Roofing in Jenkintown, 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, Jenkintown Borough administers the Uniform Construction Code through its own Code Enforcement office at Borough Hall, 700 Summit Avenue, 215-885-0700: section 74-5 of the Borough Code says "The Borough hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Code Act," and the Borough's Code Enforcement page lists the Borough's zoning officer, building code official and plans examiner and its code enforcement inspector. The Borough's Code Enforcement page says "Currently, Jenkintown Borough has adopted the 2018 International Building Codes," and section 74-6 of the Borough Code adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" by reference. The Borough's page names the 2018 edition, not the 2021 edition described above, and this record does not decide which edition the Borough applies. Chapter 74 also keeps Borough adoptions of the BOCA National Building Code, 1999, and the CABO One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, 1995 Edition.

No Jenkintown Borough text read for this record names roof covering work as permit work or as exempt. Chapter 74 of the Borough Code, Building Construction, keeps two pre-UCC model code articles: Article I adopts the "BOCA National Building Code, Fourteenth Edition, 1999," and Article II adopts "The CABO One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, 1995 Edition," whose purpose section says the article regulates the "alteration, repair, location and use of detached one- and two-family dwellings" and provides "for the issuance of permits therefor"; the BOCA and CABO texts themselves are not published with the Borough Code. Part 2 (Ord. No. 2010-4) adopts the Uniform Construction Code by reference, and section 74-12, "Exclusions to permit exemptions," deletes, by number, listed exceptions of an earlier text of 34 Pa. Code 403.62(c); none of the deleted items is quoted in words in the Borough Code, and this record has not read that earlier text. The Code Enforcement page says "Permit must be applied for and received prior to beginning any work, whether residential, commercial or institutional," and the Borough's Building Permit Application lists "Roofing" as one box under "TYPE OF IMPROVEMENT," beside new building, addition, alteration and other work. Neither these pages, the Borough's fee schedule (which prices residential permit applications at "$40.00 (1st $1,000.00)" with no roof line) nor any other Borough page read says in terms that reroofing or roof replacement needs a permit or is exempt. 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 record: Chapter 74 of the Borough Code, Building Construction, in full; every page of a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing," which found no permit provision naming roof work; and the Borough's Code Enforcement, Codes, Forms and Permits, Fee Schedule and "How do I obtain a permit?" pages with the Building Permit Application. The "How do I obtain a permit?" page says applications are taken at Borough Hall, 700 Summit Avenue, and "No application will be accepted without proof of insurance, the permit fee, and any necessary plans and specifications"; the office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., 215-885-0700. A Borough amendment to the BOCA code in section 74-2 says anyone who "starts work without having been granted the proper construction permits from the Borough of Jenkintown will be fined double the original permit fees."