The Philadelphia Oil Tank Permit

The City requires a licensed contractor to perform all work. The contractor must hold an active license, be current on all City of Philadelphia taxes, and have current insurance on file with L&I. Where the tank is regulated by the Pennsylvania DEP, the contractor must also hold a DEP Company Certification in the applicable category.

That is three separate checks, and a contractor can fail any one of them while looking entirely legitimate. Being current on City taxes in particular is not something a homeowner would think to ask about, and it will stop a permit.

The filing fee is $25 for a one or two family dwelling and $100 for all other sites. The permit fee itself is $158 per tank. On top of that there is a $3 City surcharge and a $4.50 State surcharge per permit.

Records retention is charged at $4 per page for anything larger than 8.5 by 14 inches. Accelerated review is available at $2,000, with $350 payable up front, which is almost never worth it on a residential tank.

Two tanks means two permit fees. On a property with a buried tank in the yard and a disused tank in the basement, that is the line to check on a quote.

The submitted plans must include the project address, the site dimensions and the location of the tank, the tank installation details, the venting, fill points and overflow protection, vehicle impact protection where applicable, the storage capacity, the material being stored, and, for an underground tank, the surface restoration details.

That last item is the one homeowners do not expect and the one worth reading carefully. The City is asking, before it approves anything, how the driveway, patio or yard is going back. If your contractor's plan says something vague there, the conversation about your reinstatement has not actually happened yet.

Plans for work over $25,000 must be sealed by a Pennsylvania-licensed engineer, and electronic submissions have to meet the City's ePlan standards.

Once the permit is approved, the inspection is scheduled with the local inspection office when the contractor is ready to start. A Certificate of Approval is issued when all required inspections have been completed successfully.

That certificate is the point of the exercise. It is the document a buyer's attorney, a title company or a lender will ask for, and it converts work that was done into work that can be proved. Keep it with the soil sampling results and the disposal manifests as one set.

Permits and licences are handled through eCLIPSE, the City's online system, and inspections are requested through it or by phone on (215) 255-4040 or 311. The Permit and License Center is at 1401 John F. Kennedy Boulevard in the Municipal Services Building, open 8:00am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday.

On a job we handle, the permit is our filing rather than yours. This page exists so you can check that it was done, and check what you were charged for it.