Every few months we get a round of questions regarding door-to-door energy salespeople knocking on the doors in Conshohocken.  We inquired about the registration process and the rules that the salespeople have to follow and hope this helps answer a lot of the questions.

There is an ordinance that establishes the law for door-to-door sales within the Borough and a resolution that establishes the days and times when it is permissible.  If you click the links, you can view the full text of each.  Below are the areas that we get the most questions about:

• A business that wants to conduct door to door sales in the Borough has to obtain a Peddling and Soliciting License for its sales people (the link is for the application).  Within the ordinance it stipulates, “No License shall be issued to any person who has been convicted of a crime of any kind involving moral turpitude, and such person shall not be allowed to engage in canvassing and soliciting in the Borough.”  The applications are forwarded to the Conshohocken Police Department who run a back ground check prior to the application being approved
• Once a permit is issued, the sales person can hit the streets and start knocking on doors.  As stipulated in the resolution the permissible times are, “Monday through Saturday, beginning at 9:00 AM, and ending at either dusk or 7:00 PM, whichever is earlier.” It is not permitted on Sunday
• According to the ordinance, if a sales person can not present you with a permit that includes a photograph of the person, it is not valid.  The permit must be available to present
• If you have a persistent sales person that won’t leave they are in violation of the ordinance.  It reads, “A License holder shall not enter or attempt to enter any dwelling or otherwise remain upon any private property without the invitation or permission of the occupant or property owner and shall immediately leave any premises upon request of the occupant or property owner”
• Does a “no soliciting” on your property mean anything?  We googled it a 100 different ways and didn’t find a solid answer.  However, we did find at least one instance in Lancaster, PA where “no soliciting” signs by ordinance mean that the home is off limits.  There is no mention of obeying such signs in Conshohocken’s ordinance, however, the ordinance does provide for the creation of a list of addresses that sales people are not permitted to solicit.  You can learn more about getting on this list by clicking here
• If you are on the Borough’s no solicitation list and someone knocks on your door, you are asked to call the police (see Facebook below from the police department).

There is one thing to note of if you take the time to read this ordinance.  For some reason they combined door to door sales with the regulations for food trucks and other vendors, like those at a farmers’ market. Take for example 13-1307. It involves limitations of where food trucks can operate, yet it is mixed in with door to door sales.  Not sure why, because it is confusing.

The Conshohocken Police Department recently started a Facebook page and are now publishing the photos and names of people who have obtained permits, and another post regarding the topic.  Here are the three posts: