I received an email from the City of Ottawa Building Technical Clerk late Monday afternoon. Attached to that email was my building permit to construct a secondary dwelling unit and the city approved site copy of the drawings. The email advised that the building permit must be printed and posted on-site in a conspicuous location for the duration of the work and that a full copy (in colour) of the drawings is required on-site for all inspections. The email further advised that my assigned building inspector’s name and contact information is indicated on the permit and that the Building Inspector should be contacted directly to schedule inspections (minimum 48 hours’ notice required) or for any other questions.
As stipulated on the permit itself, I called my building inspector to advise that I would be starting work. The building inspector described that my first inspection would be for plumbing and that I should call back when the rough in work was complete. That first inspection would also serve as a site visit.
After taping my permit to the front window, I made in-person visits to my immediate neighbours to let them know I had received the permit and would soon be getting started. I had met with them soon after taking possession and had previously let them know I would be adding a secondary dwelling unit. They were concerned but also relieved to hear that I would not be changing the footprint of the building.
Demolition work began on Friday. The estimates I had received for the demolition work stated that work could not proceed without confirming if areas being deconstructed have been tested for asbestos. Researching for asbestos testing services, a website described that the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act mandated that a Designated Substances Survey (DSS) be completed prior to tendering for a contractor, as potential bidders must be aware of what hazardous materials may be present within a building. I found details in:
I obtained a Designated Substance Report (DSR). It was quick – the turnaround time was a matter of days – but not cheap. There was a fee for each sample, in addition to fees for the service call and the report. Ontario Regulation 278/05 sets out the number of samples that needed to be collected based on the areas that I identified would be deconstructed and separate samples were needed for both asbestos and lead. You apparently can collect samples yourself and get them tested yourself, but I felt it prudent to get an official report from a qualified company. The demolition contractor was not particularly interested in reading the official report.
My immediate neighbour warned that cars parked on the street had been ticketed the previous week. There is a 3-hour parking limit on municipal streets. I therefore recommended the demolition crew park on the driveway. Sure enough, promptly 3-hours after the demolition crew arrived, a City of Ottawa By-Law officer drove by our street.