Why you need a building permit

A building permit is necessary before beginning construction on some projects. The permit makes sure that the build meets health, fire, structural and general safety standards. It is illegal to start work without a building permit on property within the City of Elliot Lake.

When you need a building permit

You must apply for a building permit before you do any of the following:

• Construct a new building over 10 m² or 107 ft²
• Renovate, repair or add to a building
• Install a swimming pool
• Demolish or remove all or a portion of a building
• Change a building's use
• Install, change or remove partitions and load-bearing walls
• Make new openings for, or replace doors and windows (except replacing doors and windows of the same size)
• Build a garage, balcony or deck, or enclose an existing deck
• Excavate a basement or construct a foundation
• Install or modify any life safety or fire suppression system, such as fire alarms, sprinkler, standpipe or fixed extinguishing systems
• Install or modify heating, plumbing and air conditioning systems, fireplaces, fireplace inserts and woodstoves
• Install or renovate plumbing
• Construct or reconstruct a chimney
• Finish a basement or convert a room to a bedroom
• Build a retaining wall or fence
• Install soffit and facia or siding
• Install eavestroughs
• Damp-proof basements
• Erect temporary buildings, including tents over 30 m²

You must comply with zoning requirements even if you do not need a building permit.

How to apply for a building permit

You can download a building permit application from the City's website. You can also review building permit fees and fill out an agent authorization form, if necessary. Consult with the Building Services Office before submitting an application.

You must submit your completed application (along with any necessary documents) in-person to the Building Services Office on the second floor of City Hall.

What to submit

You may be required to pay an applicable permit fee, along with additional charges for services like water connection and surveys.

Altogether, you will need to submit your:

• Completed building permit application form
• Two sets of building plans*
• Two copies of the property survey or site plan (If drawings are too bulky for folding, we accept rolled drawings)
• Applicable fees

*A floor plan and cross-section drawing is usually required for interior work. A floor plan, cross-section, site plan and elevations are required for exterior work. These should be made to scale, showing all dimensions. For buildings over three stories or more than 600 m², an architect or engineer must design the building and prepare the plan drawings.

Building permit approval process

After City staff review your application and ensure all necessary components are there, your application is reviewed for compliance with the Ontario Building Code, zoning by-laws and other legislation. We may also send the application to other municipal officials for approval. If we find any issues, our building officials will discuss them with you before considering a refusal of a permit.

When the review is complete, we will contact you if there are any outstanding requirements or issues. Once all requirements are met, we will contact you to pick up your permit from the Building Services Office.

Once you have received your permit, you must:

• Keep the permit and approved drawings available at the construction site
• Complete any required inspections during various stages of construction to close out the permit

A notice of permit completion is only issued upon request once construction is completed.

Timing of approval process

Applications involving simple alterations or additions are usually processed quickly while applications that are more complex take longer to process. If a zoning change, building plan alteration or minor variance is necessary, the changes must be approved and in place before we can issue the building permit.

Appeals

You may choose to appeal a permit refusal with the Ontario Building Code Commission. Learn more about the appeals process or ask Building Services staff for assistance.