Roofing in Neshannock Township (Lawrence 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, Neshannock Township administers the code through an appointed agency: the Township's fee resolution (Resolution #2025-6) says "Neshannock Township is an opt In Municipality per the UCC regulations" and that all building permits are subject to the Township's fees "and all of TW McCosby fees as Neshannock Township's appointed Building Code Official," the Township's permit packet says applicants "must fill out the Construction Permit Application provided by T W MCCOSBY LLC," and the Township's Building and Codes Department lists its Building Code Official at 724-944-7071. The Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance is not published on its website or in an online code library, so it, any amendment to it and any older building ordinance it keeps in force were not read. The Township's permit pages and applications name no code edition.

No Neshannock Township text read names reroofing as permit work or as exempt. The Township's residential packet says "All applicants must first fill out application for zoning certificate provided by Neshannock Township" and that "Building permits will not be issued without an approved Zoning Certificate," and its residential construction permit application lists single family dwellings, additions, decks, porches, demolition, manufactured housing, structural alterations and pools as types of construction; neither names roof work. The Township's fee resolution prices zoning certificates by construction value and names no roof work, and the Building Code Official's own rates, which it says are attached, are not part of the published resolution. The Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance is not published on its website or in an online code library, so it, any amendment to it and any older building ordinance it keeps in force were not read. 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." Nothing the Township publishes names reroofing as permit work or as exempt, and its code could not be read, so this record does not decide whether the Township requires a permit for an ordinary reroof. Ask the Building Code Official at 724-944-7071 before work starts. Where a permit is needed, the Township's packet says the zoning certificate comes first, then "Once the zoning certificate is issued, the Township will forward the application" to the Building Code Official, and on approval "applicant must pay all fees on the application. These fees are payable to Neshannock Township." The Municipal Building is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at 724-658-4972. Read for this answer: the Building and Codes Department, Permits and Applications, and Documents/Permits pages; the Residential Township Building Permit Application packet, all 26 pages; the Residential UCC Building Permit Application; and Fee Resolution #2025-6, all three scanned documents read from their page images.