Toronto Building Permits

What is a Toronto building permit?

A Toronto building permit is a component of the required administration that is necessary to enforce the Ontario based laws that coordinate and set the minimum standards that are required to construct or demolish a building within Ontario. Approval provides legal permission to commence and conduct demolition and/or construction to an existing building or to build an entirely new building on a vacant portion of property within Toronto, Ontario. Construction includes things such as adding an addition to an existing building, renovating an existing building, underpinning the existing foundations in order to lower a basement within an existing building and much more.

When and why is a building permit required for a residential project?

When: They are required before any construction can legally begin on private or public property.

Why: The Building Code Act of Ontario, states ‘No person shall construct or demolish a building or cause a building to be constructed or demolished unless a permit has been issued therefor by the chief building official.  1992, c. 23, s. 8 (1); 1997, c. 30, Sched. B, s. 7 (1).’ This includes building an addition or altering materials of any structure or building. Click on the Toronto building department permits landing page if you’d like to review the list of situations when a building permit is and is not required for any construction project.

Why… Because Ontario says so…. Seriously though, it is needed due to considerations for the public’s safety and health. The Ontario government has an interest in protecting buildings that are exchanged within the public domain because many construction alterations could create dangerous life threatening situations for the people who live or work or shop in them. Although situations like the Elliot lake mall collapse can occur after all of permits were provided by the Elliot lake building department, and all of the inspections were completed, incidents like these are luckily rare within Ontario due to the extensive requirements imposed on construction projects by both the provincial and municipal levels of Canada’s government. Obtaining a building permit for every building project helps ensure that the preservation, protection and accommodation for all human life is considered and accommodated for within the design details of every qualifying construction project.

Does a building permit obtained in Toronto differ from being required to meet the Ontario building code requirements?

No. A building permit includes within it a review of both types of regulations. The first type of regulations are at a municipal level. Every qualifying construction project is required to comply with Toronto’s comprehensive zoning by-laws. These zoning by-laws are standards that each city or municipality within Ontario develops for their city and then applies to all buildings project’s within that city. This means that a building permit is contextually dependent on the city it is within and what is permitted in a city by-law within one particular city, may not be allowed in different city.

The by-law regulations include locating similar building uses together within certain zone categories. For example, a by-law can state that an an area is a commercial only zone, usually along downtown streets, whereas a nearby area may not allow commercial developments and instead only allows residential neighbourhoods with houses or low rise apartment buildings. Municipal regulations also require considering the spaces between buildings – which are referred to as setbacks- and landscaping, overall building height and where parking will be provided - for cars and sometimes bicycles- and how many parking spaces are required.

The second type of regulations that are required when obtaining a building permit includes a provincial level consideration of compliance with the Ontario building code. The building code prescribes the minimum standards by which all buildings in Ontario must be constructed, to meet or exceed the standard, in order to either endure Thunder Bay’s climate or Toronto’s climate, while keeping the occupants within the buildings in these different areas, safe from fire, dry, warm and soundproofed from the surrounding buildings. These requirements do differ based on the location of the building within Ontario, which means that Toronto has a smaller insulation requirement within a building compared with what is required for a building located in Thunder bay. These requirements are determined by referencing historically collected data about the climates of these areas to prescribe a minimum amount of insulation that is necessary to maintain habitable living temperatures within different types of buildings all year round.

If you are curious and want to see what zoning by-laws will affect your project specifically, you can visit the Toronto zoning by-law mapping website and enter in a municipal address within the Greater Toronto area, GTA, to learn what specific by-laws will need to be met for qualifying construction projects.

If you find reviewing these zoning by-laws confusing, we can help with translating these confusing by-laws into information that helps inform you about your project’s governing by-laws in a useful way. Contact us by clicking the contact button and filling our the form with some initial information about your upcoming project and we will then help get you started in determining the best next steps for your project to proceed.

At Mark H Smith Designs Inc. we service construction projects during the initial three stages of Design, Drafting and obtaining the necessary building permit. We will lead your project and work with you through the design possibilities stage, and then onto the drafting stage, and then further through the permitting processes until you have all the permits you’ll need to get started with your project. Our aim throughout each project is to interpret your dreams into a reality that translates all of the legalese of by-laws and building codes into something that is palatable, easily digestible and smooth to process. Although obtaining a building permit for your next project can be complicated, our aim is to service your project in a way that makes this process satisfying for you to work through and leaves you with a grounded confidence when starting the construction stage because you know the project has met or exceeded both your goals for the project, along with the varying requirements by the city and province.

What differences are there between a Toronto building permit and a building permit within any other municipalities within southern Ontario?

There are sometimes significant difference between municipalities for the amount of requirements that are required to be met in order to obtain a building permit. Usually each municipality provides a check list of documents and drawings they require for obtaining a building permit. For a building permit in Toronto, you can find the requirements on the Toronto building department electronic submission guideline webpage.

Some of these requirements can seem at first glance to be excessive, costly and time intensive to prepare for and comply with in order for a qualifying construction project to then be permitted. Perhaps a useful way to think about it is by framing these requirements as based on population of the city your project will be built within. As the population of a city increases, its complexity increases and therefore more elements need to be considered when making changes to the city’s infrastructure.

The aim of being excessive in these regulations is to try and benefit both a private homeowner as well as maintain and protect this city’s infrastructure. Elements like roads and sewers need protection from careless construction that can be dangerous or cause lasting damage to a shared resource.

For example, some locations for construction may be unsuitable or require special permissions [such as not within a homeowner’s property boundaries]. Or some building materials or approaches may be inadequate for certain building project’s [such as a deck without adequate foundations]. The main goal for the permitting process is to ensure that the project can be constructed or demolished while safely working around neighbouring properties.

Regarding the specific requirement differences for a Toronto building permit, one requirement that might not be required in a different Ontario city is the Toronto building department’s municipal road damage deposit permit. This permit requires a deposit that is then held for the duration of construction stage of the project and aims to protect the city’s infrastructure from the possibility that a contractor could damage the public streets or sidewalks while using them to access and work within a private property.

Another requirement is in relation to protecting private property and city owned trees.

Trees may be protected by the protected tree by-law within Toronto if the tree is:

-located on city property

-located on neighbour's property or close to dividing property line where propose construction will take place

-located within your own private property

If the tree near your upcoming project meets any of the above criteria, it could require professional plans and reports from a licensed arborist in order to obtain a tree permit. This tree permit is required to be obtained prior to the building department releasing the final building permit for your project.

Visit the urban forestry website to learn more about these regulations and how they may affect your upcoming project.

A third requirement to consider has to do with historical significance. The heritage of some designated homes matters to both Toronto and Ontario. The Toronto building department may require you to work through additional regulations, reports and protection plans when obtaining a Toronto building permit if your home is designated a historical heritage home. You can visit the Toronto heritage registry website to use the online map feature or address search tool in order to determine if this regulation will also need to be considered for your upcoming project.

A forth requirement for a Toronto building permit will depend on where the project location is within the city relative to ongoing or upcoming Metrolinx projects. Visit the Metrolinx website and use the provided property mapping tool to determine if your project is also required to obtain a Metrolinx development permit.

A fifth requirement for a Toronto building permit could be a requirement to work with the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (or TRCA as it is sometimes called in short form) to develop a plan for the project while working on conservation protected land. When a project is located on a private property that is within the conservation authority’s protection, the project will require obtaining a permit from the TRCA prior to the final Toronto building permits being released. You can visit the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority regulated area mapping webpage to access an online mapping feature with an address search tool that can help you determine if this conservation authority will also need to be considered for your upcoming project.

My neighbour didn’t have a permit for the construction project that they completed on their home, why should I get a permit for my project?

A Toronto building permit for a qualifying project is required, even if your neighbour did not obtain one for their construction project. By not obtaining a required permit that would have been necessary for their project, your neighbour is now carrying associated risks for that completed construction.

Basically, anytime before, during or after work on a construction project takes place without the required permits, you or another neighbour could go to the file a report webpage for the Toronto building department and let them know about the neighbour's project. Before filing a report, check the Toronto building department’s building permit status webpage for your neighbour's address to determine if they have a Toronto building permit that is open and active. If there is no permit, complaints to the building department will lead to the project being assessed by a building inspector and if the construction should have obtained a building first, then the home owner would be served with a work order to then obtain the necessary permits and can be charged with fines for starting construction without a permit.

Avoiding obtaining a building permit altogether on your next project might skip a few costs and save the time that is necessary to thoroughly plan a building project thoughtfully, but in the long run, the costs could be found to be much more if a building inspector, tenant or neighbour reported the project after it was complete and it was found to not be built with building codes and zoning by-law considerations in mind. An unpermitted construction project could have also omitted important safety concerns that are normally considered during the planning and permitting process and the finished project can potentially be a dangerous hazard to the public and the homeowners.

Should I obtain a building permit before hiring a contractor?

A contractor can be a key component for a project after a building permit is obtained. That said, engaging or working with a contractor on your project prior to the building permits being issued is not required. In many cases, it might be better for the project’s workflow to wait until a final design for the project has successfully been developed and worked its way through the initial zoning applicable law review as one part of obtaining the required two part Toronto building permit process for the project. This approach enables contractor quotes to then be tailored for a project that will be able to receive building permits.

Prior to completing the zoning review stage of the building permits process, it is unclear if specific by-laws will require revisions to the project's design in order to receive building permits. Unfortunately, not all of the by-laws that could govern your next project are available to the public for review. This means that receiving quotes on initial designs from a contractor could be a waste of everyone’s time prior to this review stage being completed.

At Mark H Smith designs Inc., we believe that unless a preferred contractor -close friend or family referral- is being selected to work with you on an upcoming project, waiting until a final design has successfully cleared the zoning review stage is an effective early entry point for eligible contractors to then quote the project.

At this stage, they can comment on the design drawings based on their past work experiences. The contractor can also confirm a rough budget based past projects with a comparable scope of work. Or, they can quote based on their square footage costs for the project based on the total area involved and also note any construction preferences regarding materials for locations where the design can be adapted to potentially save costs or time during construction stage.

For example, a contractor’s preference to work with engineered wood instead of steel can be helpful to understand at this stage of the project and can reduce labour and material costs during construction.

A contractor quote will only formalize and begin to ground the project with clear costs and timelines after the structural engineering specifications and HVAC system have been designed and added to the final permit drawings package prior to submitting for building permits.

At this stage of the project, whether evaluating between several general contractors or further developing the relationship with a single contractor, the contractor will be able to prepare a more detailed quote and also request any clarifications for specifications or connection details in the drawings that they may be unsure about. They can also finalize a time line for completing the construction stage of the project.

How long does it take to obtain a permit?

It depends… there are actually different processing streams and associated timelines for different types of building permits. There is an express services stream(residential fast-track) or common building permit service stream if the amount and type of work being completed is considered beyond the scope of a specialty projects within the express stream. Visit the Toronto building department website page to determine which processing stream your project will be categorized into for its application review. Keep in mind, that on average, the building department can be slower than there posted timeline goals and usually take longer to process the building permit application for a project.

Also, keep in mind that if anything comes up during the review process of the applications that requires clarification or revision, the timeline can then extend into an open ended wait time where the project will need to wait undefined periods of time between each communication regarding the project. If the Toronto building permit you need for the project does not require the first part of the review process -the municipal level zoning review- the project will then be categorized as part of the express services building permits division and this department will process the building permits application much quicker than the times that are required to process larger scale projects that require both a Toronto zoning certificate and a Ontario building code review.

Toronto building permit expiry?

Yes, it can happen, a Toronto building permit can expire. All of the time, effort and money invested into a project during the planning, drafting and preparation of reports stages of a project, can encounter issues of revocation or expiry after your permit is issued.

First, the building code act requires the project’s construction to commence within 6 months of issuance, which usually means a first inspection stage has been requested and worked through for the project. Next, a potential revocation notice for your Toronto building permit can be sent out if no construction activity has occurred after the 6 month timeframe. A revocation notice would set a date within it where the Toronto building permit can be revoked if no feedback regarding the status of the construction of the project is provided to the building department. At Mark H Smith Designs Inc., we know of some Toronto building permits that were open as active building permits for over 20 years prior to being closed when the construction was completed. These building permits were not revoked because communications were provided to the building department by the homeowner or contractor that offered their reasoning as to why the project was not able to finish the construction and close the building permits for the project. Every construction project may encounter uncertainty which provides delays to the eventual completion of the work [The Co-vid pandemic is one example]. Situations where financial setbacks, or governmental controls are issued, or climate disasters occur, would create an unfair requirement for a previously reviewed project to then incur the additional costs and delays required for re-permitting work that has already been approved if it were revoked without hearing the project’s reasoning for the delay in completing the construction phase of the project. You can click on the Expiry dates for building permits report from the Toronto building department to learn more about how they plan to address building permits expiry in the future. The report’s summary determines that based on unpredictable issues arising that could delay any construction or stop it, while being outside of the control of the project’s management team, the building department needs to develop better ways to enforce a time limit restriction on the construction phase. After the permits are released as approved for your project, they require continual communication to remain valid throughout the construction. Keep in mind that regardless of how long a project takes to complete, there is still a requirement for the contractor or homeowner to work with the Toronto building inspector throughout the ongoing project and book Toronto Building permits inspections at various completion points within the construction stage until the project is completed and the building permits have been closed.

Resources –

1a)Toronto building permit official department website.

1b) They also offer a homeowner’s guide for a Toronto building permit.

2) Protect your boundaries - Ontario Land surveys online catalog

*The information page may miss important steps or requirements for your upcoming project which can only be determined by reviewing the specific context of what you are looking undertake. Call or email Mark H Smith Designs Inc. or contact the Toronto building department find out more information about what will be required for your upcoming project with regards to the Design, Drafting and building permit coordination stages.*