RENOVATIONS AND ALTERATIONS TO YOUR PROPERTY

What is required after your building plans are approved?

Once your local municipality has approved the building plans and you have completed the renovation, alteration, addition, or extension to your home in accordance with such plans in the required timeframe, it is imperative that you, or your project manager, make contact in writing with the municipality, to request the issue of a Certificate of Occupancy. The Occupancy Certificate is signed off by the municipal Building Inspector, once he/she has visited your property and confirmed that you have built in accordance with the approved plans, that any conditions of approval, imposed by the municipality, have been complied with and that the required compliance certificates have been issued.

If you deviated from the approved building plan, the Building Inspector may request that a deviation plan is drafted, submitted and approved before the Occupancy Certificate will be issued.

Obtaining an Occupancy Certificate is crucial because a building may only be formally occupied after the Occupancy Certificate has been issued. Once issued, remember to keep your Occupancy Certificate in a safe place in case it is needed again when selling or mortgaging your property.