Basement Renovations | City of Oshawa

General information

Renovations that alter the interior of the home usually require a building permit. These projects include, finishing basements, changing floor plans, moving plumbing, removing walls, adding walls, adding bathrooms, adding windows/door, enlarging windows/doors, and converting unfinished spaces into finished spaces.

You do not need a building permit for the following:

Replacing your flooring (carpet, tile, hardwood, etc.)
Installing cabinets with no plumbing changes
Replacing a window or door of the same size

Your drawings must be to scale and use metric measurements to clearly show what is existing and what is proposed. Additional information may be requested during the review process. Please refer to our digital submission standards which explain how to prepare your digital drawings and documentation files for the application.

General building code requirements

You must have a minimum ceiling height of 6 ft 11 in. You can reduce the ceiling height to 6 ft 5 in underneath your beams and ducts.
Doors must have a gap under them for rooms without return air ductwork.
Each bedroom needs natural light. The total window area must comply with the requirement of the Ontario Building Code.
Windows in walls that are closer than 4 ft (1.2m) to the property line require a fire rating protection of 45 minutes.

If your house has 5 bedrooms or less, the main exhaust fan must meet the standards set by the Ontario Building Code. However, if your house has more than five bedrooms, you will need to consult with a qualified designer to assess your mechanical system’s adequacy.

Zoning requirements

A finished basement must comply with the Ontario Building Code and Oshawa's Zoning By-Law
The entire building shall be a "single housekeeping establishment" with inside access throughout the entire building.
There are no extra cooking facilities in the building.
If you wish to add an apartment to your basement, please see our page on accessory apartments
For information on how your property is zoned, please see Zoning

Permit application requirements

For your project, you will need to submit:

Forms

Application to construct or demolish
Owner's authorization form will be required if you are not the property owner
Schedule 1 - designer information - located on page 3 of the permit application form
Water distribution sizing form, if plumbing work is proposed
Plumber information (name of plumber and their Ontario College of trades number)

Site plan

The site plan must include the following:

Scale (metric only)
Direction (north arrow)
Municipal address
Legal description (lot and plan numbers)
Existing buildings and accessory structures labelled “existing”
Dimensioned property lines
Overall building dimensions
Rights-of-way and easements
Landscaped areas and hard surfaces such as driveways and walkways

Plans

Existing and proposed construction
Overall dimensions and the dimensions of each room and space
Use and size of each room and space
Location and size of existing and proposed windows
Construction details for proposed construction including material, size and spacing (walls, doors and ceilings) Structural framing indicating the size, type, grade, spacing, direction of span and location of all structural members (studs, joists, beams, columns, posts and lintels)
Location of plumbing fixtures, noting whether fixtures are existing or new
Location of smoke alarm(s) and carbon monoxide detector(s)
Show the location of an exhaust fan for the bathroom if the bathroom is not equipped with an openable window
A three-way wall switch located at the head and foot of the stairway, to control at least one lighting outlet with a fixture to light the stair, must be provided and designated on the plan indicating whether the switch is new or existing
If converting unheated space to heated, please provide energy efficiency design summary, HVAC design and calculations

Once the application as been accepted, the required permit fee will be payable through your portal account. Permit fees (see page 16) for different projects are provided in our Building By-law.

How to apply on portal for an alteration/renovation

From the drop down menu please select alteration/renovation as the application type.
In the description field please write a brief description of the alteration/renovation you are proposing to do.
When asked for work items, please select the appropriate work item that reflects your project (i.e, if finishing your basement you would select “house, finishing basement”
Enter the area (in square metres) of the area that is being renovated.
Enter the address where the renovation is taking place.
Upload the PDF files of the required documents
Review and submit the application

Apply for an alteration/renovation permit on our application portal

Apply now

Resources

Building Permits