Roofing in Shenango Township (Mercer 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, Section 5-101 of the Township Code says "The Township of Shenango hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act," and Section 5-103 lets the Board of Supervisors do so through "the retention of one or more construction code officials or third-party agencies." The Township's Building Permit page posts its Building Permit Application, which names the "code administrator," and a third-party inspection agency's "Building Plan Requirements for Residential Projects" sheet; applications go to the Township office at 3439 Hubbard-Middlesex Road, West Middlesex (724-528-9571). Section 5-102 says "The Uniform Construction Code contained in 34 Pa Code, Chapters 401 to 405, as amended from time to time, is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference as the Municipal Building Code of Shenango Township," and Chapter 5 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions. The Township's pages name no code edition.

No Shenango Township text read for this record names roof work as building permit work or as exempt from a building permit. Part 1 of Chapter 5 of the Township Code, the Township's Uniform Construction Code ordinance (Ord. 144, June 14, 2004), adopts the code by reference, names no roof work either way and adds no permit clause of its own; Section 5-106 says fees "shall be established by the Board of Supervisors by resolution from time to time," and the Township's fee resolution is not posted, so this record has not read it. Chapter 4, Buildings, deals with dangerous buildings; its former building permit part was "superseded by Ord. No. 161, 8/16/2012" and moved to the floodplain chapter. The Township's Building Permit and Zoning Permit pages say only "If applying for a building permit, you also need to complete a zoning permit" and "Please also complete a building permit." The Building Permit Application (a scanned form, read from the rendered page) offers "New Building," "Addition," "Relocation," "Repair," "Demolition," "Other" and "Mobile Home" and names no roof work, and the Zoning Permit form names none either. 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 house reroof needs a building permit in Shenango Township; ask the Township office (724-528-9571) before starting. Read for this answer: Chapters 4 and 5 of the Township Code in full; the Code's table of contents; every page of a search of the whole Township Code for "roof" and for "reroofing," which found no permit provision naming roof work; and the Township's Building Permit, Zoning Permit, Ordinances and Contact pages with the forms they post.