PLI Launches Online Licensing Website

PITTSBURGH, PA (December 18, 2018) The Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections (PLI) has launched online business licensing, making it easier to open and operate a business in Pittsburgh. This is the first portion of the OneStopPGH project that will bring the City’s development and property maintenance process online over the coming year.

Customers can now apply for, renew, and amend all types of business and trade licenses online. Citizens can also look up existing business license holders via name, address or license number. The site is in beta testing and will be continually improved to enhance customer experiences.

Visit the OneStopPGH website to learn more about the ongoing project, including instructional videos on how to set up an account.

“PLI is excited to provide more efficient and convenient services to our customers online,” said PLI Director Maura Kennedy. “Today’s beta launch is the culmination of a lot of effort by our Department to better meet the needs of a 21st century Pittsburgh. In less than five years, PLI went from processing licenses by hand via paper to a fully online electronic system.”

The online licensing launch is part of a larger licensing overhaul by the Department. Earlier this year, PLI rewrote the City’s business licensing code for the first time since the 1980s and recalibrated license fees based on a study of associated Departmental time and costs. Visit pittsburghpa.gov/pli/licenses to learn more.

Some of the key changes in the legislation include:

Standardizing insurance limits and requirements across license types

Eliminating redundant license types

Creating a new fire suppression contractor license (effective Jan. 1 2019.) From that date on, fire suppression permits may only be issued to those license holders. Existing permits can be completed by the previously named contractor.

Requiring trade license holders to earn 8 hours of CEUs annually to renew their license. A list of what is accepted as a CEU and when they must be completed can be found on the PLI website.

Today’s online business licensing launch the first of a four part project to bring all of Pittsburgh’s development processes online, making it easier to live and work in the City. PLI and Department of City Planning permitting will go online in the Summer of 2019, with Department of Mobility and Infrastructure and Fire Bureau permits to follow in the Winter of 2019.