Building Safety in Pennsylvania (2026)

Bethlehem's Article 1167 Lead Poison Control ordinance lets the Bureau of Health inspect any dwelling for lead hazards…

Allentown's Bureau of Health can enter and test any dwelling for lead paint on probable cause, and must post a warning…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Chapter 6-325 bans applying lead paint to toys, furniture, kitchen utensils…

Philadelphia's Health Department can order landlords to eliminate lead-based paint hazards in rental units, and…

Pittsburgh requires lead hazard inspections for rental housing built before 1978, covering bare soil, deteriorated…

Scranton bans applying lead paint or any lead-bearing substance over 0.5% lead by weight to interior surfaces, or to…

In Abington Township, buildings with passenger elevators must keep at least half of them, rounded up, running whenever…

Pennsylvania requires annual elevator inspections under 34 Pa. Code Chapter 405. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor…

Pittsburgh's Property Maintenance Code requires every elevator, dumbwaiter, and escalator in the city to be kept in…

Erie's own code hands elevator regulation to the Commonwealth: Section 1503.72 adopts the Uniform Construction Code's…

Scaffolding must be approved under the building code and removed within 30 days of finishing the repair work it…

Lower Merion Township requires full fire sprinkler systems in nearly all new construction, exempting only single-family…

Abington Township requires approved automatic sprinkler systems in commercial, educational, industrial, institutional…

Chapter 5, Part 3 of the Bristol Borough Code requires approved automatic sprinkler equipment in listed building types…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Chapter 3-905 applies only to new multifamily residential occupancies of no…

Upper Darby requires an NFPA 13D fire sprinkler system and an NFPA 72 fire alarm system throughout any group living…

In Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, § 84-5(B) requires an automatic sprinkler system throughout buildings with a Group…

Haverford Township requires approved automatic sprinkler systems throughout newly erected institutional buildings, new…

Renovating a Pittsburgh apartment, hotel, or institutional building triggers mandatory sprinklers under Code § 1002.02…

Philadelphia does not mandate fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes. Builders must instead offer buyers the…

Pennsylvania DHS regulates childcare centers under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3270 (centers), 3280 (group homes), and 3290…

Before anyone builds, remodels, or converts a building into an Allentown child-care center, the Bureau of Health must…

Bethlehem's Bureau of Health licenses and inspects every day care center in the city under Article 1165, which sets…

Since March 1, 2020, Erie has required every child-care facility to hold a certificate of occupancy from the Building…

In Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, a day care center serves four or more children, disabled persons and/or elderly. It…

In Bristol Township, a day-care center serves four or more children, disabled persons and/or elderly. In residential…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, § 3-903.14 sets fire safety rules for child day-care homes and centers…

In Haverford Township, Delaware County, day care at a nonresidential facility means care, supervision or instruction of…

A child day care center in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, is a permitted use by special exception under §…

Large nonresidential buildings in Pittsburgh must set aside on-site child day care space once they exceed set…

Reading zoning sets minimum outdoor play area and occupancy standards for child care centers as a special exception use.

Scranton requires anyone operating a child or adult day-care center to pass a City inspection and hold an annual $250…

In Haverford Township, every multifamily dwelling and apartment house building must have self-closing locks on all…

Abington Township's Fire Prevention Code requires stair enclosure doors in buildings taller than six stories or 65 feet…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a door in a required means of egress from an assembly area of 100 or more…

Lower Merion Township's Security of Buildings code requires new and substantially altered commercial buildings to…

Philadelphia requires every rented dwelling, rooming or housekeeping unit door to have a deadbolt lock with at least a…

Every commercial and residential building permit in Philadelphia has to satisfy the 2021 International Energy…

Pittsburgh lets non-residential developers earn up to a 20 percent floor-area-ratio and height bonus by committing to…

Pottstown Borough Council adopted the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code by reference under Borough Code §§…

Reading doesn't mandate green construction, but it rewards LEED-certified buildings with extra building coverage…

Upper Darby has no mandatory green building code. Instead, § 550-23G(1) of the zoning ordinance dangles up to 40 feet…

Abington Township requires a new carbon monoxide detector within 40 feet of every bedroom before any single-family…

Every Allentown child-care facility must keep working carbon monoxide detectors on site, not just smoke alarms. Section…

A Bethlehem Short Term Lodging License application must include a floor plan showing the location of every carbon…

Bristol Borough requires carbon monoxide detectors and alarms in every dwelling unit that burns coal, natural gas…

Haverford Township requires an approved carbon monoxide alarm outside each sleeping area in new homes with an attached…

In Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania, a limited lodging (short-term rental) needs a carbon monoxide detector in the…

Existing dwelling and sleeping units in Philadelphia must have carbon monoxide alarms whenever a hazard condition like…

Pottstown's Fire Code amendment, Section 603.4.2, requires a permit before installing any unvented, gas-fired space…

Reading's Property Maintenance Code requires carbon monoxide alarms in dwellings per the International Fire Code and…

Upper Darby requires carbon monoxide alarms outside bedrooms in any dwelling unit that has fuel-fired appliances or an…

Abington Township regulates construction, alteration, repair, removal, demolition, use, location, occupancy and…

Allentown requires a permit for construction, alteration, enlargement, repair or demolition of any building, plus…

Bensalem Township Code Chapter 66 adopts the International Building Code, First Edition 2000, and the Pennsylvania…

Bethlehem requires a permit under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code for erecting, altering, repairing, moving…

In Bristol Township, no structure can be erected, constructed, reconstructed, altered, added to, razed or removed, and…

Before constructing, enlarging, altering, repairing, moving, demolishing or changing the occupancy of a residential…

Franklin Township administers building permits through the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code rather than a…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Bureau of Codes Enforcement issues building permits, and § 8-101.3 lists…

Haverford Township requires a zoning permit before any building or structure is erected, structurally altered or…

Lower Merion Township requires a building permit for construction, alteration, demolition and related work under its…

In Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County, § 203-1202 requires a zoning permit before a change in use or the erection…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, no construction or other activity regulated by the Uniform…

Penn Hills requires a building permit for any construction or improvement costing more than $2,000; smaller jobs are…

Most interior and exterior renovations in Philadelphia require a building permit from the Department of Licenses and…

Pittsburgh's Bureau of Building Inspection requires a Building Permit for any work covered by the International…

Pottstown requires a zoning permit before you build or install any structure, including signs, fences and storage…

Reading requires permits under the 2009 International Building Code, but the city stripped out the code's exemptions…

Scranton requires a Bureau of Code Enforcement permit before any construction, alteration, addition, removal or…

Upper Darby requires a separate permit for every structure on a parcel, with building, mechanical, electrical…

Abington Township charges a separate electrical permit application fee under Section 112.3(Q), scaled to the price…

Electrical work in Allentown falls under the adopted Uniform Construction Code, and every electrician working in the…

Bensalem Township has adopted the 1999 National Electrical Code as its Electrical Code, and no building can have…

Any electrical work in Erie regulated by the Uniform Construction Code needs a permit from the Building Code Official…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, no one can perform electrical work without first obtaining a permit from the…

In Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, no one may perform electrical work without first getting a permit…

Lower Merion requires a permit from the Code Official before any electrical work begins in the Township, under Chapter…

Penn Hills requires a permit and District Inspector approval before any electrical wiring, machinery, or apparatus is…

Philadelphia requires an electrical permit for any installation, alteration, replacement or repair of electrical or…

Pittsburgh requires a separate Electrical Permit from the Bureau of Building Inspection for work covered by the adopted…

Pottstown adopted the ICC Electrical Code, Administrative Provisions, as its Electrical Code under Section 501 of…

Reading requires a permit from the Electrical Code Official before any electrical installation, alteration, or repair…

Scranton has adopted the 2008 National Electric Code as part of its Uniform Construction Code, and every electrical…

Upper Darby enforces the ICC Electrical Code as part of its adopted Uniform Construction Code, and only a licensed…

Abington Township adopted the 2006 International Plumbing Code as its own Plumbing Code under Code § 121-15, and §…

Allentown enforces plumbing work under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, and anyone doing plumbing in the…

Bensalem Township enforces the 2000 International Plumbing Code as the Bensalem Township Plumbing Code of 2001…

Bethlehem issues plumbing permits only to licensed Master Plumbers. Under Codified Ordinances § 1705.08(b), an…

Plumbing work in Erie regulated by the Uniform Construction Code needs a permit from the Building Code Official before…

In the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, no person, owner-occupants included, can perform plumbing work without first…

Lower Merion Township adopts the International Plumbing Code as its Plumbing Code under Chapter 115, administered…

Before installing, enlarging, altering, repairing or replacing plumbing systems, Philadelphia owners need a plumbing…

Pittsburgh adopts the International Plumbing Code as part of its Uniform Construction Code, but plumbing permits aren't…

Pottstown adopted the 2009 International Plumbing Code as its Plumbing Code under Section 401 of Chapter 5, Part 4, and…

Reading's Plumbing Code lets only a licensed master plumber apply for a plumbing permit, caps each shop at one…

Scranton requires a permit before any plumbing installation, adopted under the 2009 International Plumbing Code, and…

Upper Darby enforces the International Plumbing Code as part of its adopted Uniform Construction Code, with plumbing…

Bristol Borough requires an inspection and a certificate of approval from the Code Enforcement Officer before any…

Before a Pottstown dwelling changes hands, Section 113 requires a Property Transfer Use and Occupancy Certificate: a…

Reading requires a certificate-of-transfer inspection before any residential, nonresidential or mixed-use property…

Abington Township's Code Enforcement Department inspects buildings before issuing a permanent use and occupancy permit…

Bensalem Township charges a fee for every plan examination, building permit and inspection under the adopted fee…

Bethlehem requires a City inspection before issuing any certificate of occupancy, and the outcome of that inspection…

In Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, anyone who builds or develops anywhere in the Township needs a permit under Chapter…

Erie requires a construction code official, or a Fire Inspector for fire code items, to inspect permitted work at each…

Lower Merion Township requires an owner or contractor to give the Construction Code Official twenty-four hours' notice…

In Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, inspections run through the building code official the Township…

Penn Hills, Pennsylvania requires permit holders doing grading, excavation, or fill work to schedule inspections at…

Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections runs permit work through staged inspections under Code Sec…

Pittsburgh requires owners of buildings other than one- and two-family homes and townhouses to hire a…

Scranton runs a two-stage building inspection process before a certificate of occupancy issues: a general inspection…

Before any property in Upper Darby changes hands, it must pass a municipal inspection, and the outcome sets which…