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Home Business in Pittsburgh, PA (2026)

4 verified home business rules for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.

Verified from official government sources

Zoning & Home Occupation Permits

Pittsburgh requires a home occupation permit from the Division of Zoning and Development Review. Applicants must waive expansion rights under Chapter 912.

Home Business: Home Occupation Permits

Some Restrictions

Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of Jul. 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247 — Definition of "No-impact home-based business"

"No-impact home-based business," a business or commercial activity administered or conducted as an accessory use which is clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling and which involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with residential use. The ...

Signage Rules

Home-based businesses in Pittsburgh can display only the sign required by their occupancy license: capped at 4 square feet, one per entrance, wall- or pole-mounted, and never illuminated.

Pittsburgh Home Occupation Sign Limits

Some Restrictions

Pittsburgh Code § 919.03.L

Home Occupation Signs. Signs required by licensing requirements: 1. Shall not exceed four (4) square feet in face area; 2. Shall be limited to one (1) sign for each principal entrance; 3. May be attached to a wall of the building and shall not project more than twelve (12) inches therefrom or may be situated as a pole sign not extending more than ten (10) feet from the top of the sign ...

Customer Traffic Restrictions

Pittsburgh caps home occupations at six one-way vehicle trips per twenty-four-hour day, limiting customer and delivery traffic to preserve residential character under the zoning code's home occupation standards.

Pittsburgh Home Business Traffic Limit

Some Restrictions

Pittsburgh Code § 912.05.B.3

A home occupation shall not generate more than six (6) one-way vehicle trips (trip-ends) per twenty-four-hour day. 4. Building Additions and Entrances. No building addition or building entrance visible from the street shall be permitted for the purpose of accommodating a home occupation. 5. Nuisances. No equipment used in conjunction with a home occupation shall cause odor, vibration, noi...

Home Daycare

Pittsburgh exempts in-home child care for 3 or fewer children from home occupation rules. Larger operations need a PA DHS license and local Certificate of Occupancy.

Home Business: Daycare Home

Some Restrictions

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services — Early Learning & Child Care: Certification of child care centers, group child care homes, and family child care homes

If you are looking for help to pay child care expenses, or if you need help figuring out how to care for and educate your young child, Child Care Works can help. For more information, call the Child Care Works helpline at 1-877-4-PA-KIDS. You can also find help and information at your local Early Learning Resource Center . We share the concern of parents that child care centers, group child car...

Looking for Allegheny County county-wide rules?

County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Pittsburgh city rules.

Home Business in Allegheny County