Roofing in Kittanning, 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, Kittanning Borough's Forms page lists, under "Permits," the third-party firm Bureau Veritas at 724-548-1414 for "1) Building, 2) Electrical, Flood Plains," and the Borough's Code Enforcement Officer at 724-543-2091 for zoning permits, landlord inspections and occupancy permits. Chapter 282 of the Borough Code (Ord. No. 426-2004, May 3, 2004) says "Kittanning Borough hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act" and adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the Municipal Building Code for Kittanning Borough. Chapter 282 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions, and the Borough's code and pages name no residential code edition.

Kittanning Borough has published nothing that names roof work as permit work or as exempt. The Kittanning Borough Codes Office "Fee Schedule 2022" lists landlord licences, occupancy permit applications, property inspections, recreational site permits, Zoning Hearing Board applications and vacant property registration; it names no building permit and no roof work. A search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing" found no section that names roof work as permit work or as exempt; the hits are definitions and property maintenance, sewer and sign rules. Section 282-5 keeps in force "All building code ordinances or portions of ordinances which were adopted by Kittanning Borough on or before July 1, 1999, and which equal or exceed the requirements of the code"; no such building code is among the published chapters of the Borough Code. 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." This record does not state whether the Borough requires a permit for a reroof. The Borough's Forms page lists Bureau Veritas at 724-548-1414 for building permits; the municipal building is at 724-543-2091, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Read for this record: Chapter 282 of the Borough Code, Construction Codes, Uniform, in full; Chapter 275, Building Construction, and Chapter 419, Permits and Licenses, in full; every page of a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and "reroofing"; the Borough's home, Forms and Departments pages; and the Codes Office fee schedule.