Basement Remodeling in Newtown, PA

Dombrowski Home Improvements finishes basements in Newtown, PA. We have worked out of Newtown since 2008, we file the permits ourselves through the Newtown Township Code Enforcement, Zoning and Planning Department, and we are registered with the Commonwealth as PA HIC No. 212858.

Do I need a permit to finish a basement in Newtown?

Yes. Newtown Township names finished basements and egress windows directly in its published list of work that requires a permit, along with electrical, plumbing and HVAC. The application is the township's combined Residential Building and Zoning Application, filed at 100 Municipal Drive. The department can be reached at 215-968-2800.

Newtown Township sets its permit fees by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, and the schedule is revised periodically. We confirm the current fees with the township at the time we file, and they go into your written estimate rather than being guessed at up front.

Newtown Township handles your electrical inspection for you

This is unusual and it is worth knowing. As of January 1, 2023, Newtown Township states that it completes all electrical inspections as part of the permit approval process, through its third-party agency Barry Isett and Associates. In the township's own words, there is no longer a need to have your project reviewed by a separate electrical underwriter.

That is different from how neighboring townships work. In Doylestown Township, for example, the electrical plan has to be reviewed and stamped by a certified third-party agency that you hire yourself, and that agency also performs the rough and final electrical inspections. In Newtown Township that step is bundled into the permit.

Your Newtown Township permit expires in one year, not five

Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code gives a construction permit five years. Newtown Township amended that locally: its ordinance strikes "five years" and inserts "one year."

If you are planning to phase a basement over a couple of seasons, that matters. A homeowner in Doylestown Township, where permits run the full five years, has four more years of runway on the same job. We plan Newtown schedules around the one-year window.

Is your basement a "basement" or a "cellar"?

Newtown Township does not have its own standalone zoning ordinance. It shares the Newtown Area Joint Municipal Zoning Ordinance with Upper Makefield Township and Wrightstown Township, and that ordinance draws a distinction most homeowners have never heard of.

Under the JMZO, a below-grade space counts as a basement, and as a building story, only if more than one third of its perimeter walls are five feet or more above grade and the door and window openings total at least ten percent of the enclosed floor area. A space that does not meet those tests is a cellar, and the ordinance states that a cellar shall not be used for dwelling purposes.

This is a zoning question and it is separate from the building code questions of ceiling height and egress that the Building Official reviews. Walkout and daylight basements in Newtown Township sit on different footing than fully below-grade ones. We check this before we design.

What inspections will my Newtown basement need?

Newtown Township amended the state inspection list by ordinance and runs eight inspections: foundation, wall form, backfill, slab, plumbing mechanical and electrical system, frame and masonry, wallboard, and insulation.

For a basement finish, the operative ones are the trades inspection, frame, insulation and wallboard, in that order. We schedule them and we meet the inspector.

Ceiling height and egress in a Newtown basement

Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code is based on the 2021 International Residential Code, effective January 1, 2026.

Under IRC Section R305, habitable space and hallways need at least a 7 foot ceiling, bathrooms and laundry rooms need at least 6 feet 8 inches, and beams, girders and ducts may drop to within 6 feet 4 inches of the finished floor. That last allowance is the one that saves most Newtown basements.

Under IRC Section R310, a basement needs an emergency escape and rescue opening. The only broad exception is a basement used solely for mechanical equipment and no larger than 200 square feet. An unfinished basement is not automatically exempt.

We confirm the current dimensional requirements with the Newtown Township Building Official on every job before we cut an opening.

One thing to check first

Newtown Township and Newtown Borough are two separate governments with separate code offices and separate fee schedules, and both use the 18940 ZIP code. Before you budget anything, confirm which one your property sits in. We do this as part of the estimate.