Bristol Township, PA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Section 120-8 of the Bristol Township Code sets a three-way test that the Building Official applies to any dwelling, dwelling unit, habitable room, rooming house or rooming unit reported or found to be substandard. A structure that can reasonably be repaired is ordered repaired. One so dangerous to the health, morals, safety or general welfare of its occupants or the public is ordered vacated. A dwelling, multifamily dwelling, two-family dwelling or rooming house that is 50% or more damaged, decayed or deteriorated from its original value or structure is ordered demolished, and so is any building that cannot be repaired.

The written notice to the owner states the defects and requires the work to commence within 48 hours and to be completed within 60 days from the date of the notice. If continued occupancy endangers people, the notice also orders the building vacated forthwith until repairs are completed, inspected and approved. Service is personal if the owner is found within the Township; otherwise the notice is posted on the building and mailed by certified mail to the owner's last known address. The Building Official posts each entrance with a sign reading 'Do Not Enter.

Unsafe to Occupy. Township of Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.' If the owner ignores the notice, Township Council can order the Building Official to do the work, and the bill must be paid within 10 days of service or the Township files a lien. Separately, Chapter 134 lists as a nuisance any old, abandoned or partially destroyed building, or one commenced and left unfinished, that is a fire hazard or a menace to public health or safety (§ 134-2D). Under § 134-5 a notice to abate gives not less than 10 days.