The "do I need a permit for this" questions that come up regardless of which town you're in. Looking for what a title or board actually means instead? See the glossary.
These are general answers under Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code. Individual Delaware County municipalities can, and often do, add their own requirements on top, so treat this as the starting point, not the final word. The directory has the phone number for whichever town you need to call to get the final word.
In most cases, yes. Under the Uniform Construction Code, a deck needs a building permit if it has a roof or if any point of it sits more than 30 inches above the ground. Plenty of Delaware County municipalities also require a permit for lower decks, since zoning rules around setbacks and lot coverage still apply regardless of height. Check with your municipality before you start.
State law exempts detached sheds, carports, and similar structures under 1,000 square feet from the Uniform Construction Code's building permit requirement, but two things complicate that. First, a municipality can adopt its own ordinance requiring a permit anyway, sometimes for anything over 100 to 200 square feet. Second, even a UCC-exempt shed usually still needs a zoning permit, since zoning covers where a structure sits on your lot no matter how small it is. Confirm both with your municipality.
Yes. Adding new living space, whether that's a finished basement, a converted garage, or an addition of any size, is treated as new construction and needs a building permit, plus separate electrical and plumbing permits for that work.
Straightforward, like-for-like replacement in the same size and location is generally treated as a repair and doesn't need a UCC permit on its own. It changes if you're enlarging an opening or touching anything structural. Roofing rules in particular vary more by municipality than most categories here, so this is one worth an actual phone call before you start.
Generally, yes. Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work usually needs its own permit and inspection, separate from any building permit, even for work inside a structure that's otherwise exempt from a building permit, like a small shed.
A building permit is about how something is built: structure and life safety, inspected against the Uniform Construction Code. A zoning permit is about where it's allowed to be: setbacks, lot coverage, permitted use, checked against your municipality's zoning ordinance. A single project can need one, the other, or both, which is a big part of why "do I need a permit" so often depends on which office answers the phone.
It can. Being listed on the National Register and being inside a locally designated historic district are not the same thing, and only the second one means a review board looks at your project before you get a permit. A handful of Delaware County municipalities, including Radnor, Chadds Ford, and Ridley Park, have a Historical & Architectural Review Board that signs off on a Certificate of Appropriateness for exterior changes, on top of the usual building or zoning permit. OldHouseDelco has a full walkthrough of how that works and how to check whether your address is covered.
In most Delaware County municipalities, a homeowner can pull a permit and do the work on their own primary residence without holding a contractor's license. The paperwork and inspection steps vary by office, so it's worth asking exactly what's involved when you apply.
It tends to catch up with you eventually: a code enforcement complaint, a stop-work order, having to open up finished work for a late inspection, or a snag at closing when a buyer's inspector or lender flags it. OwnDelco has more on how unpermitted work plays out in a Delaware County home sale. Getting the permit up front is almost always the cheaper path.