Tiny home rules in Bethlehem, PA — covering tiny houses on wheels (THOWs), park model RVs, and tiny home on foundation builds — determine where they are legal and how they get permitted.
Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code applies the IRC Appendix Q tiny house standards universally, governing minimum safety requirements for permanent tiny homes statewide.
The Pennsylvania UCC (Act 45 of 1999) adopts the International Residential Code, including Appendix Q for dwellings 400 square feet or less. All municipalities enforcing UCC must apply these baseline requirements covering ceiling height, lofts, ladder access, and emergency egress. Tiny homes on permanent foundations must comply. Park-model RVs registered as vehicles fall under separate DOT rules.
Occupying a non-conforming tiny home as a permanent dwelling can result in UCC enforcement, certificate-of-occupancy denial, and civil penalties up to $1,000 per day until corrected.
Bethlehem, PA
Bethlehem Zoning § 1322(yy)(4) expressly refers pool fencing to the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, which adopts the 2018 International Swimming Pool...
Bethlehem, PA
Bethlehem Zoning Code Article 1318 does not impose a separate list of prohibited fence materials, leaving fence-material regulation to general property-maint...
Bethlehem, PA
Bethlehem's zoning code does not require neighbor consent for a boundary fence under Article 1318, but Pennsylvania common-law partition-fence principles and...
Bethlehem, PA
Bethlehem requires a zoning permit from the Bureau of Code Enforcement for any fence installation as part of general zoning compliance under Article 1318 (he...
Bethlehem, PA
Bethlehem caps household animals at six without a permit: Section 1159.04 of Article 1159 (Animals) requires application for a permit for any household keepi...
Bethlehem, PA
Bethlehem's local wildlife-feeding enforcement runs through Article 1159 nuisance provisions (Section 1159.06) of the Codified Ordinances and property-mainte...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Lehigh County.
See how Bethlehem's tiny homes rules stack up against other locations.
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