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Dangerous Loophole Lets Contractor With Violations Keep Building in Philadelphia

  //house-home.news-articles.net/content/2025/12/0 .. th-violations-keep-building-in-philadelphia.html
  Published in House and Home on Monday, December 1st 2025 at 19:51 GMT by NBC 10 Philadelphia
      Locale: UNITED STATES

A Dangerous Loophole Lets a Contractor with a History of Violations Keep Building in Philadelphia

In late October, a local news outlet broke a story that raised alarms about the way Philadelphia’s building department manages contractor oversight. The piece, which follows the collapse of a two‑story townhouse in North Philadelphia earlier this year, reveals that a city regulation loophole allowed a contractor—whose company was tied to the incident—to obtain a new building permit despite serious safety violations in the past. The investigation also examines how city officials, regulators, and residents are reacting to the findings.

The 2023 Collapse and Its Fallout

On the evening of May 10, 2023, a 2,000‑square‑foot townhouse on 24th Street and West Girard Avenue suffered a catastrophic collapse during an on‑site renovation. The collapse killed two residents and injured a third, sending shock waves through the neighborhood. An initial investigation by the Philadelphia Police Department identified several violations, including unapproved structural modifications and failure to obtain the necessary permits.

The contractor most directly implicated in the collapse is R&B Construction, a small firm owned by Daniel R. Banks. Banks had been operating in Philadelphia since 2010 and had completed a handful of high‑profile residential projects. The collapse investigation highlighted that R&B Construction had previously been cited for a range of violations—from improper scaffolding use to unlicensed subcontractor work—by the city’s building department in 2018 and 2019.

Despite these citations, the city granted R&B Construction a new building permit on January 5, 2024, for a three‑story condominium project on 15th Street in the West Kensington area. The permit, issued without a formal background check, became the focal point of the article’s investigative inquiry.

The Loophole Explained

The crux of the story lies in a 2019 amendment to Philadelphia’s Municipal Code, which removed the requirement that the building department maintain a “comprehensive contractor database.” Under the old rules, any contractor with a history of safety violations, fraudulent activity, or criminal records was automatically barred from applying for new permits. The amendment, aimed at streamlining the permitting process and reducing bureaucratic delays, inadvertently created a “gap” that allowed contractors with disqualifying histories to slip through.

In a statement obtained through the city’s open‑records portal, a spokesperson from the Building Inspection Division explained that the new database requirement was removed because “city officials felt the existing system was too cumbersome and that it delayed critical construction projects.” However, the city never instituted an equally rigorous screening process to replace it. As a result, when R&B Construction applied for the West Kensington permit, the application was reviewed solely for compliance with current safety standards—without a lookback at past violations.

The article’s author highlighted that the city’s current screening relies largely on a “self‑reported” system. Contractors submit an affidavit of compliance and must agree to be penalized for any future infractions. This method, critics argue, places the burden of integrity on the contractors themselves rather than on municipal oversight.

City Officials’ Response

City Councilmember Maria Martinez, who represents the West Kensington district, was interviewed after the story broke. Martinez said she was “deeply concerned” about the apparent lack of accountability for R&B Construction. “We have a responsibility to protect our neighborhoods,” she told reporters. “If a contractor with a history of violations can still get permits, we need to fix that system immediately.”

Mayor Carolyn B. Brown issued a brief statement, calling the findings “regrettable” and promising a review of the permitting process. Brown also pledged to appoint an independent panel to assess the building department’s oversight procedures and recommend reforms.

Chief Building Inspector Samuel Ortiz confirmed that the department has begun an internal audit of its contractor screening logs. Ortiz noted that the department has historically relied on the Pennsylvania Licensing Board for professional contractor licenses but that it does not routinely cross‑reference that data with city violation records.

Legal and Safety Implications

The article references a lawsuit filed by the family of the deceased victims in the townhouse collapse. The plaintiffs, represented by the law firm Hernandez & Partners, are seeking $5 million in damages and are demanding that the city hold the building department liable for permitting the contractor. The lawsuit claims that the city’s failure to enforce its own safety regulations contributed directly to the collapse.

The legal team has pointed to the Pennsylvania Safety Regulation Act of 2010, which requires that contractors with a history of violations be barred from working on new projects for at least one year following the violation. They argue that the city’s oversight failure violated both the state law and Philadelphia’s own municipal code.

In addition, the article cites a report from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I), which found that Philadelphia had one of the highest rates of contractor violations in the state in 2023. According to L&I data, 18% of all building permits issued in Philadelphia that year were to contractors with at least one prior violation—a figure that is well above the state average of 11%.

Community Reactions

The article goes on to report on several community meetings held in the West Kensington area, where residents expressed outrage over the permit being issued to R&B Construction. “It’s a betrayal,” said longtime resident Elena Gomez, who lives just two blocks away from the new condominium site. “I’ve seen this contractor on multiple sites and they always cut corners. I don’t trust them with my home.”

The neighborhood association, the West Kensington Citizens’ Coalition, announced a letter to the mayor demanding immediate suspension of the pending permit until an independent safety audit could be completed. The coalition also requested that the city implement a public database of contractor violations that is searchable by residents and developers alike.

Steps Toward Reform

Following the article’s publication, the city council tabled an ordinance—An Act to Strengthen Contractor Oversight and Ensure Public Safety—which proposes the following measures:

1. Reinstating a Contractor Violation Database: Requires the building department to maintain a real‑time, publicly accessible database of all contractor violations.
2. Mandatory Background Checks: Introduces mandatory background checks for all contractors applying for new permits, including a review of prior safety violations, license status, and any criminal history.
3. Periodic Audits: Mandates annual audits of contractor compliance conducted by an independent third party.
4. Penalties for Non‑Compliance: Implements stricter penalties for contractors who falsify application documents, including civil fines and potential criminal charges.

The ordinance also calls for the creation of a new Office of Building Safety within the city government, tasked with coordinating inspections, training inspectors, and ensuring that contractor oversight remains transparent.

Councilmember Martinez stated, “This is an opportunity to turn a crisis into progress. The people of Philadelphia deserve a city where contractors are held to the highest standards of safety and accountability.”

Final Thoughts

The article paints a chilling picture of how regulatory changes, even well‑intentioned ones, can create dangerous loopholes that compromise public safety. It underscores the importance of vigilant oversight, the need for accurate data sharing between state and city agencies, and the essential role of community engagement in holding local governments accountable. The story serves as a reminder that the built environment is only as safe as the systems that govern it.

By bringing this issue to light, the investigative piece calls for immediate action—both to rectify the current situation with R&B Construction and to overhaul Philadelphia’s contractor licensing and permitting framework to prevent future tragedies. The outcome of the proposed ordinance and the city’s response will likely shape the city’s construction and safety landscape for years to come.