L&I Extends Compliance Deadline For Construction Work Under Governor Wolf’s Shut-Down Order

Written by: Natalie Klyashtorny


On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered all non-life sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania to close physical operations, effective immediately. Included in the list of non-life sustaining businesses is construction of buildings, unless said construction is to make emergency repairs and construct health care facilities.

The City of Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections (“L&I”) is now extending the deadline for compliance until Friday, March 27, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. “in the interest of public safety and protection against unnecessary property damage”.

After March 27th, L&I also exempted from the state order “routine maintenance and repair of existing buildings” and provided guidance as to what constitutes “emergency repairs”. According to L&I, “emergency repairs” would include repairs to roofs, plumbing leaks, hot water heater replacement and repairs to fire safety systems. Any such work for emergency repairs must still be performed by a licensed contractor and a permit obtained from L&I via its online application system at https://eclipse.phila.gov/phillylmsprod/pub/lms/Login.aspx.