Decks
- Generally above roughly 600 mm from grade
- Threshold varies by municipality
- Guards and stair geometry are inspected
- Attached decks bring the ledger into scope
Ground-level platforms are often exempt — confirm the number for your municipality.
Permits in Ontario: decks, driveways and basements.
A plain-English guide to which residential jobs need approval in the GTA, what the thresholds are, and who is responsible for what. Rules differ between Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Aurora and Whitchurch-Stouffville, so treat this as the shape of the answer and confirm the detail for your address — which we do at the site visit.
Based in
Whitchurch-Stouffville
Estimates
Free & on-site
Before we start
Written scope
On site
Same crew throughout
Usually needs a permit
Where approval is the norm.
Basements
- Finishing work in most municipalities
- Second units always
- Fire separation and egress inspected
- ESA involvement for the electrical
An unpermitted finished basement is a live problem at sale.
Structural work
- Removing or altering load-bearing elements
- Additions and second storeys
- Underpinning
- New openings in exterior walls
Engineer's drawings, then permit, then work.
Usually does not
Where you are normally clear.
Driveway replacement
- Same footprint, same width
- Interlock, concrete or asphalt
- No change to the curb
Widening or a new curb cut is a different matter — see below.
Patios at grade
- Ground-level patios and walkways
- Landings under the deck threshold
- Garden and seating walls under about a metre
Height and proximity to the lot line can change this.
Interior finishes
- Painting, flooring, tile
- Cabinet refinishing
- Trim, doors and non-structural carpentry
Moving walls or plumbing changes the answer.
Always check
The ones that catch people out.
| Work | What's needed | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Driveway widening | Municipal approval | Maximum width and permitted hard-surface coverage of the front yard are set locally. |
| New curb cut | Municipal approval | The boulevard and curb are municipal property, not yours. |
| Any excavation | Ontario One Call locates | Free, legally required, and the single most likely thing to turn a driveway job into an incident. |
| Retaining walls | Often engineering above ~1 m | Height thresholds and requirements vary by municipality. |
| Pool enclosure | Code-mandated | Fencing and gate requirements are not discretionary. |
| Second unit | Permit, fire code, ESA | A different regulatory regime from finishing a rec room. |
| Trees near the work | Local tree bylaws | Several GTA municipalities protect trees over a given diameter, including on private property. |
Questions
Permits, answered.
Who pulls the permit, you or me?
We do, as part of the job, and the permit is taken out in the name that matches the scope. What we will not do is start work on something that needs a permit and deal with it later — that is how a stop-work order and a rebuild happen.
What happens if work was done without a permit before I bought the house?
It becomes your problem at sale, and sometimes at insurance-claim time. A common fix is to have the work inspected and brought to code retroactively, which is more expensive than doing it properly first but much cheaper than discovering it during a closing.
Does a permit slow the job down?
It adds lead time before the start date, not usually during the work. The way to keep it from delaying you is to apply while you are still choosing materials rather than after.
Related
Other things we build.
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