Roofing in Mount Joy Township (Lancaster 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, Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County (not Mount Joy Borough), takes construction code permit applications at its office, 8853 Elizabethtown Road, Elizabethtown, on its own Construction Code Permit Application. Section 57-14 of the Township Code has applications submitted to the Township's Building Code Official, who transmits them to the Construction Code Official, and says "The Construction Code Official may be a third party agency"; the Township's contacts page lists Commonwealth Code Inspection Service as "Building Code Official," at 717-664-2347. Chapter 57 adopts the Uniform Construction Code as the Mount Joy Township Construction Code and fills in Table R301.2(1), including "Ice shield underlayment required: Yes"; it changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. Section 57-13 adopts the Uniform Construction Code standards "as such regulations and standard codes adopted by such regulations may be amended from time to time," with additions to "the International Building Code/2006 or such future edition of the International Building Code as may be adopted from time to time," Section 57-14 fills in Table R301.2(1) of "the International Residential Code/2003," and the Township's pages name no edition; this record has not read the 2003 edition's text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.

Mount Joy Township's code and pages read for this record do not say whether a house reroof needs a permit. Chapter 57, Article II of the Township Code, the Township's Construction Code (Ord. No. CXCV, June 21, 2004, as amended, read October 9, 2026), adopts the Uniform Construction Code and "hereby adopts and incorporates Sections 403.41, 403.42, 403.42a, 403.43, 403.44, 403.47, 403.48, 403.61, 403.62, 403.62a, 403.63 and 403.66 of the L & I Regulations to govern applications for and issuance of Construction Code permits for nonresidential and residential construction," adding to Section 403.62(a) that "It shall be the joint responsibility of the owner, lessee, if any, and the contractor to determine that a Construction Code permit (and all other required permits and approvals) has been obtained before performing any work." It does not amend the State's exclusions for residential repairs and alterations, names no roof work, and adds no permit clause of its own for house repairs. The Township's pages say nothing on roofing. Its Construction Code Permit Application offers the types "New Building Addition Alteration Repair Demolition Relocation" and says "Must have permit in hand to begin any work"; its fee schedule (Resolution 15-2022, effective January 1, 2023) charges a flat $50.00 for "CONSTRUCTION CODE PERMITS" with no roofing line, and the plan review and inspection fees the Construction Code Official charges under Section 57-14 are not published by the Township. 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 Township requires a permit for a house reroof; ask the Township office (717-367-8917) before starting. Section 57-14 adds that anyone who "commences any work on a building, structure, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system before obtaining the necessary Construction Code permits shall be subject to an additional fee for expedited processing which shall be equal to the fee which should have been paid at permit application." The application says permits take 3 weeks to process and "Payment must be made at time of submission." The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Read for this answer: Chapter 57 of the Township Code, Building Regulations (Sections 57-1 to 57-14), in full, which is the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance; every page of searches of the whole Township Code and its posted documents for "roof," which found no permit provision naming roof work on houses, and for "reroofing," which found none; the Township's Building Permit & Land Use Applications and contacts pages; its Construction Code Permit and Zoning Permit Applications; and its two 2023 fee schedules, in full.