Building Code Explained
Permits, the building code, inspections and occupancy, without the jargon.
Almost any building work beyond minor repairs needs a permit from the local authority before you start and a sign-off before anyone uses the building. The technical rules come from the National Building Code of Canada, a model code that each province and territory adopts and adapts into its own code, administered by your municipality. This hub explains when you need a permit, how the permit and inspection process works, the separate electrical and gas permits, and why the occupancy permit at the end matters. Get this right and the job is clean; skip it and the authority can stop the work, fine you, or refuse to let the building be occupied.
The code and who sets it
Canada has a model National Building Code, written by the National Research Council, but it is not law on its own. Each province and territory adopts it, often with its own changes, into a provincial code: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec all publish their own, and some cities (Vancouver, for example, under the Vancouver Building By-law) go further still. So the rule you build to is your provincial or municipal code, not the national one directly, and the codes update on their own cycles, with British Columbia's current edition in force from March 2024. The code sets the technical requirements (structure, fire safety, plumbing, energy efficiency and so on); your local building department checks your work against the version in force where you are building.
When you need a permit
As a rule you need a building permit before any new construction, addition, or structural alteration: new buildings, extensions, added rooms, decks above a certain size, and structural changes such as removing or moving load-bearing walls. Minor work (small non-structural repairs, like-for-like replacements, very small accessory structures) is often exempt, but the exemptions are set locally and the safe move is always to ask the building department before you assume. The property owner is legally responsible for having the permit, but as the trade on site you are the one there when the inspector arrives, so make sure the permit is issued and on site before you break ground. Building first and applying later is the most expensive way to do it.
How the permit process works
You apply to the local municipality, usually with drawings and the details the code requires, and the building department reviews them and issues the permit, sometimes with conditions. Bigger or more complex jobs may need supporting design from an engineer or architect, and some sites need separate approvals (zoning or development, environmental, or heritage clearances). Timeframes vary a lot by municipality and by the size of the job, so build the wait into your programme rather than promising the client a start date before the permit is in hand. The permit fee is usually based on the value or the size of the work.
Electrical and gas permits are separate
Building permits do not cover electrical and gas work, which run on their own permits and inspections through a separate authority. Electrical work is overseen by the provincial electrical safety authority (for example the Electrical Safety Authority in Ontario, or Technical Safety BC in British Columbia) and usually needs a licensed electrician to pull the permit; gas work runs through the provincial gas or technical safety regulator and a licensed gasfitter. These permits and their inspections are mandatory and separate from the building inspection, and the certificate they produce is often needed before the occupancy permit is granted. See the Electrical and Gas Permit Authorities card for who to contact in your province.
Inspections and the occupancy permit
Once work starts, the building inspector visits at set stages to check it matches the permit and meets the code: the classic hold points are footings and foundations before backfill, framing before it is closed in, insulation and vapour barrier, and the final. You call each inspection in and you do not cover up work until it has passed, because uncovering it later to prove it is on you. The job is not legally finished until the authority issues the occupancy permit (or final sign-off), confirming the building was completed to the permit and is safe to use, and no one should occupy it before then. Getting it usually means passing the inspections and supplying the certificates the authority requires, which often include the electrical and gas sign-offs. For the owner it is the document that protects the property on sale and with insurers, so it is worth chasing to the end.