Roofing in White Township (Indiana 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, White Township has elected to administer and enforce the code (Section 120-14 of the Township Code), and its Code Enforcement/Planning Department, at the municipal building, 950 Indian Springs Road, Indiana, "reviews and issues Township Building Permits." The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application names TKL Code Inspection, Inc., and at their January 5, 2026 organization meeting the Supervisors designated TKL Code Inspection Services as the Township's building code inspector. Section 120-15 adopts the Uniform Construction Code, "as amended from time to time," as the municipal building code, and Section 120-18 A keeps in force building code ordinances adopted on or before July 1, 1999 that equal or exceed the code. Article I of Chapter 120 adopts older International codes for multifamily and commercial structures only and excludes detached one- and two-family dwellings; Chapter 120 changes nothing in the code's roofing provisions.

White Township's own Uniform Construction Code chapter names no roof work as permit work or as exempt, but the Township Code has a separate, non-UCC assessment permit that reaches roof replacement. Chapter 92 of the Township Code, Assessment Permits (Ord. No. 35, April 25, 1963, amended 1983), says "no person shall cause or permit any building to be erected, altered or raised" without "first having obtained a permit therefor," and defines an alteration as "any work of repair, rearrangement, removal or replacement of any interior or exterior wall, roof, floor or support, or of any part thereof, of any building"; it lets work go without a permit only where "the alteration of any building, including labor and material, aggregating $1,000 or less in value annually" or "the normal, regular repairs to any building, including labor and materials, aggregating $1,000 or less in value annually." A full reroof costs more than that. The Township's 2026 fee resolution (Resolution No. R-1-2026, adopted January 5, 2026) lists "TOWNSHIP BUILDING/ASSESSMENT PERMIT FEES (NON-UCC)" with a "Township Permit" at $25.00, and says "UCC Building Permit fees are established by the Township and the third-party building code inspector." Neither the Township's permit applications nor its fee resolution names roofing; the Township Permit Application's boxes are accessory structures, decks, mobile home relocation and demolition. 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 assessment permit is a Township permit separate from the Uniform Construction Code building permit, and no Township text read says whether an ordinary reroof needs a UCC building permit, so this record does not decide whether one is needed. Ask the Township office or TKL Code Inspection Services before work starts. A reroof costing more than $1,000 may need the Township's $25 assessment permit. Section 92-5 says a violator "shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs," and "Each day that a violation of this chapter continues" is a separate offense. The Township's Building Permit & Plans Examination Application asks for a sketch plan with setbacks and two sets of drawings, says "All applicable provisions of the UCC must be met on every dicipline," and has the applicant agree to pay the plan review fee; a contractor's workers' compensation certificate must list White Township as certificate holder. The Township office telephone is 724-463-8585. Read for this answer: Chapter 120 of the Township Code, Construction, in full (Article I, multifamily and commercial structures, and Article II, the Uniform Construction Code election); Chapter 92, Assessment Permits, in full; Chapter 12, Department of Code Enforcement; every page of a search of the whole Township Code and its posted documents for "roof" and for "reroofing"; the Township's Departments page; its Building Permit & Plans Examination Application and Township Permit Application; and the 2026 fee resolution, a scanned copy read from the page images.