After Daly St. blast, Squilla wants better oversight of contractors

In the wake of a recent gas explosion in South Philadelphia, a city councilman is expressing concerns about unqualified people working on homes in the city. 

Councilman Mark Squilla said the explosion last week on Daly Street in South Philadelphia shows how the city needs to confirm the experience and expertise of contractors getting permits to do work on properties in the city.

“I think that’s a major concern for us as residents of the city as well as elected officials and from a [licenses and inspection] standpoint,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure the people who pulled the permits are doing the work. Supposedly, there was one contract that was hired and the permits were pulled and they were replaced by another contractor.”

The councilman said contractor inexperience may have been a factor in the explosion.

“Now we need to look into and investigate it to make sure if someone is not responsible and not qualified to do the work, they have to pay the consequences of what happened here,” Squilla said. “And they should be very lucky that the contractors were not killed, or someone else on the block.”

Philadelphia City Council is looking at such issues through hearings about the fatal Market Street building collapse in June, which was caused by questionable demolition practices.