Blog > Buying a Renovated Home in Ottawa: How to Check the Permits Before You Firm Up
Buying a Renovated Home in Ottawa: How to Check the Permits Before You Firm Up
by
A finished basement, an opened-up main floor or a new deck can make a house feel move-in ready. It can also be work the City of Ottawa has no record of. Before you firm up, list the renovations you can see, then check them against the City's permit records with a compliance report. The City's compliance by-law lets a genuine buyer request one, and your lawyer can order it for you during your conditional period.
Which renovations needed a permit in Ottawa?
The City's own explanation is short: under the Building Code Act, a building permit is required to build a new building, an addition, or to alter any building or structure over 10 square metres, which is about 108 square feet. The City's list of common permit projects is the useful part for a buyer, because it reads like the feature list on a lot of renovated listings:
- Finishing a basement
- Adding or removing walls to change room sizes or uses, the classic "opened up" main floor
- New windows where there were none, or enlarging or moving a window or door
- Plumbing alterations, additions or extensions, other than replacing existing fixtures
- Decks, additions, detached garages and larger sheds
- Structural foundation repairs, drain tile replacement and backwater valves
- Fireplaces and woodstoves
- Adding an apartment or a coach house
Plenty of updates do not need one. The City lists new flooring, painting, replacing cabinets with the plumbing in the same place, replacing windows or doors in the same size opening, new shingles, a replacement hot water tank, air conditioners and heat pumps, and decks less than 24 inches above grade (other than a main entrance) as exempt. Exempt work still has to meet the Building Code and zoning. A fresh kitchen is not a red flag by itself. A basement that used to be bare concrete and is now a rec room with a bathroom is a different conversation.
How do you check the City's records?
Ottawa handles this through compliance reports from its Building Code Services branch. The City says these reports are typically requested because of a possible sale or refinancing. Under the City's Compliance Reports By-law, an applicant can be the owner, a bona fide purchaser or a mortgagee, or an authorized agent of any of them. In practical terms, you can ask your real estate lawyer to request it on your behalf once you have an accepted offer.
Requests can be submitted online through the City's Building, Planning and Land Development portal with a My ServiceOttawa account, and payment has to accompany the application. The City points to its fee schedule for current costs and does not publish a turnaround time on these pages, so order it early in your conditional period rather than in the last few days.
There are two versions worth knowing about:
| Report | What the City says it covers | When a buyer might want it |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance Summary Report | Issued building permits on file, the status of occupancy permits or final inspections, and any outstanding orders or complaints under the Building Code, Zoning By-law or Property Standards By-law | Most renovated houses, where the question is whether the visible work was permitted and closed |
| Report on Compliance | Everything above, plus the property's zoning designation and whether the current use conforms. With a signed and dated survey from an Ontario Land Surveyor, it also comments on building setbacks | When the use matters, such as a second unit, or when an addition, garage or deck sits close to a lot line |
How do you read the report against the house?
The report is only useful if you compare it to what you actually saw. The simplest way to do that is a two-column list you can build during the showing and the inspection:
- Write down every renovation you can see. Finished basement, removed wall, new bathroom, bigger window, deck off the kitchen, addition at the back. The listing description and your inspector's notes help here.
- Match each one to a permit on the report. A basement finished in the last few years with no basement permit on file is a gap worth asking about.
- Check that each permit was finished, not just issued. The report shows the status of final inspections. A permit that was issued but never closed with a final inspection is a loose end, even if the work looks done.
- Look for anything you did not expect. Outstanding orders or complaints under the Building Code, Zoning By-law or Property Standards By-law belong in a conversation with your lawyer before the condition deadline.
If the house has a basement unit, the permit question goes further than one report. I cover that separately in buying a house with a basement apartment in Ontario.
A clean report is not a clean bill of health
The City's by-law says the information comes "from available records." A compliance report tells you what the City has on file. It is drawn from the City's records, so it cannot tell you whether work done without a permit was done well. A missing permit also does not tell you the work is unsafe. It tells you nobody from the City checked it. That is why the report and a home inspection answer different questions, and why you may need both. My take on the inspection side is in what a home inspection in Eastern Ontario covers and what it misses.
What if the permits are not there?
Do not panic, and do not ignore it. A missing permit is usually the start of a conversation, not an automatic walk-away. The questions that matter are how big the work is, whether it is structural, plumbing or electrical, and whether it changes how the house can be used.
Ask the seller what they know and what paperwork they have: contractor invoices, engineering letters, inspection records. Ask your home inspector to look closely at the specific areas in question. If the work is structural, such as a removed wall, an engineer's opinion is worth more than a guess. Then talk to your lawyer about what the gap means for your deal, whether that is more information from the seller, a price discussion or relying on your condition.
It also helps to understand why this matters to the person who did the work. Ontario's guide to building permits notes that an individual can be fined up to $50,000 for a first offence. Once you own the house, the unpermitted basement is your basement. Sorting out the question before you firm up is much easier than after.
Quick questions buyers ask
Can I order the report before I make an offer? The by-law's wording is a bona fide purchaser, so plan on ordering it once you have an accepted offer with conditions. Before that, you can still ask the listing agent whether the seller has permit records for the work.
Does a newer house need this check? If it has been changed since it was built, yes. A newer house with a finished basement or a deck added by a previous owner raises the same question as an older one.
Is this the same as the lawyer's title search? No. A title search looks at ownership and what is registered against the property. A compliance report looks at the City's building, zoning and property standards records. Ask your lawyer which searches they are ordering so you know whether this one is included.
Looking at a renovated house in Ottawa?
If you want a second set of eyes on what the renovations might mean for your offer, get in touch. Happy to talk through what to ask at the showing, how to use your conditions, and when a compliance report is worth ordering.
No pressure, no obligation.
Sources: City of Ottawa, Building permit projects and Projects not requiring building permits; City of Ottawa Compliance Summary Report and Report on Compliance; City of Ottawa Compliance Reports By-law No. 2003-069; Government of Ontario, Citizen's guide to land use planning: building permits. Reviewed October 15, 2026. General information for Ottawa home buyers, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm current fees, timing and report contents with the City, and ask your lawyer which searches your purchase needs.