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Philadelphia Municipal Law Research: Philadelphia Code

This guide reviews Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, the Philadelphia Code of Ordinances, and the Philadelphia Consolidated Regulations. The guide also provides guidance on how to access each of these resources.

Overview

Philadephia's Home Rule Charter gives the Philadelphia City Council the ability to adopt and publish a comprehensive codification of all general ordinances adopted by the Council. See section 2-304 of Philadelphia's Home Rule Charter.

The Philadelphia Code is the compilation of all general ordinances adopted by the Philadelphia City Council. It is divided into 22 titles:

  • Title 1: General Provisions
  • Title 2: City-County Consolidation
  • Title 3: Air Management Code
  • Title 4: The Philadelphia Building Construction and Occupancy Code
  • Title 5: Fire Code (see Title 4, Subcode F: The Philadelphia Fire Code)
  • Title 6: Health Code
  • Title 7: Housing Code
  • Title 8: Plumbing Code (see Title 4, Subcode P: The Philadelphia Plumbing Code)
  • Title 9: Regulation of Business Trandes and Professions
  • Title 10: Regulation of Individual Conduct and Activity
  • Title 11: Streets
  • Title 12: Traffic Code
  • Title 13: Water and Sewer
  • Title 14: Zoning and Planning
  • Title 15: Parks and Recreation
  • Title 16: Public Property
  • Title 17: Contracts and Procurement
  • Title 18: Commerce
  • Title 19: Finance, Taxes and Collections
  • Title 20: Officers and Employees
  • Title 21 :Miscellaneous
  • Title 22: Public Employees Retirement Code

The Philadephia Code is available online. When using it, be sure to check the preface to see when the online version of the Code was last updated - very recent legislative developments may take some time to be included. Philadelphia also publishes a comprehensive print edition of the Philadelphia Code every four years, with cumulative supplements every year between editions. Researchers using the print edition should remember to check the supplements and the City Council website for recent developments.

Philadelphia Code - Electronic Version

A free version of the Philadelphia Code is posted on the American Legal Publishing Company's Web site.

Philadelphia Code - Print Version

The Legal Research Center has a print copy of the Philadelphia Code (please note that this is the 2016 11th edition - the most recent print edition is the 2020 12th edition).