Roofing in Lower Heidelberg 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, Lower Heidelberg Township, in Berks County, elects to administer the code (Chapter 6, Section 101 of the Township Code, Ord. 236A, 2004), and the Township's Permits page lists Kraft Municipal Group, 6525 Shillington Plaza, Shillington, as its "BUILDING INSPECTOR | BUILDING CODE OFFICER | ZONING OFFICER | PLUMBING INSPECTOR | ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR" and says applications "may be picked up and dropped off at Kraft Municipal Group, Inc." or at the Township Municipal Building, 720 Brownsville Road, Sinking Spring. Section 102 of Chapter 6 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code, and Section 103 fills in Table R301.2(1) with a 90 mph wind speed and a 30-pound ground snow load and has no ice barrier entry; it changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Section 103 of Chapter 6 of the Township Code amends the 2003 editions of the International Residential Code and International Building Code, and no Township page read for this record names a code edition; the text above is the 2021 edition's, the 2003 edition's text was not read for this record, and this record does not decide which edition the Township applies.

No Lower Heidelberg Township text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. Chapter 6 of the Township Code, Code Enforcement (Part 1, Sections 101 to 109), adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" and adds no permit clause and no roof words of its own; Section 107(a) of Chapter 6 keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the Codes hereby adopted," and names none. The Township's Permits page (read October 9, 2026) sets a "$100.00 Residential Building Permit" application fee and names no roof work, and the Township's 2026 fee schedule lists a "Residential building permit twp admin fee" of $100.00 and charges Kraft Municipal Group's code and building permit work to the applicant "at current rates" without publishing those rates; neither has a roofing line. 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." Because the Township's only general permit clause is the state code's own and no Township or Kraft Municipal Group statement addresses roof work, this record does not decide whether the Township requires a permit for an ordinary reroof. Ask Kraft Municipal Group at 610-777-1311 or the Township office at 610-678-3393 before work starts. Lower Heidelberg Township, in Berks County, elects to administer the code (Chapter 6, Section 101 of the Township Code, Ord. 236A, 2004), and the Township's Permits page lists Kraft Municipal Group, 6525 Shillington Plaza, Shillington, as its "BUILDING INSPECTOR | BUILDING CODE OFFICER | ZONING OFFICER | PLUMBING INSPECTOR | ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR" and says applications "may be picked up and dropped off at Kraft Municipal Group, Inc." or at the Township Municipal Building, 720 Brownsville Road, Sinking Spring. Checks are made payable to Lower Heidelberg Township. Read for this answer: Chapter 5, Buildings, and Chapter 6, Code Enforcement, of the Township Code, in full; every page of a search of the whole Township Code for "roof" and for "reroofing," which found no permit provision naming roof work; the Township's Permits and Codes & Ordinances pages and 2026 fee schedule; and Kraft Municipal Group's permit application page and its general permit application, which does not name the Township.