing in Jenkins Township, 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, Jenkins Township in Luzerne County takes building permit applications on its own Jenkins Township Building Permit Application, with fees payable to the Township at 46 1/2 Main Street, Inkerman; its Forms & Permits list says building permits are issued through a third-party code agency at 1151 Highway 315, Plains, which the Board of Supervisors retained by Resolution 019-2016 as "a third-party agency certified by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry as a Construction Code Official." The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not among the ordinances and resolutions the Township posts online, and this record has not read it; no codified Township code was found online. The Township's pages read for this record name no code edition.

Jenkins Township has published no line on whether a reroof needs a permit. The Township's building permit application lists New Building, Foundation Only, Alteration, Demolition, Relocation, Addition, Change of Use, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical as types of work and has no roofing box, and its residential permit fee schedule is priced by cost of work with no roofing line; the Township's fee schedule resolution (Resolution No. 20 of 2016) prices building permits "for new construction, additions, alterations, demolition or moving structures, repairs, equipment or renovation of buildings and structures" and names no roof work outside a zoning fee for roof-mounted solar systems. No Township text read for this record says whether a reroof needs a permit. The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not among the ordinances and resolutions the Township posts online, and this record has not read it; no codified Township code was found online. 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." The building permit application says "FEES WILL BE DOUBLED FOR THOSE FAILING TO SECURE PERMIT PRIOR TO START OF WORK." The Township office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at 570-654-3315. Read for this record: the Township's Administration, Forms & Permits, Ordinances and Zoning Officer pages and the documents they list; its building permit application and residential and commercial fee schedules; Resolution 019-2016; and the fee schedule, Resolution No. 20 of 2016, read from the rendered page images of the scanned copy.