How to Get Business Permits in Philadelphia

Start with the address, not the lease

I work as a loan officer at Impact Loan Fund in Philadelphia, and I underwrite small business loans for a living. On October 14, I testified before City Council's Commerce and Economic Development Committee about the permitting maze that the smallest businesses in this city face.

The short version is this. Most permit trouble does not start with a bad form. It starts with the wrong order. Owners sign a lease and set an opening date, and only then learn what the address allows. If you are learning how to get a business permit in Philadelphia, learn the order first.

The address decides more than the idea does

Zoning is the city rule that says what kind of business can operate at a given address. A great idea for a shop or a restaurant still has to fit the zoning for that specific space.

Zoning answers come in three forms. A use can be allowed by right, which means the district allows it without a special hearing. A use can need a special exception, which means the Zoning Board of Adjustment has to grant permission after a review. And a use can be not allowed in that district at all, which means no application fixes it and the honest move is a different address.

That is why due diligence comes before a lease. Due diligence simply means checking the facts before you commit money. When owners skip that check, the business cannot open on schedule and rent is still due. Check the zoning first, while walking away is still free.

Your tax account comes before your license

You start with a federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS, which is free. Most owners call it an EIN, and the city asks for it when you set up your city tax account. Next, you register on the Philadelphia Tax Center to get a Philadelphia Tax Identification Number and to register for the Business Income and Receipts Tax, known as BIRT.

Then you get the Commercial Activity License. It allows you to do business in Philadelphia, it costs nothing, and it does not need renewal. You apply through eCLIPSE, the city's online system for permits and licenses, or in person at the Permit and License Center in the Municipal Services Building. The city also expects applicants to be current on city taxes, so an old tax issue can stop a new license until it is resolved.

Zoning comes before building, and building comes before opening

The zoning permit is usually the next step, and it is often required before a building permit. The filing fee is $100 for most business uses, and it is credited toward the permit fee. If your application needs no plans, it can be reviewed while you wait in person, or within five business days if it is sent for further review. If it includes plans, the review takes 20 business days for most business uses.

If you are renovating, you will likely need a building permit as well. The filing fee is $100 for most business spaces, commercial work is reviewed within 20 business days, and a licensed Philadelphia contractor has to perform the work in most cases.

The last core step is the Certificate of Occupancy, which lets you legally occupy the space. It matters most when the use is changing. The filing fee is $100, the permit fee is $253 for each space that needs its own certificate, an inspection is required, and applications are processed within 20 business days.

Your business type adds its own license on top

The steps above are the shared foundation, and your kind of business adds its own license on top of them. A food business is the clearest example. A business that prepares or serves food needs a Food Preparation and Serving License, and the fee is $299 for a small establishment and $415 for a large eating and drinking establishment with 30 or more seats. Most city business licenses also carry a $20 application fee that is credited toward the license fee.

The food license also shows why timing matters. It requires a License Eligibility Report from the Department of Public Health, and that report can be no more than 30 days old when you apply. The names on that report have to match the names on your tax account and your Commercial Activity License exactly. A mismatch can send you back to the start of a step.

Other business types have their own versions of this step, and some have none beyond the foundation. Child care, retail food sales, and signs each carry specific rules, while an office or a shop that sells no food may need little more than the core steps. Find the list for your business type before you spend, not after.

A tool can give you the list, and a person can help with the hard parts

At the hearing, another business owner described being fined and then struggling to appeal the fine, because she could not figure out who to talk to or how the appeal process worked. Her story names the second half of the problem. A clear list solves the first half. A reachable human solves the second half.

I also learned at that hearing that the city already offers a permit navigator at permits.phila.gov, and it has been poorly advertised. Since the hearing, I built a version of the front door I described in my testimony. The Philadelphia Permit Navigator on my site takes an address and a business type, checks the zoning for that address, and gives you a roadmap with each permit and license in order, with the city fee and the published wait for each one, in English or Spanish. It is free.

Use the tool to get your list in order. Then bring the hard questions to a person, whether that is the Permit and License Center, a business support organization, or a lender who has watched this process from the loan side. That combination is the one front door I asked for. One place to start, and a human on the other side.

Permits come before the loan conversation, too

A lender is going to ask whether the business is licensed and whether the space can legally hold the business, because a loan for a business that cannot legally open does not help anyone. Permit delays also change loan math, because rent and other fixed costs keep running while opening waits.

If funding is part of your plan, get the permit order settled first and then look at capital with a clear timeline. My guide to CDFI loans explains how community lenders work and who they lend to.

Government should simplify things, not make them harder. Until the city builds one front door of its own and promotes it well, the next best thing is knowing the order and asking for help early, instead of after a fine or a delay.

Want more like this? I send one email a week on capital, permits, and building a business in Philadelphia. Join the newsletter at amauryabreu.org, and try the Permit Navigator before you sign your next lease.