Roofing in West Nottingham Township (Chester 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, West Nottingham Township takes zoning and building permit applications itself: its Permits & Applications page says "Please call the Codes/Zoning Officer at 610-932-4072 ext. 302 for questions regarding subdivision, land development, building permits and applications" and lists a Residential Building Permit Application; its Contact Information page lists, under "Permitting (Zoning & Building)," a Zoning Officer, a "Building Codes Official" and a "Building Inspector"; and its fee schedule (Resolution No. 6-2024) recites "Ordinance No. 1-2004 enacted to adopt, with certain amendments thereto, the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code." The Township office is at 100 Park Road, Nottingham (610-932-4072). The Township's pages name no residential code edition, while Chapter 5 of its posted Code of Ordinances names the 1990 BOCA code and the 1989 CABO dwelling code; this record has not read those codes' text and does not decide which edition the Township applies.

Section 1405.A.2 of the Township's zoning chapter (Chapter 27, adopted August 1, 2012) says "A building permit shall be required prior to the erection, alteration, extension, enlargement, or demolition of any building or other structure or portion thereof, unless exempted by another law, code, or ordinance." It names no roof work and does not use the word "repair," and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is an "alteration" under it. Section 1404 of the same chapter requires a zoning permit "Prior to the erection, alteration, extension, enlargement, or demolition of any building, structure, sign, or portion thereof" and says a zoning permit shall not be required "For repair to a structure other than a non-conforming structure, when such repair does not change the nature or intensity of the existing use"; it is a zoning permit, it names no roof work, and this record does not decide whether a house reroof is a repair under it. The Township's Permits & Applications page (read October 11, 2026) says "Zoning Permit Application : Required for all residential projects." The Township's Application for Plan Examination and Building Permit lists "Repair and/or Replacement" among its types of improvement and names no roofing permit type, its Building Permit Application Requirements sheet names no roof work, and its fee schedule lists residential building permit work as new principal construction, accessory structures, agricultural structures, additions, decks and "any structural renovations" with a separate line for roof-mounted solar panels and no line for reroofing. Chapter 5 of the Township's posted Code of Ordinances (Ord. No. 3-1991) adopts the "BOCA Basic National Building Code, 1990, Eleventh Edition" for buildings "except for detached one (1) or two (2) family dwellings," and Part 2 adopts the CABO "One and Two Family Dwelling Code, 1989 Edition," which it says shall be controlling in the "fabrication, erection, construction, reconstruction, enlargement, alteration, addition to, repair, location and use of detached one (1) and two (2) family dwellings." The text of those two model codes was not read for this record, and this record does not decide whether Chapter 5 remains in effect beside the Uniform Construction Code ordinance. The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code (Ordinance No. 1-2004) is not in the Code of Ordinances the Township posts, which has no chapter for it, and was not read for this record. 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." Ask the Township office (610-932-4072, ext. 302 for the Codes/Zoning Officer) before starting. Read for this answer: the Township's Permits & Applications, Contact Information and Ordinances pages; its Building Permit Application Requirements sheet, Zoning Application and Permit, Application for Plan Examination and Building Permit and fee schedule (a scanned resolution, read from its rendered pages); Chapters 4 and 5 of its Code of Ordinances and its key to the disposition of all ordinances; and its Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 27), searched for every use of "roof" and read at Sections 903, 1401 to 1405.