Roofing in Lehman Township (Luzerne 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, Lehman Township's Township Zoning, Ordinances and Applications page (read October 10, 2026) says "For Building Permits please call" a Township building permits number, (570) 344-9681, and the Township posts a "Building Permit Application" whose building permit form has a "BUILDING CODE OFFICIAL USE ONLY" box with a "UCC Building Fee" line and whose Required Inspections sheet ends with a final inspection "for conformance to all provisions of the Uniform Construction Code." The Township's pages do not say who employs its code official, and its Uniform Construction Code adoption ordinance is not among the ordinances it posts. Section 1324 of the Township's Zoning Ordinance (floodplain construction standards) names the "2009 International Residential Code (IRC) or the most recent revisions thereof" and the Township's pages name no code edition; this record has not read the 2009 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.

No Lehman Township text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt from a building permit. The Township's posted building permit form (read October 10, 2026, transcribed from the rendered page image) lists "Roofing - Total square feet" as one box among the "Type of work" choices beside fencing, signs, pools, decks and demolition, and the Township's pages say nothing further about roofing. The Township's Zoning Ordinance (amended June 16, 2025), Section 1402.1, says "Normal and routine maintenance and repairs to a structure, both interior and exterior, shall be exempt from obtaining a zoning permit" when the work adds no size and changes no use; that clause speaks to the zoning permit only, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is "normal and routine maintenance" under it. The Township's Schedule of Fees (Resolution 072125B, enacted July 21, 2025) lists zoning permit fees and "Uniform Construction Code Appeals Board Hearings" and names no building permit fee and no roof work. A search of the whole Zoning Ordinance for roofing words found "roofing" only in its definition of a construction trade. 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 Township's own text read does not say that a reroof needs a building permit and does not say that it needs none, and its Uniform Construction Code ordinance was not found, so this record does not decide whether the Township requires a permit for an ordinary reroof. Ask the Township's building permits line at (570) 344-9681 before starting a reroof. The Township office is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 7:30 AM to 12:00 PM, and Thursday by appointment, at (570) 674-7788. Read for this answer: the Township's Home, Contact Us, Planning, Zoning and Inspection, and Township Zoning, Ordinances and Applications pages; the 2025 Schedule of Fees; the Building Permit Application packet (a scanned multi-permit form); the Zoning Permit Application; the full Zoning Ordinance text, including Sections 1401 to 1403 and the floodplain article; and the Township's 2012 Property Maintenance Ordinance, which was captured as scanned pages, of which four of eight were read from the rendered images and name no permit. No Township building ordinance or Uniform Construction Code adoption ordinance was found posted.