Rental Property Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 483 posts · 362 votes
When acquiring a property for a rental in Philly, what can L&I require as far as upgrades to the existing electric? Most Philly homes, unless extensively rehabbed, have older outlets, wiring, breakers, installations... If L&I is called to a property can they require that everything be brought up to current code even if the home is not going through a big rehab?
L and I does nothing in terms of electrical requirements. Any electrician telling you that you need upgrades is lying. I’ve bought many properties in this condition and been mislead by many an electrician trying to sell upgrades that aren’t required. Knowledge is power! Inbox me for specifics if you need help.
I am sure it is a possibility. If your property has been vacant for over 6 months, at the very least you will need an underwriters cert by an independent company stating your electric is in compliance with Peco Standards
L and I does nothing in terms of electrical requirements. Any electrician telling you that you need upgrades is lying. I’ve bought many properties in this condition and been mislead by many an electrician trying to sell upgrades that aren’t required. Knowledge is power! Inbox me for specifics if you need help.
@Irfan Raza and @Tim Sharkey both bring up excellent and valid points. From experience, in purchasing 1 vacant property at auction and another at was very old (built early 1900s) and never rehabbed.. L&I wont reach out to you about upgrades or issues unless your property has been long vacant OR there's several open tickets against the property for safety/violation issues. In the later case, L&I doesn't reach out to you directly per say, but you'll have to go down town to find out what open violations/issues there are and correct those appropriately. If there's no open violations on the property you're good to go
@Mike B. I'll second that. I've done work on a multiple properties this past year and only had to get a certificate on a couple of them. If, however, you're updating the wiring and pulling electric permit then it will need to be done to code.