When building permits are needed and when they’re not in Mississauga
Published April 11, 2022 at 3:17 pm
If you’re planning on home improvements in Mississauga like building a new deck, shed or refinishing a basement, you might need a building permit.
Where building permits are not required and where they are in Mississauga
Most renovation, construction or demolition projects require a building permit before you start construction.
A building permit is a document issued by municipalities, like Mississauga, and it is necessary for projects that involve constructing, changing or adding to a building’s structure.
A permit is required prior to building, demolishing or installing any of the following:
- Accessory structure like a shed, cabana or gazebo greater than 10 square metres, or any size if it contains plumbing
- Addition to an existing building
- Backflow preventer
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Backflow prevention devices are required under the authority of the Region of Peel’s Backflow Prevention By-law 10-2017 and the Ontario Building Code. The purpose of this by-law is to prevent backflow into the Region’s Municipal Drinking Water System to maintain clean and safe drinking water. For more information on the By-law and the Backflow Prevention Program, please visit the Region of Peel website.
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- Balcony – either constructing one on a house, apartment or condo, or replacing or repairing guards on an apartment or condo
- Basement including:
- Finishing a basement to create rooms or living space
- Basement apartment (also known as second unit)
- Excavating a increase existing headroom
- Below grade entrance or basement walkout
- Building or structure greater than 10 square metres, or any size that contains plumbing
- Change the use of a building
- Communication or transmission tower or antenna greater than 16.6 metres high above ground level
- Deck greater than 0.61 metres (2 feet) high
- Detached garage
- Doors – either adding a new door or increasing the size of an existing one
- Dormers
- Dust collector
- Fire alarm system
- Fire damage repair
- Fire suppression system
- Furnace replacement that’s of a higher efficiency than existing
- Furnace ducts being altered
- Garage
- Gas fireplace used for heating
- Generator connected to life safety equipment like fire alarms or emergency lighting
- Geothermal system
- Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system
- Interior alterations
- Kitchen exhaust
- Loading dock
- Maglocks
- Mezzanine
- Parking structure, like a multi-level parking lot
- Patio for a restaurant
- Plumbing fixture like a sink, tub, toilet, or shower that’s added, removed or relocated
- Plumbing drainage – install, replace or repair
- Porch that’s covered
- Private sewage system – install, replace or repair
- Re-cladding a building with new material, for example changing siding to brick
- Roof extensions or alterations to increase the height or change the slope
- Rooftop HVAC replacements
- Satellite dish attached to a building, or a dish with an area equal to or greater than 5 square metres
- Second unit, also called a basement apartment
- Sewer systems – install, repair or replace
- Shoring and excavation
- Site servicing
- Skylights
- Solar panels
- Spray booths
- Sprinklers
- Sump pump on a property in the Foundation Drainage Collection (FDC) System area
- Temporary tents greater than 60 square metres
- Underpinning foundation walls
- Weeping tile repairs or changes on a property in the Foundation Drainage Collection (FDC) System area
- Windows – either new or increasing the size of an existing window
- Wood burning fireplace
Projects that don’t need a permit
- Accessory structure like a shed, cabana or gazebo less than 10 square metres that does not contain plumbing
- Cabinetry or cupboards
- Concrete pad
- Damp-proof a basement
- Deck less than 600 mm (2 feet) in height
- Decorations
- Doors – replacing an existing one with the same size
- Driveway – either widening or resurfacing
- Eavestrough, if the drainage is contained within the property
- Fence
- Fireplace that’s decorative gas
- Gazebo less than 10 square metres, that does not have plumbing
- Landscaping work
- Minor masonry repairs
- Painting
- Parking lots without catch basins that are new, expansions, or painting new lines
- Plumbing fixture replacement in the same location, for example a sink, tub, toilet, or shower
- Re-cladding a building with the same material, for example siding to siding, or brick to brick
- Re-shingling a roof
- Retaining wall less than one metre high
- Shed less than 10 square metres with no plumbing
- Windows – replacing an existing one with the same size