Most renovation, construction or demolition projects require a building permit. You need a permit to make sure your project complies with the requirements in the Ontario Building Code, the Town of Oakville Zoning By-law and any other approvals you may need.
You will need to meet zoning regulations even if your project doesn’t require a building permit.
Please remember it is illegal to start construction before receiving a building permit. Find out more about the Province of Ontario's Building code on the Building Code Updates page. The Ontario Building Officials Association have also published a Guide to the Building Code Amendments (pdf).
The town will be reviewing 2022 building permit applications for alignment with the updated Code requirements. Please contact your plans examiner directly or email buildingrequests@oakville.ca should you have any questions about comments or for a preliminary chat as you prepare your submission. Summary highlights of the changes are for convenience. Please refer to the detailed information about Ontario Building Code changes.
Flight means a series of steps between landings.
Run means the horizontal distance between two adjacent tread nosings on a stair.
Tapered tread means a tread with non-parallel edges that increases or decreases its run uniformly over its width.
Where Required
Where Required
Flight means a series of steps between landings. – Div. A 1.4.1.2.
Flights shall consist solely of, straight flights or curved flights. – 3.3.1.15.(1), 3.4.6.9.(1)
Run means the horizontal distance between two adjacent tread nosings on a stair. – Div. A 1.4.1.2.
Tapered tread means a tread with non-parallel edges that increases or decreases its run uniformly over its width. – Div. A 1.4.1.2.
Where required
Where Required
Guards required where:
We’re listening! Through dialogue with customers we heard the truss package requirement is occurring prematurely in the building process at the time of application submission. Together we’ve found a way to make this work to satisfy the review requirements, save time and make it less onerous on our applicants. Effective January 1, 2022, truss packages will no longer be a requirement when applying for residential new, additions or alterations provided the applicant supplies the roof framing plan with sufficient detail to determine truss loads being transferred to walls, beams and lintels designed by a BCIN qualified designer or Professional Engineer. At the time of truss delivery, the engineered roof truss packages need to accompany the shipment and be available on site during installation and framing inspection for the town’s building inspector. It is the responsibility of the BCIN designer/engineer to coordinate the roof truss shop drawings with the roof framing plan and report any changes to the building inspector at time of inspection.
Effective January 1, 2022, a complete floor joist package is no longer required. The BCIN qualified designer/professional engineer will provide a layout plan that will be sufficient for plan review. Beams supporting trusses must be designed by a professional engineer or BCIN designer qualified in Building Structural. The inspectors will expect the manufacturer’s engineer stamped floor joist layouts or otherwise suitably engineered architectural floor plans at time of inspection.
When applying for green field residential building permits, please ensure plot plan/grading plans are stamped by a qualified engineer, designer (BCIN qualified designer, architect or engineer) and architectural control architect.
Building Services retains select building permit related documents for a period of 15 years. Our files may contain records for work undertaken on your property within the past 15 years. Examples of documents we may have include:
There is no guarantee that all types of documentation are available for every property. Documentation related to your inquiry may not have been provided to us during the building application process. For example, your new home builder may not have provided us with a copy of your property survey. Please be aware we do not have as-built drawings. As-built drawings are the proposed drawings for the purpose of permit issuance. Changes may have occurred on site that have not been documented and the drawings will not reflect these changes. In addition, the majority of our records are stored offsite and there may be delays in retrieving them. Fees apply. Please allow 4-5 weeks for processing and retrieval of records.
Search for current building permit applications near you.