City of Reading, Pennsylvania - Codes

For immediate release: As of Monday, March 27, 2006, the City of Reading Office of Codes Services will be performing all pre-settlement review inspections. The City of Reading will allow certified home inspection agencies to complete their contracted work up to April 15, 2006 after which the City will stop accepting any private home inspector reports. All PSR reports submitted from March 27 thru April 15, 2006 are subject to a quality assurance check by city code enforcement officers. Any property that is sold or transferred within the City limits must have a pre-settlement review inspection performed to address any code violations existing at the property in accordance with Ordinance Number 43-2004.

The PSR ordinance now requires all inspections to be conducted by City of Reading Code enforcement officers which will help to eliminate the redundancy in inspection effort. This ordinance change has also met the City of Reading’s present need to bring the consistency and uniformity in the PSR review inspection process in order to reduce and eliminate code violations that exist in City of Reading properties.

Mayor Thomas McMahon stated that “this ordinance change will help us make this process fair and equitable by applying consistent code enforcement by one source.” The Mayor also appreciated City Council’s action to support effective code enforcement and their desire to improve this process. The pre-settlement review fee will reduce the economic burden on property owners since the city fee includes a one time free reinspection. The City of Reading will charge $300.00 plus $50.00 per unit for each unit in excess of 3 units up to and including 24 units. The amended PSR ordinance also includes a fee structure for commercial and high-rise structures.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jatinder Khokhar
Codes Enforcement Manager
610-655-6079

Pre-Settlement Review Ordinance Changes Coming

The Pre-Settlement Review Ordinance, adopted by City Council on October 13, 2004, will go into effect in the spring of 2006 after amendments planned in late December 2005. This ordinance requires that all residential properties sold or transferred in the City of Reading shall be inspected for any code violations. The City of Reading is currently hiring additional Code Enforcement staff to handle pre-settlement review inspections. The City anticipates undertaking this new effort on March 1, 2006.

The ordinance is being amended by removing the term “certified inspector” due to the fact that the City of Reading wants to eliminate the duplicate inspections which are triggered once a property fails through a private “certified inspector” due to Class A violations which need immediate inspection by the City of Reading Code Enforcement Officer due to the severity of code violations. There is an immediate need to bring consistency and uniformity in the pre-settlement review inspection in order to reduce and eliminate code violations that exist in City of Reading properties. Mayor Thomas McMahon stated that “bringing pre-settlement review inspections to one entity (City of Reading) will help us make this process fair and equitable by consistent code enforcement effort based on uniform policy and implementation of the same. I appreciate the City Council attention to code enforcement and their desire to improve this process.” The pre-settlement review fee will reduce the economic burden on property owners since the City fee includes a one time free re-inspection. The City of Reading will charge $300.00 plus $50.00 per unit for each unit in excess of 3 units up to and including 24 units. A flat fee of $1,500.00 for 25 units or more is required. Any additional re-inspections beyond the second inspection will be charged $50.00 for up to three units and an additional $25.00 for each unit in excess of 3 units up to and including 24 units.

Please feel free to call the Code Services Office at 610-655-6079 for any questions regarding this ordinance change.

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