Protection of Adjacent Properties
As hinted out in our last blog post - The “Scoop” on Excavations - Philadelphia City Council also approved new rules meant to protect adjacent and abutting properties during construction. These rules will have a bigger impact on construction and development in Philadelphia than the new excavation requirements, and they will definitely increase costs and lengthen timelines. Let’s get to know the new rules a little better and learn how they will affect you and the properties you work on.
It’s important to note that City Council passed this Bill, and that it falls to L&I to interpret it. We don’t yet have a strong understanding of how they will interpret and implement these requirements. As always, the code is specific, yet vague.
There are four situations listed in Bill 220008 that would trigger the Protection of Adjacent Properties regulations to apply:
1. Excavation work to a depth of more than 5 feet (1524 mm) within 10 feet (3048 mm) of an adjoining or adjacent building.
2. Excavation, new construction or demolition work occurring within 90 feet (27.43 m) of a building or structure designated as historic under Chapter 14-1000 of The Philadelphia Code on the subject property or abutting lot.
3. Modification to a wall which is used for joint service between two buildings on separate lots, including demolition. Modifications shall include, but are not limited to, exposure of the wall, removal of perpendicular walls, floor diaphragms, or roof diaphragms; or addition of loading to the wall.
4. Severing of any structural, roof, or wall covering element extending continuously across the property line onto adjoining property.
We have a little bit of a guess at how L&I is interpreting these rules through their information sheet. You can see that they have different wording for #3 above:
“Modifications shall include, but are not limited to, exposure of the party wall, joist removal, additional loading placed upon the wall, and loading imposed by abutting construction.”
If some of these apply to your property, then the Protection of Adjacent Property rules go into effect. Exactly what you’ll need to provide varies, as shown below.
Any of 1-4 above: A pre-construction survey done by a licensed engineer, which includes a “report documenting the existing condition of all adjoining and adjacent buildings and identify any potential hazards where proposed construction or demolition may impact buildings on adjacent or adjoining property.”
Numbers two and three above; number four “as per engineer”: A monitoring plan also done by a licensed engineer, which must be approved, and must include the “level of inspection and prescribe the scope and frequency of inspections, required instrumentation (if applicable) and acceptable tolerances.”
Any of 1-4 above: A notification to adjoining owner as shown in this document. To be clear, you’re not getting their permission but rather getting a signed acknowledgement that the neighbor has been informed. If you can’t get this signature, L&I will go through a process to inform them, taking a “minimum of 60 days”.
So all told, if your property meets any of these criteria you will need to hire an engineer to do a pre-construction survey of your property and adjoining properties, hire an engineer to create a monitoring plan, follow the monitoring plan, and give notice to neighbors.
Again, it’s worth pointing out that there are some inconsistencies in the language around these triggers for Adjacent Property Protection and we have yet to see how L&I will interpret and enforce these regulations which were unanimously passed by City Council.
In short, we don’t yet know how L&I will interpret and enforce this code. The language used is specific, and broad. It’s likely that the pre-site survey and monitoring plan will be required on many new construction projects.
Whatever the result, these changes are going to make most construction projects a more costly and onerous. The City Council passed this unanimously, and I think it’s worth paying a little more attention to their agenda in the future. Here it is.
