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Home Occupation Permits and Zoning in Berks County

Pennsylvania has no state home occupation permit; each Berks County municipality issues its own zoning permit for a home business, and a leased storefront adds the building code's change-of-occupancy permit and certificate of occupancy. What nine municipalities charge, and the order of calls.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 21, 2026
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Pennsylvania has no state home occupation permit. The state's law says every municipality must allow a no-impact home-based business in every residential zone. That's the state's name for a home business nobody outside the house would notice. The permit itself comes from the municipality's own zoning ordinance, and every one of the nine Berks municipalities read here issues a zoning permit for one, at $100 or less in each that prints a figure as of 2026.

The municipality's word for a bigger home business is home occupation: the one with customers, a helper, a sign or a van. That kind falls under the municipality's own rules, which in some Berks municipalities cost more, in some need a hearing, and in some are the same permit with more questions on the form. A hearing is where people bring a lawyer, and the lawyers category is where to find one.

A leased storefront adds a second layer. The state building code needs a permit to change what a commercial building is used for, and a certificate of occupancy, the paper that says a building may be used, issued after the final inspection, before you open the door. The sign out front takes its own permit from the municipality.

Does Pennsylvania require a home occupation permit?

No. The phrase belongs to the municipalities, not the state. The law defines a no-impact home-based business as one "clearly secondary to the use as a residential dwelling" that "involves no customer, client or patient traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, pickup, delivery or removal functions to or from the premises, in excess of those normally associated with residential use", meaning no more cars, visitors or deliveries than a house gets.

Then come eight requirements: compatible with the neighborhood; "no employees other than family members residing in the dwelling"; no retail sales and no substantial stock; "no outside appearance of a business use, including, but not limited to, parking, signs or lights"; no noise, vibration, glare, fumes, odors or electrical interference "detectable in the neighborhood"; no unusual trash or sewage; "conducted only within the dwelling and may not occupy more than 25% of the habitable floor area"; and nothing illegal.

A business that fits all eight is allowed by right in every residential zone, meaning without a hearing, though the municipalities still issue a permit for it. The same law adds an exception: that permission "shall not supersede any deed restriction, covenant or agreement restricting the use of land nor any master deed, bylaw or other document applicable to a common interest ownership community".

How your municipality decides which kind of home business you have.

The zoning officer reads your application against those eight lines and the municipality's ordinance. A contractor with a lettered van in the driveway runs into the parking, signs and lights requirement, so what the van means depends on the municipality's own home occupation rules. Wyomissing, for one, sorts home businesses into three classes, Class I being the state's no-impact kind. Its Class II is a permit by right that lets a contractor keep one business vehicle at the house.

A special exception and a conditional use are both hearings, before different boards. Wyomissing puts "barbers, beauticians" in Class III, a special exception before its zoning hearing board in some of its residential districts. Amity treats a home occupation in some of its residential districts as a conditional use, decided by its supervisors.

This post is general information. Which kind of home business you have, and whether a use is permitted at your address, is your municipality's zoning officer's call. Decks, sheds and fences are a different permit, covered in which home projects need a permit in Berks.

What a home business zoning permit costs in Berks County.

The table holds the no-impact permit and the home occupation route for nine municipalities.

These nine of Berks County's 72 municipalities are read from their own fee schedules and forms as of October 16, 2026, and the last column is the date on each sheet.

Municipality No-impact home-based business permit Home occupation Fee sheet
Reading $75 zoning permit $150 zoning permit; the form asks about customers, deliveries, employees and large vehicles Rev. September 5, 2023
Spring Township $100 zoning permit $250 zoning permit 2026
Exeter Township $75 zoning permit plus a $15 issuance fee $150 "with neighborhood impacts", a conditional use approved by the Board of Supervisors; the applicant submits a letter on the impact to the neighbors and a map 2026 form
Muhlenberg Township Category 1, permitted by right in its residential districts with a zoning application; the form leaves the fee to be filled in Category 2 allows some customer traffic, family plus two helpers, a sign up to two square feet Form revised 2015
Amity Township $80 application, about 7 to 10 business days A conditional use decided by the Board of Supervisors after a hearing Undated form
Boyertown Borough $100 zoning permit $100 zoning permit (the resolution prices both classes together) Resolution of December 2025
Kutztown Borough $25 application plus a certificate fee from $50 Same application; the borough mails a Certificate of Use and Occupancy after inspection File dated July 2017
Cumru Township $60 zoning review plus a $25 business registration Same zoning review; a questionnaire on area, employees, inventory and nuisances Dated March 17, 2020
Wyomissing Borough Class I, by right with a permit Class II by right with a permit; Class III by special exception, where barbers and beauticians sit Ordinance page dated April 14, 2025

