Reading, PA Rental Property Rules: Rental Inspection Programs (2026)

Reading's inspection program is the operational arm of Ordinance 35-2011 (Residential Rental Inspection Program) and the related Property Maintenance Code provisions in the Reading City Code at ecode360.com/RE1294. Each rental that registers with the City under the Rental Inspection Program is assigned to an inspection cycle determined by occupancy class, building age and condition, and prior compliance history - typically every 1 to 5 years for the bulk of Reading's older rowhouse and small multi-family stock, with new construction sometimes exempt for a period after issuance of the certificate of occupancy. The substantive standard is the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), which Reading has adopted by reference; the IPMC covers life-safety items (smoke and CO alarms, egress, electrical hazards, fire-rated separations), habitability items (heat, hot water, ventilation, weatherproofing, plumbing and sewer connection, structural soundness), and exterior items (roofs, gutters, painted surfaces, fences, accessory structures, vermin and rodent control, accumulation of trash and weeds). At the inspection visit, the Property Maintenance Division inspector walks the unit with the owner or owner's agent and the tenant where present, documents any violations, and issues a written notice of violation with a stated correction deadline. The owner is responsible for IPMC corrections to the building shell, mechanical systems, and common areas; the tenant is responsible only for tenant-caused damage and ordinary housekeeping. Where consent to enter is refused, Pennsylvania case law (including Pottstown Borough v. Suber-Aponte, 202 A.3d 173 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2019)) authorizes the City to seek an administrative warrant from a Magisterial District Judge based on the program's neutral application; Reading follows that pathway. Re-inspection follows the correction period; a satisfactory re-inspection clears the violation, while continued non-compliance escalates to citation. The program runs alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's enforcement of the Uniform Construction Code under 34 Pa. Code Chapter 403 (which Reading administers locally) and alongside Berks County Department of Public Health enforcement of food, lead, and vector-related conditions where those overlap. Reading does not have a separate certificate-of-occupancy-on-turnover requirement that triggers a re-inspection on every new tenancy (as Edison NJ and some other cities do); the inspection cycle is periodic rather than turnover-based.