What 311 takes, and when to call 911
The City’s building problem reporting page lists the conditions 311 handles, including buildings in poor condition or dropping material into the street, vacant buildings where people are trespassing, work without a permit, and maintenance problems inside or outside a building. The 311 phone line is staffed 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays; from a phone outside the city, dial (215) 686-8686. The online form and the Philly311 app take reports any time.
One local wrinkle: L&I’s construction-next-door FAQ says that if you see a contractor digging out a basement without a permit on a weekend, call 911 rather than waiting to file a 311 request on Monday.
Check the property on Atlas first
Look up the neighboring address on Atlas, the City’s property lookup, which shows permits, inspections, violations and licenses. It tells you whether L&I already has an open case and whether work next door is permitted. Permits must also be posted at the job site with a description of the approved work. Ask 311 for an inspection if no permit is posted or listed on Atlas, the permit has expired, or the work goes beyond what it describes. Our guide to looking up a home’s permit history walks through the search.
What to put in the report
Philly311 says the exact address matters most, so give the neighbor’s street number, not just yours, and use Atlas if you’re unsure. Then describe what you can see and where: “bricks have fallen from the rear parapet into my yard twice this week” gets categorized faster than “the house next door looks abandoned.” Say when you first noticed it, whether it is getting worse, and whether it threatens your home or the sidewalk. Attach a photo; 311 staff use photos to route the request to the right department.
Create a Philly311 account before you submit online. The City says web and app requests are currently being marked private, and an account is how you follow updates. Save the 8-digit service request number you get back.
Document from a safe spot
Take photos from your own property or the sidewalk, using zoom instead of stepping under loose masonry. Don’t enter the building, climb onto a roof, or probe cracks. Photograph your own walls, ceilings and party wall where it is safe to stand, and keep the original files with a dated note of what changed. L&I specifically suggests timestamped photos of your home’s condition before neighboring construction or demolition starts. Write down what you saw, such as “water appeared on the party wall after Tuesday’s rain,” without deciding the cause. Our list of repair records worth keeping covers how to store them.
How fast L&I responds and what happens next
L&I’s published response times are 5 business days for dangerous buildings and demolition, 10 business days for work without a permit or beyond a permit’s scope, and 20 business days for vacant property and general interior or exterior maintenance. Those are inspection targets, not repair dates. If the condition gets worse, follow up with your request number, and call 911 if it becomes an emergency.
If the inspector finds violations, L&I issues a Notice of Violation, and the owner may have up to 35 days to correct them as the notice specifies. A building found unsafe or imminently dangerous falls under stricter rules: the owner must get a Make Safe Permit within ten days of the violation, and once that permit is issued, repairs on an imminently dangerous structure must start within 10 days (30 days for an unsafe one). For a vacant building left open, L&I’s violation guidance says the City may clean or seal it and bill the owner. You can watch the case’s status on Atlas. If you’re on the receiving end of a notice instead, see what to do after an L&I violation notice.
If your own home has been damaged
Reporting the building starts enforcement, but it won’t repair your house. For cracks, a leaning party wall or other structural concerns, hire a Pennsylvania-licensed structural engineer who works on rowhomes and attached buildings. Ask for written findings that say what was inspected, what couldn’t be reached, whether you need temporary protection now, and which repairs will need permits.
If construction caused the damage, notify the neighboring owner or contractor. For building permits applied for on or after January 1, 2023, the owner must give adjacent owners the contractor’s certificate of general liability insurance before work starts, and must notify you if the work includes excavation more than 5 feet deep within 10 feet of your building or structural work on a shared party wall. If you didn’t get the insurance certificate, ask the contractor named on the permit and job sign. L&I can cite the contractor, but it can’t represent you or pay for repairs, so a private attorney may be needed. If the damage came from a demolition the City hired, call L&I’s Emergency Response Unit at (215) 686-2583 and file a claim with the Office of Risk Management at (215) 683-1713.