Permit Holds and How to Fix Them

In this blog post I am spotlighting a new service that we're offering: automatic business license renewals. At $100 annually, this service includes automatic renewals of business licenses and reminders when automobile, general liability, and worker's compensation insurance is expiring. The aim of this service is to reduce downtime waiting for permit issuance while freeing up valuable time for contractors and other professionals that is better spent elsewhere.

You can find this service on our pricing page. As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out using our contact form. Read on for more information on common holds and how to resolve them!

Oftentimes, some of the biggest hold ups in permit acquisition occur after the review has completed. This happens when the permit is "Ready for Issue", meaning that there are things preventing the permit from being formally issued. These holds won't resolve themselves, and they are often an unforeseen risk to the project staying on track.

In this blog post we're going to cover the most common types of holds associated with building permits and give some tips on how to resolve them.

Contractor Approval Required:

This hold happens when the contractor listed on the permit hasn't approved their involvement with the project in eClipse. Most permits in Philadelphia need to have a contractor listed on them and since the contractor will be holding liability, it's important to L&I that they associate themselves with the project.

The Fix:

Have your contractor log into their eclipse.phila.gov account and approve involvement with the project. Most contractors know how to do this and simply overlook it with all of the other planning that has to happen for your project.

Contractor License Expired:

This one is straightforward; it means that the contractor's license has expired and not been renewed.

The Fix:

Have your contractor login to their eclipse.phila.gov account, scroll down to the business licenses tab and select their contractor's license. Once selected, there will be a button to "renew license". If there isn't, then they can click on "renew a trade license" from the eClipse homepage and follow the steps to renew their license. Once they submit the renewal, it typically takes a few days to process.

They should let the applicant or expediter know when their license is reissued so that the applicant can clear the hold from the permit.

Contractor Has Expired Documents:

This hold can speak to a number of things, and subsequently takes a more time to resolve. The best way to avoid it as a contractor is to stay on top of your liability, automobile, and worker's compensation insurance. Short of that, fixing this hold involves multiple steps, but is not complicated. Since it requires multiple steps, it often involves longer delays to your permit being issued.

The Fix:

The first step as a contractor is to make sure that you have valid insurance. Usually, insurance companies charge monthly or biannually, and send you the appropriate documentation. It's important that you receive a Certificate of Insurance with L&I listed as the certificate holders. All of your COIs must have L&I listed on them. The Certificate holder should look like this:

The City of Philadelphia Department of Licensing and Inspections

1401 John F. Kennedy Blvd.

Philadelphia, PA 19102

Upload the insurance documents in PDF format to eclipse.phila.gov under the Trade License page. Once done, contractors will need to click on the green "chat now" function between 9am - 1pm on weekdays to inform the agent that they have uploaded all of the required paperwork.

Next, the contractor will need to send the documents to the expediter - or permit applicant - to inform them that the documents have been uploaded. This will allow the applicant to inform L&I so that the hold can be removed from the specific permit. The contractor's role is to make sure their license is up to date; the applicant's role is to make sure that the permit hold gets cleared.

Contractor Tax Clearance:

This hold occurs when the revenue department flags the contractor's account. There can be varying causes for this, but it is usually an easy fix.

The Fix:

They contractor will have to log in to their revenue account or contact the revenue department to resolve this issue. Once done, inform the applicant or expediter by sending the revenue clearance documentation so that the applicant can clear the hold from the specific permit.

It's important to note that there are different types of holds. All of the holds that we covered here are permit issuance holds. These holds prevent the permit from being issued. Another type of permit hold is called a permit completion hold, which prevents the permit from being completed. Examples of these types of holds are Special Inspections paperwork, final inspection, or development impact tax. A permit is considered complete once all of the inspections, fees, taxes, and compliance paperwork have been received and approved.

Thanks for tuning in for today's blog post on permit holds in Philadelphia! At Kosten Expediting, we make permitting as painless as possible for homeowners, developers, and contractors. If you have been having issues with a hold, let us know so that we can help resolve it.

Until next time,

Ian