Renovations FAQ. Short, plain answers.

Usually, yes. Most departments list finishing a basement as permit work, and fees are often charged by floor area. If the finished space will be a separate unit, that’s a second suite, with its own rules.

It depends on your municipality. Some list adding or removing any wall as permit work; others don’t. Check your own department’s list, or ask us.

Yes. Building departments list removing a load-bearing wall as permit work.

Painting, cabinetry and flooring, fixtures replaced in the same place, a same-size window or door in an existing opening, and re-roofing with the same material are commonly exempt. Replacing a furnace is exempt on some departments’ lists but not others, so don’t assume it’s permit-free. No-permit lists differ, and some departments don’t publish one, so confirm before you skip a permit.

Electrical work goes to the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA), not the building department.

A building department can issue orders and stop-work orders, and fines under the Building Code Act can reach $50,000 for an individual. Some municipalities also add a penalty fee on the permit. The usual fix is drawings of what was built, a permit and inspections.

An owner can prepare drawings for their own house. Otherwise, the drawings come from a designer qualified under the Building Code, with a BCIN for that type of work. Our designer is BCIN-qualified for houses.

Search Ontario’s public QuARTS registry. It lists qualified designers by BCIN number, name and qualification, and needs no account. Our designer’s BCIN is 513453.

Yes. Owners may design their own project and drawings, and owners designing their own house are exempt from designer registration. The catch is that drawings with gaps or code problems slow the permit, because the examiner sends them back with comments.

The designer information form that goes with a building permit application. It records who designed the project and their qualifications, such as a BCIN. We fill it in and submit it with your drawings.

No. Any licensed contractor can price and build from our drawings.

Structural design, where needed, is prepared and sealed by an outside licensed professional, coordinated by us and built into our drawings, so the department gets one complete set.

Our design fees are fixed and listed on the pricing page, by type of project. Structural design by an outside licensed professional is separate.

Each department sets its own, often by floor area or construction value, with a minimum fee. You pay them to the municipality, separate from our fee.

Two rounds of design revisions before the permit set, and answers to examiner comments within the original scope.

Once an application is complete, the Ontario Building Code gives the department 10 days to issue or refuse a permit for a house with no unit above another, and 15 days for a house with a unit above another, such as most houses with a basement suite. Saturdays and holidays aren’t counted. Approvals that must come first, such as a conservation authority permit or lot grading approval, add time. We don’t publish a time for our own work, because it depends on your scope.

At set stages during construction. For structural work, the inspector is notified when the framing is substantially complete, before it’s covered. Keep the permit and drawings on site.

Rules vary by municipality. In at least one municipality, a permit expires if work doesn’t start within 6 months. Check your department’s terms once the permit is issued.