Roofing in North Sewickley 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, North Sewickley Township takes building permit applications at its municipal building and uses Middle Department Inspection Agency, Inc. (MDIA) for plan review and inspections: Section 5-201 of the Township Code says the Township "hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," the Township's Applications & Permits page says "All building permits below have the appropriate MDIA checklist attached, if needed," and the Township's residential addition packet says "the applicant will be notified of the inspection fees and when they can pick-up the permit at the Municipal Building" and lists inspections by "MIDDLE DEPARTMENT INSPECTION AGENCY, INC." Section 5-202 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as "the municipal building code of North Sewickley Township"; Part 2 of Chapter 5 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions and names no edition of the International Residential Code, and neither do the Township's pages.

Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code (Building Permits Required; history running from 1955 to Ordinance No. 87 of 1994 and Ordinance No. 112 of 2004) says "It shall be unlawful and no person shall permit or cause the construction, removal or demolition of a building or structure or any part thereof" without a building permit from the Township Code Official, and defines construction as "All excavation for and all construction, reconstruction, erection, alteration, enlargement of any building or structure or any part thereof." The same Part defines an improvement as "A structural alteration of or an addition to an existing building" costing $500 or more and says "Improvement shall not include hedges, shrubbery, fences, repairs of an existing part of a building (such as siding or roofing), nor paving of a driveway," but its permit section does not use that defined word. This record does not decide whether a reroof is permit work under the general clause or a repair of an existing part of a building that the definition leaves out. The Township's Applications & Permits page lists building permit packets for a deck, a detached structure, a residential addition, a single family dwelling, a pool, commercial work, demolition, a fence and solar arrays, and none for roofing; the Township posts no fee schedule, and Section 5-105 says the building permit fee is "based upon the costs established by the third party inspection agency retained 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 a permit is required for a house reroof in North Sewickley Township; ask the Township office at 724-843-5826 before starting. Part 1 of Chapter 5 sets, for a violation of Part 1, a fine "not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300.00), plus costs." The Township office is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 am to 3:00 pm. Read for this answer: Chapters 4 (Buildings), 5 (Code Enforcement), 13 (Licenses, Permits and General Business Regulations) of the Township Code, in full, and the zoning permit sections of Chapter 27, all as posted by the Township as scanned PDFs and read from the page images; the Township's Applications & Permits, Zoning & Ordinances and Contact pages; and its residential addition building permit packet and zoning construction permit application. The Township's code is posted only as scanned chapters, so no word search of the whole code was possible.