Roofing in Tarentum, 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, The Borough of Tarentum's Office of Building and Zoning, 318 E. Second Avenue, takes building permit applications, and the Permitting and Forms page says "please contact the Building Code Official (BCO) and zoning office at 724.224.1818 x114." Section 99-1 of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Tarentum hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999," and Section 99-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the municipal building code. Chapter 95 adopts "the International One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, 1998" and the 1999 BOCA National Building Code, and the Borough's pages name no edition of the International Residential Code; this record has not read the 1998 or 1999 codes' text and does not decide which code or edition the Borough applies.

The Borough of Tarentum's Office of Building and Zoning lists shingles among work that needs no residential permit, while the Borough Code keeps in force older model codes whose permit provisions this record has not read. The office's Building Permit Checklist & Information sheet (updated 2023.03.01, read from its rendered page) lists, in a column headed "Residential permits are not required for:", "Replacement of siding" and "Shingles"; its column headed "Residential Permits are required for:" lists "Adding roofs, walls, new egress doors, floor joists" and "Any structural work including joists, walls, rafters, posts, beams, footers, trusses." Chapter 95 of the Borough Code, Building Construction, keeps two older articles. Article I (Ord. No. 80-15, as amended) adopts "the International One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code, 1998," "applicable to all one-family and two-family dwellings within the Borough of Tarentum," and Article II adopts the "BOCA National Building Code, Fourteenth Edition, 1999." Section 99-5A says building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 "which equal or exceed the requirements of the code shall continue in full force and effect." The permit provisions of the 1998 One- and Two-Family Dwelling Code and of the 1999 BOCA code were not read for this record, and this record does not decide whether either reaches a house reroof. The Borough's 2026 fee schedule, Resolution #25-22 (a scanned document, transcribed from the rendered pages), lists under "Residential Building Permit" a "Minimum Base Permit Fee" and lines for new dwellings, additions, manufactured dwellings, garages, accessory structures, pools and decks or porches, and no roof line. The Borough of Tarentum's Office of Building and Zoning, 318 E. Second Avenue, takes building permit applications, and the Permitting and Forms page says "please contact the Building Code Official (BCO) and zoning office at 724.224.1818 x114." Section 99-1 of the Borough Code says "The Borough of Tarentum hereby elects to administer and enforce the provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act 45 of 1999," and Section 99-2 adopts the Uniform Construction Code "as amended from time to time" as the municipal building code. 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 checklist says "Inspections require a 48-hour notice" and to call 724-224-1818 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to reach the Building Code Official. Read for this answer: Chapter 99 of the Borough Code in full and Articles I and II of Chapter 95; every page of a search of the whole Borough Code for "roof" and for "reroofing," which found no permit provision naming roof work (Section 265-1203 of the zoning chapter lets regular maintenance of a nonconforming structure include "the replacement of a roof"); the Permitting and Forms and Code Enforcement pages; the Building Permit Checklist & Information sheet; the Residential Building Permit Application; and the 2026 fee schedule.