Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania Building Permit Guide

Upper Darby is the most populous township in Pennsylvania and the sixth-largest municipality of any kind in the state, which makes it a full permitting operation rather than the small township office its name suggests.

The Buildings Division of the township’s Department of Licenses and Inspections administers and enforces the statewide code under Act 45, alongside the township’s own ordinances. As a home-rule township it sets its own fee schedule and licensing rules, and it reserves to itself the determination of whether a permit is required at all.

Scope: Upper Darby Township in Delaware County, a home-rule township. Neighbouring boroughs such as Lansdowne and Clifton Heights permit separately.

What requires a building permit in Upper Darby Township?

Local amendments, fee schedules and the choice of third-party agency differ from one municipality to the next, so an exempt list from a neighbouring township is not reliable. An exemption from a building permit is never an exemption from zoning, the energy code, or an electrical or plumbing permit. Confirm scope with the Department of Licenses and Inspections before work starts.

Local rules worth knowing

Upper Darby made a fee change effective the first of January 2026, under Ordinance 3195 amending Chapter 290 of the township code, so a figure quoted from an older schedule will be wrong.

Pennsylvania enforces one statewide Uniform Construction Code under Act 45 of 1999, based since January 1, 2026 on the 2021 ICC codes and administered by most municipalities themselves or through certified third-party agencies; counties issue no building permits. Building codes in Pennsylvania

Who handles permitting in Upper Darby Township?

Building permits, contractor licensing and code enforcement sit with the township’s Department of Licenses and Inspections at the Municipal Building on Garrett Road, with the Buildings Division handling plan review, permits and inspections.

The department’s office in Room 109 is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm, closing on Tuesdays from 11am to noon for a staff meeting, and the township strongly encourages appointments. Different functions have separate email routes — building permits and contractor licensing, rental property licensing, and use-and-occupancy inspections for property transfers and business occupancy each have their own address — so sending everything to one inbox slows the response. Payments are made online through the township’s L&I Code Pay system, by cheque or money order.

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential work across Upper Darby’s dense stock of twins and row housing draws permits for construction, alteration, repair, demolition and change of occupancy, and for installing or altering any regulated system including electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning and new chimney liners. Solar has its own published requirements. The township reserves sole authority to decide whether a permit is required, so an assumption of exemption is worth confirming before work starts.

How Pennsylvania contractor credentials work

Commercial permits

Commercial work — everything other than one- and two-family dwellings — is reviewed under the statewide code as adopted by the township, against the 2021 editions with accessibility on the 2018 standards. Use-and-occupancy inspection is a separate route for property transfers and business occupancy, and there is a commercial property fire inspection programme running alongside the construction process.

Licenses, trade classifications and design professionals

Practically, three credential layers appear on Pennsylvania projects: HICPA registration with the Attorney General on residential home improvement; separately licensed electrical, plumbing and HVAC trades, licensed by the municipality rather than the state; and, on commercial and larger residential work, drawings sealed by a Pennsylvania-licensed architect or professional engineer. Confirm what the Department of Licenses and Inspections requires for the specific building before filing.

Pennsylvania has no state contractor licence; contractors doing at least $5,000 a year of home improvement work register with the Office of Attorney General under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act. Contractor licensing in Pennsylvania

Upper Darby Township permit costs and fees

Upper Darby sets its fees by ordinance rather than by valuation formula alone, and the schedule changed on the first of January 2026 under Ordinance 3195 amending Chapter 290. Payment can be made online or by cheque or money order, and the township is explicit that a payment receipt is not a permit and that an application must accompany any online payment.

Pennsylvania fees are substantially local: the municipality or its certified third-party agency sets the building-permit and plan-review charge, and the state adds only a modest Uniform Construction Code surcharge collected with the permit. Where a municipality uses a third-party agency, that agency’s fee schedule applies. A figure from a neighbouring municipality is not reliable — ask the Department of Licenses and Inspections for the schedule in force on your filing date.

Fees are set by the municipality or its third-party agency, plus the flat $4.50 state Uniform Construction Code fee on each permit. Permit fees in Pennsylvania

Trade permits and who may pull them

Trade work follows the Uniform Construction Code; electrical, plumbing and HVAC licences are issued locally where they exist, not by the state. Trade permits in Pennsylvania

How to apply for an Upper Darby Township building permit

Review, corrections and what actually causes delay

In Pennsylvania, the first cause of delay is uncertainty over who enforces the code — filing with the municipality when it uses a certified third-party agency, or not realising that in a municipality that has opted out of local enforcement, homeowners must hire a certified third-party agency themselves. After that come a missing HICPA registration or local trade licence, energy-code and plan documentation, and, along the state’s rivers, floodplain requirements that were not addressed up front. Build the plan-review time into the schedule and confirm the checklist with the Department of Licenses and Inspections before filing.

A Pennsylvania permit lapses if work does not start within 180 days or stops for 180 days, and lasts no more than 5 years; residential applications must be decided within 15 business days. Permit validity in Pennsylvania

Inspections in Upper Darby Township

Where a permit is required, standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and energy-code compliance, fire systems on commercial work, and final, with a use-and-occupancy certificate before the building is used. Upper Darby inspects through the construction sequence and separately administers use-and-occupancy inspections on property transfer and business occupancy, which are not the same filing as the construction final.

Pennsylvania inspections follow the code edition in force when the permit was applied for, and are carried out by a certified code official — the municipality’s own inspector or its certified third-party agency, the city department in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the Department of Labor and Industry for commercial work in opted-out municipalities, or a third-party agency the owner hires. Keep the approved plans and the energy-code documentation on site for the inspector to check against, and confirm the notice the Department of Licenses and Inspections needs and its inspection windows.

Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permit, the approved plans, product listings, energy-code documentation and your correction responses available on site.

Upper Darby Township permit search and official resources

Permit records in Pennsylvania sit with the authority that issued them — the municipality or its certified third-party agency, or the city department in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Where the Department of Licenses and Inspections is the authority for Upper Darby Township, it holds the building permit, the inspection history and the use-and-occupancy certificate. If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, confirm that past work was permitted rather than assuming it was — open permits and missing certificates are a common closing problem.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.

• Department of Licenses and Inspections
• Buildings Division — permit requirements
• Forms and fee schedule
• Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code — Labor and Industry
• Home improvement contractor registration — Attorney General

Frequently asked questions

Is Upper Darby a township or a city for permitting purposes?

A home-rule township, and the largest in Pennsylvania. Municipal type does not change which code applies — the statewide Uniform Construction Code governs either way — but home-rule status means the township sets its own fee schedule and licensing rules by ordinance.

Can I walk in to file a permit?

You can visit Room 109 at 100 Garrett Road on weekdays between 9am and 4pm (closed Tuesdays from 11am to noon), but the township strongly encourages making an appointment first. Call 610-734-7613 or email the building-permit address.

My project would be exempt — do I still need a permit?

Possibly. Any development in a designated floodplain needs a Floodplain Development Permit under Chapter 305, and floodplain rules can apply even where no building permit is required. The township also reserves sole authority to determine whether a permit is required, so confirm rather than assume.

Have the fees changed recently?

Yes. Select permit fees increased from the first of January 2026 under Ordinance 3195, which amends Chapter 290 of the township code. A figure from an older schedule will understate the cost.

I paid online — can work start?

No. The township is explicit that a receipt is not a permit and that an online payment must be accompanied by a permit application. Work may not begin until the permit itself is issued.

Do I need a state registration as well as township licensing?

For residential home improvement, yes. The two are separate and neither substitutes for the other. Registration is administrative rather than a skills licence: there is no examination, the fee is $100 every two years, and new-home construction falls outside it. The online registration system has been working again since April 24, 2026 after an outage, and the grace period that followed it closed on the eighth of June 2026, so a current registration number is the expectation now.

Simplify Upper Darby Township permitting with Alliance Permitting

Upper Darby is an administratively routed jurisdiction: the code is standard, and the time is lost or saved in how the filing is addressed and scheduled.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Upper Darby Township because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• We establish floodplain status before relying on any exemption, because floodplain development needs its own permit.
• We route each request to the correct township contact rather than to a single inbox.
• We quote fees from the schedule in force after the January 2026 revision.
• We pair every payment with an application, so a receipt is never mistaken for a permit.
• We keep use-and-occupancy separate from the construction final, which are different filings here.

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Pennsylvania. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Upper Darby Township permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.