How can the validity of HTML code be checked to ensure proper functionality with PHP?

To ensure the validity of HTML code for proper functionality with PHP, you can use the built-in PHP function `htmlspecialchars()` to escape special characters in the HTML code. This will prevent any potential security vulnerabilities and ensure that the HTML code is rendered correctly.

<?php
$html_code = "<h1>Welcome to my website!</h1>";
echo htmlspecialchars($html_code);
?>