Building without a permit in Pennsylvania

What Pennsylvania law says

Under Section 903 of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act (Act 45 of 1999): '(1) Any individual, firm or corporation that violates any provision of this act commits a summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and costs. (2) Each day that a violation of this act continues shall be considered a separate violation.' The penalty amount is forwarded to the entity with enforcement jurisdiction (Section 903(b)). Building without a required UCC permit violates the act's permit requirement, so each day of continued violation can draw a separate fine of up to $1,000 plus costs.

Cited from Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, Act of Nov. 10, 1999, P.L. 491, No. 45, Section 903 (35 P.S. 7210.903): official text. Localities enforce these rules and may add their own fees and procedures on top.

Can you get a permit after the work is done?

The UCC regulations contain one narrow state-level after-the-fact permitting provision, for emergencies: 34 Pa. Code 403.62(b) provides that 'An emergency repair or replacement of equipment may be made without first applying for a permit if a permit application is submitted to the building code official within 3 business days of the repair or replacement' (residential; 403.42 contains the commercial permit rules). Chapter 403 has no general retroactive or as-built permit process for non-emergency work already performed; such work is addressed through the enforcement sections (stop work orders and notices of violation, 403.81 to 403.86) and Act 45 Section 903 penalties, with legalization handled by the building code official through the normal permit application.

Cited from 34 Pa. Code 403.62(b): official text.

The typical path, whatever your locality calls it: stop any ongoing work, contact the permit office before they contact you, apply for the permit describing what was actually built, and expect the office to require opening up or inspecting concealed work. Voluntarily coming forward generally goes better than waiting for a complaint or a sale to surface it.

Who can pull the permit

Yes. 34 Pa. Code 403.62(a) provides that 'An owner or authorized agent who intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a residential building or erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace an electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system regulated by the Uniform Construction Code shall first apply to the building code official and obtain the required permit.' The owner is a permitted applicant. The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (Act 132 of 2008, 73 P.S. 517.1 et seq.) is a registration and consumer-protection law for contractors: its 'Contractor' definition covers a person 'who owns and operates a home improvement business or who undertakes, offers to undertake or agrees to perform any home improvement,' so it governs people doing home improvements for others, not homeowners doing their own work. Pennsylvania has no statewide trade licensing barring homeowner work; trade licensing, where it exists, is municipal.

Cited from 34 Pa. Code 403.62(a); Act 132 of 2008 (HICPA), Section 2 (73 P.S. 517.2): official text.

Your local permit office

Enforcement, after-the-fact fees, and the exact fix-it process are local. We cover these Pennsylvania permit offices:

• Philadelphia

Official sources

• https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/1999/0/0045..HTM
• https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/034/chapter403/s403.62.html&d=reduce