Roofing in Larksville, 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, Larksville Borough's Forms page carries a "Building Permits-NEW" sheet that says "FOR BUILDING PERMITS FOR LARKSVILLE BOROUGH PLEASE CONTACT" a third-party construction services firm at 570-270-3900, at Dolphin Plaza on Highway 315 in Wilkes-Barre; the Borough office is at 211 East State Street. Article II of Chapter 170 of the Borough Code (Ord. No. 4-2004, June 15, 2004) says "This municipality 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. Chapter 170 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions, and the Borough's code and pages name no residential code edition.

Larksville Borough has published nothing that names roof work as permit work or as exempt. Article I of Chapter 170, the "Building Permit Fee Ordinance of Larksville" (Ord. No. 6-1994, amended February 16, 1999), says "The Building Inspector shall charge fees for permits for building, construction, alteration or removal" on a scale by estimated cost, from $20 for work up to $1,000; it prices permits and does not say which work needs one, and it names no roof work. The Borough's older building permit application lists "Repair, Replacement, Remodeling" as one type of improvement, with no roofing box. 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 stormwater, sewers and floodplain definitions. Section 170-10 keeps in force "All building code ordinances or portions of ordinances which were adopted by this municipality on or before July 1, 1999, and which equal or exceed the requirements of the code"; Section 170-4 refers to "the Larksville Building Code," which is not 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. Building permit questions go to the firm at 570-270-3900; the Borough office is at (570) 714-9846. Read for this record: Chapter 170 of the Borough Code, Construction Codes, Uniform, in full; every page of a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof", "reroofing" and "BOCA"; the Borough's Forms, Administration and Contact pages; the "Building Permits-NEW" sheet; the building permit application; and the zoning fee resolution.