data . willkara
dataset · OpenDataPhilly · Carto

L&I Complaints

Every resident-reported complaint to License & Inspections — unsafe conditions, vacant buildings, illegal use, no-heat, construction without permit. Each row is one phone call, not one complaint; multiple calls can share a complaint number. The intake-side companion to L&I Violations.

data through 2026-09-03 · 1,058,842 rows

complaints by code · since 2024-01-01

Top complaint codes

  1. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COMPLAINT EXTERIOR 35K
  2. VACANT LOT 20K
  3. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE HIGH WEEDS 18K
  4. PROPERTY MAINTENANCE COMPLAINT INTERIOR 18K
  5. WORK UNDERWAY WITHOUT PERMITS 14K
  6. VACANT PROPERTY COMPLAINT 12K
  7. UNLICENSED COMMERCIAL BUSINESS (FOOD, SOAL, AUTO REPAIR) 9.0K
  8. UNLICENSED RENTALS 6.3K
  9. WORK UNDERWAY IN VIOLATION OF PERMIT REQUIREMENTS 5.1K
  10. BUILDING STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT (OCCUPIED) 4.9K
  11. ENCROACHING TREES 4.8K
  12. BROKEN MAIN DRAIN/RAW SEWAGE WITHIN THE PROPERTY 4.2K
  13. BUILDING STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT (NOT OCCUPIED) 4.0K
  14. FIRE SAFETY COMPLAINT 3.6K
  15. RESIDENCE WITHOUT HEAT (OCTOBER 1 - APRIL 15) 3.4K

Complaint volume per year

phone calls
025K50K75K100K2015: 56,90257K2016: 65,60666K2017: 63,45263K2018: 67,52868K2019: 66,74267K2020: 57,89858K2021: 61,05961K2022: 62,26662K2023: 59,42459K2024: 58,37458K2025: 62,76263K2026: 58,46058K201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026

Each row is one phone call to L&I. Multiple calls can share a complaint number — the dedup-aware view is in unique_complaints on the byZip view. Complaints with a ticket_num_311 started as 311 cases; the others came in directly. Compare with L&I Violations to see how many calls turned into enforcement.