Category: Licenses and Inspections
The Philadelphia Commercial Activity License
The Philadelphia Commercial Activity License (CAL) is the first requirement for conducting any business in Philadelphia, but not the last. When a client asks us to help with a CAL, the project might dip into other Philly licenses or drown in local tax records. Once you have all your business information in order, getting a…
Grandfathered Zoning Rules in Philadelphia: An Update
At the beginning of 2025, we told passionate, dedicated readers of the Permit Philly blog (we assume there are millions of you) that the City of Philadelphia was going to crack down on grandfathered zoning. Saying a property is “grandfathered in” isn’t a technical or legal term, but it does basically describe situations where the…
Top 5 Philly Code Changes in 2025
Happy New-ish Year! As Philadelphia slowly emerges from the eggnog fog into the harsh winter light, it’s time to discuss what’s on everyone’s mind: the Eagle’s depressing passing attack, which could doom the league’s most talented roster and best defense. [Note: after we posted this article, they scored 55 points in the NFC Championship game.…
Philadelphia Property Certificates
It happens all the time: someone comes to us because the City of Philadelphia told them to get new permits just to keep their property the way it was. Say, for example, someone purchased a triplex, but when they applied for a rental license – trying to follow the rules! – the Department of Licenses…
Permit Expirations
We’ve heard a lot from our clients about permit expirations recently: Contractors, property owners, and even homeowners working on small renovation projects have found their construction and zoning permits out of date: marked “expired” and closed in the City of Philadelphia’s online portal. Everyone wants to know why their permits are expiring, and how to…
Update on Philly Airbnb rules
Permit Philly returns to the Philadelphia Airbnb License to tell you what’s changed since the license was introduced in 2023.
Philadelphia Outdoor Dining Rules
An overview of the new Philadelphia outdoor dining rules taking effect on January 9th, 2023.
The Philadelphia Excavation License
Excavation work in Philadelphia is about to get a lot more difficult. Of course the days are long gone when you could just stick a shovel in the ground and start building a house: the City requires plans, approval from the Water and Streets Departments, and a wheelbarrow of paperwork before it will permit new…
The Philadelphia Airbnb License Guide
Thinking of hosting on Airbnb or Vrbo in Philadelphia? Let Permit Philly guide you through the regulations surrounding the Philadelphia Airbnb license.
Top 5 Changes to the Philadelphia Permitting Process for 2021
Happy New Year from Permit Philly! We don’t want to shock you, but we have something terrible to report: 2020 was a bad year. I’m sorry you had to hear it from us. But bad years aren’t the same as unimportant years, and in 2020 there were a lot of important changes to the Philadelphia…
