Philadelphia caps limited lodging at no more than three unrelated persons (including owner and lodgers), limits any single visitor stay to 30 consecutive days, and caps a Limited Lodging Home at 180 hosted days per year. Building permits and a Certificate of Occupancy are triggered above five rooms or ten occupants.
Philadelphia Code 14-604(13)(c) sets the minimum occupancy standards for limited lodging. Standard (.1) provides that the dwelling unit 'shall remain as a household living unit with housekeeping facilities in common, but not to allow for occupancy by more than three persons (including the owner and lodgers) who are unrelated by blood, marriage, adoption, or foster-child status, or are not Life Partners.' The two limited-lodging categories in 14-604(13)(b) each cap any single guest stay at 'no more than thirty (30) consecutive days.' A 'Limited lodging, Short Term' use is for 'fewer than ninety-one (91) days per year,' while a 'Limited Lodging Home' (conducted by the primary resident) is for 'greater than ninety (90) days per year' but, the code states, 'In no instance may limited lodging be provided for more than one hundred eighty (180) days per year.' Beyond the head-count and day caps, the L&I FAQ explains that occupancy classification under the Building Code can trigger additional permits: for a one- or two-family dwelling rented up to five rooms and ten occupants while owner-occupied, no building permit or Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is required, but 'More than five (5) rooms and or ten (10) occupants' triggers a building permit and CO (R-1 occupancy), and non-owner-occupied configurations and units within buildings of three or more units also require a building permit and CO. The number of occupants and rooms counts the owner and the owner's room.
Exceeding the three-unrelated-occupant limit, hosting any visitor longer than 30 consecutive days, or operating a Limited Lodging Home beyond 180 days per year violates the minimum standards of 14-604(13)(c) and can result in L&I violations and fines. Operating above the room/occupant thresholds without the required building permit and Certificate of Occupancy is a separate Building Code violation.
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