Roofing in Swoyersville, 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, Swoyersville Borough in Luzerne County posts a Building Permit Application on its Forms and Permits page; the application is returned, with its fee, to the third-party inspection agency the Borough names on the form, which carries that agency's flat rate fee schedule beside the Borough's own "BUILDING PERMIT FEE SCHEDULE" (revised December 23, 2025), and the application says "To schedule an inspection call: 570-406-0091." The Borough's codified Building Construction chapter adopts the BOCA Basic Building Code/1970, and the Borough's application names the "Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code" with no edition; the Borough's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not in its published code, this record has not read it or the 1970 BOCA text, and it does not decide which edition the Borough applies.

Swoyersville Borough's published code and permit forms name no roof work. The Borough's codified Building Construction chapter (Chapter 39, Ordinance No. 9-1970) adopts the "BOCA Basic Building Code/1970, Fifth Edition," and its fee section prices permits "for building, construction, alteration or for converting or enlarging any building or structure," listing awnings, storm windows, sheds, sidewalks, driveways and chimneys and no roof work. This record has not read the 1970 BOCA text that chapter adopts, and the Borough's ordinance electing to administer the Uniform Construction Code is not in its published code. The Borough's Building Permit Application asks for a "DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED WORK" and a total cost, and its fee schedule prices permits by cost of work only; neither names roofing. No Borough page read for this record says whether a reroof needs a permit. 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 agency's fee schedule in the application says that "ANY INDIVIDUAL OR CONTRACTOR WHO SHALL BEGIN WORK PRIOR TO SECURING A PERMIT" pays two times the fee that would otherwise have been charged. The Borough office, 675 Main Street, is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 570-288-6581, and the application says to call 570-406-0091 with 48 hours notice for inspections. Read for this record: Chapter 39 of the Borough Code, Building Construction, in full; Article IX of the Zoning chapter, whose Section 93-62 requires a zoning permit for the erection, construction, moving or alteration of a building "but not including ordinary repairs"; every page of a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing"; the Borough's Building Permit Application with its fee schedules, read from its page images; and the Borough's Forms and Permits, Permits, Zoning Office and Contact pages.