January/February 2020

PE Report
After Excavation Incidents, Philadelphia Puts PEs in Charge

Following recent building collapses, the City of Philadelphia approved a new PE inspection requirement for excavation projects to improve public safety.

The Department of Licenses and Inspections added the regulations in response to building collapses and property damage tied to increased redevelopment in the city over the last few years, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. In one case, a family lost their home in February because of excavation activity at a building next door by a construction crew without proper permits. Contractors have also been injured or killed due to building collapses.

In a November 7 Inquirer article, the department commissioner David Perri stated, “We have so much more construction activity that there are now so many more opportunities for people to step on each others’ toes and for accidents to occur. The incentive now for a builder to go in and do a teardown and build new in the middle of a block…it’s causing issues that hadn’t previously existed.”

The department updated its building permitting process for excavations and protection of adjacent property (both public and private) to require monitoring and inspection by a PE. An inspection is needed when the construction project meets the following conditions: (1) When underpinning or structural support is specified or required; (2) Where excavations in excess of 12 feet in depth require engineer-designed sheeting and shoring; and (3) Where an excavation is three feet or less from an existing building. The PE requirement went into effect in August.