Bucks County building department

Bucks County has 54 municipalities (31 townships and 23 boroughs), and each one, not the county, is the permit authority for construction inside its borders. A kitchen addition in Bensalem Township, a deck in Doylestown Borough, and a new house in Solebury Township each go to a different code office, which may be the municipality’s own staff or a third-party inspection agency it has appointed. The county’s role in development is the Bucks County Planning Commission (BCPC), which reviews subdivisions, land developments, ordinances, and sewage planning modules before the municipality makes a decision. The county Department of Health handles on-lot septic and well programs.

Which municipality to contact

The county’s municipal directory links to a contact page for each township and borough. Many pairs share a name, including Doylestown Borough and Doylestown Township, Newtown Borough and Newtown Township, Bristol Borough and Bristol Township, New Britain Borough and New Britain Township, and Langhorne and Langhorne Manor. A shared mailing address does not mean a shared permit office, so confirm the municipality from the tax parcel before you file. Our guide on whether the city or county issues your permit covers this further.

State UCC baseline used by Bucks municipalities

Pennsylvania’s Uniform Construction Code (34 Pa. Code Chapter 403) sets the minimum rules each township and borough enforces. Local ordinances can add more requirements, especially zoning permits. For one- and two-family homes, the state regulation exempts the following from a UCC building permit:

• fences no more than 6 feet high
• uncovered decks whose floor is no more than 30 inches above grade
• retaining walls up to 4 feet that do not hold back a surcharge
• prefabricated pools less than 24 inches deep
• carports, detached garages, greenhouses, and sheds under 1,000 square feet that are accessory to a detached single-family home

An ordinary repair needs no permit. Cutting a load-bearing wall, changing egress, or adding or relocating plumbing, gas, electrical, or mechanical lines is not considered an ordinary repair. The code official has 15 business days to grant or deny a residential application, or 5 business days when a Pennsylvania-licensed design professional certifies the plans. Commercial applications get 30 business days. If a municipality has opted out of local UCC enforcement, commercial permits go to the state Department of Labor & Industry, and its application must name both the municipality and Bucks County.

BCPC Act 247 plan review

The Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247) bars a municipality from approving a subdivision or land development until it receives the county’s report, or until 30 days have passed since the application was forwarded to the county. The BCPC board endorses the staff reviews at its monthly meeting. They are then emailed to municipal officials, with copies to the municipal solicitor.

Applications Portal

Under the county’s May 2023 submission instructions, applicants for subdivisions and land developments, municipal and school-district actions, and sewage facilities planning modules must file through the BCPC Act 247 Applications Portal, which runs on CivicGov. The county’s portal instructions say to:

1. Choose Apply for Project, then the Apply Online link for your application type.
2. Complete every field. The portal accepts only PDF files, not .zip archives, so split large plan sets into several PDFs.
3. Redact client home addresses and email addresses from plan sheets, because uploaded documents become public records.
4. Select Complete Application. The confirmation page shows your application number.

County review fees

The BCPC fee schedule issued May 15, 2023 (effective January 1, 2023 under Act 194) sets the following charges:

Plan type	Fee
Residential, up to 2 lots or units	$200
Residential, 3–10 lots or units	$630 plus $70 per buildable lot/unit over 2
Residential, 11–25 lots or units	$1,320 plus $50 per lot/unit over 10
Nonresidential land development, up to 5,000 sq ft	$315 plus $0.055 per sq ft of floor area
Nonresidential land development, over 5,000 sq ft	$500 plus $0.20 per sq ft (capped at $6,000 above the base)

The schedule charges nothing to review a sketch plan or a final plan. A resubmission with minor revisions costs no more than the original fee or $250, whichever is less, and a subdivision of two lots or fewer may be resubmitted once for free. Larger residential projects follow further tiers in the same schedule.

Septic systems and wells

The Bucks County Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental Health, issues on-lot sewage disposal permits, including repair permits and permit transfers. Since 2007 it has also issued well construction permits under county rules that cover wells not regulated by PA DEP. Its environmental office is at Neshaminy Manor Center, 1282 Almshouse Road, Doylestown. Any lot served by a septic system or private well needs these approvals in addition to the municipal building permit.

BCPC contact

Bucks County Planning Commission, The Almshouse, Building G, 1260 Almshouse Road, Doylestown, PA 18901. Phone (215) 345-3400. File land-development reviews through the Act 247 portal. Building permits, inspections, and certificates of occupancy are handled by the township or borough.