Roofing in Pequea 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, Pequea Township in Lancaster County takes building permit applications through its Building Code Official, the firm Solanco Engineering Associates, which its Township Personnel page lists as "Building Code Official/Code Enforcement" and as Zoning Officer; the Township's residential building/zoning permit application (rev. 1/2024) asks the applicant to choose a "Third Party Plan Review and Code Inspection Agency", either Commonwealth Code Inspection Service, Inc. or Code Administrators, Inc., and says "ALL PERMIT APPLICATIONS SHALL BE RETURNED TO: Solanco Engineering Associates, LLC 103 Fite Way, Suite C Quarryville, PA 17566". The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not posted on its pages and was not read for this record, and the Township's pages name no code edition.

No Pequea Township text read for this record names roof work as permit work or as exempt. The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not posted among the ordinances on its Ordinances & Resolutions page and was not read for this record. Section 1802 of the Zoning Ordinance (as amended through July 9, 2024) requires a zoning permit for "The improvement or alteration of any existing structure" and says "No zoning permit shall be required for repairs or maintenance of any structure or land provided such repairs do not change the use or the exterior dimensions of the structure," which speaks to the zoning permit and names no roof work. The Township's residential building/zoning permit application offers the project types "New Building", "Addition", "Alteration", "Repair", "Demolition" and "Relocation" and names no roof work, and the Township's 2026 fee schedule (Resolution No. 776-2026) lists zoning fees and a "UCC Building Code Appeal Fee" and has no 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." The Township office is at 1028 Millwood Road, Willow Street, 717-464-2322, and the Building Code Official's office in Quarryville is at 717-786-0355. Read for this record: the Township's Fees & Forms, Township Personnel, Ordinances & Resolutions, Zoning and Contact pages; its residential building/zoning permit application and the Code Administrators residential permit application posted with it; its 2026 fee schedule resolution; and the Zoning Ordinance as amended through July 9, 2024, searched for "roof" and read at Section 1802.