Guide · Permits
Building permits in Clarington, and the ten square metre line.
Most permit questions here come down to one number. Ten square metres. Get on the right side of it and the job is straightforward. The surprises are in the exceptions, and decks answer to two separate tests rather than one.
The number that decides most of it
Clarington requires a building permit for all construction over ten square metres, which is 107 square feet. A shed, a detached garage, a studio at the back of the lot: if the footprint is larger than that, it needs a permit. Smaller, and normally it does not.
For detached structures that is nearly the whole rule. The complications come from the work where size is not the test at all.
Permit required
The list that catches people
Home additions. Structural alterations. Carports and garages. Raised porches and decks. Partitioning a basement, or adding a basement entrance. Secondary apartments. Plumbing changes. Adding a fireplace or wood stove. Pool enclosures. Moving a house.
Normally no permit
The list nobody believes
Detached structures of ten square metres or less. Decks no more than 60 centimetres above grade. Replacing windows, doors, roofing or siding. New interior finishes. Repairing a chimney, porch, deck or roof. Basement waterproofing repairs. Replacing plumbing fixtures. Replacing a furnace.
Demolition
Its own permit, every time
A demolition permit is required for every building larger than ten square metres. Farm buildings are excluded. Taking a structure down is a separate permit from whatever goes up in its place.
Read the middle column twice. Re-roofing, new siding and replacement windows are the three jobs homeowners most often assume need a permit, and here they normally do not. Structural alterations and basement entrances are the two most often assumed to be minor, and both do.
Decks and porches
A deck answers to two tests, and either one is enough.
Area is the test people know about. Height is the one that surprises them, and it applies on its own.
Where the line falls
● Detached and under ten square metres, 108 square feet: no permit
● Larger than ten square metres: permit
● Attached and more than 0.60 metres above grade, roughly two feet: permit, whatever the area
● Zoning applies either way, so a deck small enough to skip the permit still has to meet the by-law
What you have to draw
● A site plan or survey: lot lines and dimensions, existing buildings, the proposed deck, any septic system, and setbacks to the property lines
● A floor plan: overall dimensions, centre to centre spacing of beams and piers, sizes of piers, beams and joists, stair location and number of risers
● A cross section: materials, assembly, and the distance from grade to the top of the deck
Fees
Two figures are published. Everything else is quoted.
A deck permit is $160.86. An accessory structure such as a shed or detached garage is $5.54 per square metre of floor area, with a minimum charge of $127.54.
Other categories are priced on their own schedule, so confirm the number with Building Services before a budget gets built around it. Drawings you have done yourself are accepted if they are to scale. Anyone else preparing them has to be qualified, and an accessory structure over fifty square metres, 538 square feet, requires a qualified designer.
Inspections
Book the footing inspection before the pour, not after.
A footing inspection is required before concrete goes into the sonotubes. Once the concrete is in there is nothing left to inspect, and putting it right can mean excavating what you have just poured.
It is the most expensive sequencing mistake available on a small build, and the whole of the fix is booking the inspection first.
Permit and zoning are two different questions. Building Services issues the permit. Planning sets the zoning: maximum height, setbacks from the property line, lot coverage. Those differ between urban and rural Clarington and come from the by-law rather than the Building Code. Ask both, in that order.
The process
Four steps, in this order.
1. Confirm the zoning. Before anything is drawn, check what the by-law allows on your lot. Planning and Infrastructure are at planning@clarington.net. This is the step that stops money going into drawings for something that was never permitted.
2. Apply through Service Clarington. Applications go through the portal at service.clarington.net. Register an account, complete the application, pay the fee. If you already have an application open, use the same email address.
3. Submit everything at once. Including Schedule 1, Designer Information. Incomplete submissions are where the delay usually comes from.
4. Book inspections as the work goes. They are staged, not saved for the end, and the footing comes before the pour.
Building Services: 905-623-3379 ext. 2660, BuildingPermits@clarington.net, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a building permit for a shed in Clarington?
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It depends on the footprint. Clarington requires a building permit for all construction over ten square metres, which is 107 square feet. A shed at or under that size normally does not need one. Above it, it does. The zoning by-law still applies either way, and that is what sets height, setbacks and lot coverage, so the size test alone does not tell you the shed is allowed where you want to put it.
Do I need a permit to replace my roof, windows or siding?
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Normally no. Replacing windows, doors, roofing or siding sits on Clarington’s list of work that does not usually require a permit, along with new interior finishes, repairing a chimney, porch, deck or roof, basement waterproofing repairs, replacing plumbing fixtures and replacing a furnace. These are the jobs homeowners most often expect to need a permit for.
When does a deck need a permit in Clarington?
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A deck is caught by either of two tests, and one is enough. If it is detached and under ten square metres, which is 108 square feet, no permit. Larger than ten square metres, permit. Attached to the house and more than 0.60 metres above grade, which is roughly two feet, permit regardless of area. That last test is the one people miss, because a small deck off the back door can be well inside the area limit and still need a permit on height alone.
How much does a building permit cost in Clarington?
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Two figures are published for the common residential categories. A deck permit is $160.86. An accessory structure such as a shed or detached garage is $5.54 per square metre of floor area, with a minimum charge of $127.54. Other work is priced on its own schedule, so confirm the figure with Building Services before you budget around it.
Do I need a permit to finish my basement?
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Yes, if you are partitioning it or adding a basement entrance. Both appear on Clarington’s list of work that normally requires a permit, as do structural alterations, plumbing changes and adding a secondary apartment. Finishing a basement is one of the jobs people assume is cosmetic and usually is not.
What happens if the footings get poured before the inspection?
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A footing inspection is required before concrete goes into the sonotubes. Once the concrete is in, there is nothing left to inspect, and putting it right can mean excavating what you have just poured. It is the single most expensive sequencing mistake on a small build, and it is avoided by booking the inspection rather than the pour first.
Building in Clarington?
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If the project is a second unit, the zoning side is covered in ADU rules in Clarington. For decks outside Clarington, see deck permits in Northumberland County. See also our home additions, ADUs and garage conversions and deck and porch building, and the work we do in Clarington, Durham Region and Oshawa. More in the guides section.