The no-impact permit is $100 or less where the sample prints a figure; Muhlenberg's and Wyomissing's rows carry no figure. The home occupation column is where they part ways: a higher fee in Reading and Spring; a hearing in Amity, in Exeter, whose 2026 form makes a home occupation a conditional use at a higher fee, and in Wyomissing for its Class III; the same fee for both kinds in Boyertown; the same application with more questions in Kutztown and Cumru; a second category with its own limits in Muhlenberg. Reading doubles its fee when the application comes after a violation report and work has already begun, so call before you take the first customer.

What a leased storefront needs before you open the door.

A storefront is a commercial building under the state building code, the Uniform Construction Code, so the rules the code writes for houses don't apply. Anyone who intends to change what a commercial building is used for, in the code's words "change the occupancy of a commercial building", must first get a permit from the building code official. Paint, carpet, cabinets and counters need no permit; cutting a wall, moving a required exit, or moving plumbing or wiring "are not ordinary repairs", so they take a permit.

Construction documents come from a licensed architect or engineer, with one exception: "An unlicensed person may prepare design documents for the remodeling or alteration of a building if there is no compensation and the remodeling or alteration does not relate to additions to the building or changes to the building's structure or means of egress". In plain words, you may draw the plans yourself for work that leaves the structure and the exits alone, as long as nobody pays you for the drawing; a change to the structure or a moved exit needs a licensed architect or engineer. Past paint and counters, the people to call are tenant improvement contractors in Berks County.

The paper that lets you open: "A building, structure or facility may not be used or occupied without a certificate of occupancy issued by a building code official". Wyomissing issues one for any change of tenant at a commercial property, even with no building work planned, after the zoning officer and fire inspector walk through. West Reading charges $250 for its commercial certificate, charged whether it passes or fails. That inspection is what I'd check on before the lease starts, not after.

Do you need a sign permit in Berks County?

The permit for a sign on your own property comes from the municipality. PennDOT's permit is for an off-premise sign on a controlled route and for an on-premise sign along an interstate; the municipality covers the rest.

Who to call in your municipality, and in what order.

The county doesn't zone; the call goes to the borough, township or city where the address sits. Every Berks municipality but Albany Township enforces the building code itself, through its own official or a hired agency; in Albany a house is inspected by a state-certified agency the owner hires, and a commercial building by the Department of Labor and Industry itself. The state's list of building code officials, kept by the Department of Labor and Industry, names most of them with a phone number; whatever your town, ask for the zoning officer.

This is the order I'd make the calls in. The zoning officer first, for the kind of home business or whether the storefront's use is permitted there, and the fee. Then the building code official or agency, for the change of occupancy, the certificate and who draws the plans. Then the sign permit. Then the municipality's license or registration, if it has one; in Reading, zoning approval comes before the $55 business privilege license, the city's license to do business there. The state registrations, forming the company, registering a fictitious name and the sales tax license, are covered in the Pennsylvania business license question, answered for Berks.

Frequently asked questions about home business permits in Berks County.

Can my homeowners' association block a no-impact home-based business?

Yes. The same sentence that grants the by-right permission keeps every deed restriction and association document in force.

How long does a home business zoning permit take?

Amity's application says permit processing typically takes 7 to 10 business days, and that is the kind of wait to build into an opening date.

Which state licenses come after the zoning permit?

A retail food facility license from the Department of Agriculture is $241 new, or $103 for a place with under 50 seats that the owner runs. A salon can't open before the State Board of Cosmetology's inspection.

Before you sign the lease or print the cards, call the zoning officer with the address and a one-paragraph description of the business. Once the permit is on the wall, claim your free BerksConnect listing.

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