Roofing in West Penn 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, West Penn Township in Schuylkill County uses a third-party agency, Hometown Municipal Services, LLC of Tamaqua: the Township's Forms and Ordinances page posts a "UCC Application for Hometown Municipal Services, LLC.", whose instructions are addressed to "West Penn Township UCC Construction Permit Applicant(s)" and say UCC, zoning and driveway applications and fees go to the Township building at 27 Municipal Road, New Ringgold, or to the agency at 30 Holland Street, Tamaqua. The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not published online, and this record has not read it; the ordinances posted on the Township's Forms and Ordinances page include none on building construction, and the 2023 Zoning Ordinance posted there names no roofing permit. The Township's and the agency's pages read for this record name no code edition.

West Penn Township has published no line on whether a reroof needs a permit. The agency's residential "SCHEDULE OF PA UCC FEES" in that packet (a scanned document, read from its page images) has no roofing line; it prices "Alteration & Repairs (if applicable)" at "1.2% of construction cost" with a $120 minimum, and its building permit application has no type-of-work or roofing boxes. No Township or agency text read for this record says whether a reroof needs a permit. The Township's ordinance adopting the Uniform Construction Code is not published online, and this record has not read it; the ordinances posted on the Township's Forms and Ordinances page include none on building construction, and the 2023 Zoning Ordinance posted there names no roofing 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 notes say "Working without permits will result in fees that are twice the standard base rate for each discipline, plus applicable expenses." The Township office is at 570-386-4507, and the agency is at 570-225-6459. Read for this record: the Township's home and Forms and Ordinances pages; the agency's UCC permit packet for the Township, with its instructions, applications and fee schedule, read from the page images; the Township's 2023 Zoning Ordinance, searched for "roof" and read at its zoning permit provisions; and the Township's zoning permit application.