Building Without a Permit
The consequences of building without a permit can be serious and costly.
If you do not have a permit for construction that has already started, you could face serious and potentially costly consequences, including:
- A building without a permit penalty. This is an additional fee equal to two times (2x) the permit fees for the project.
- A delay while your permit application is processed. All work must stop during this time. The original timeline and fees to process an application still apply.
- Possibly having to undo the work that was done.
- Possibly having to do more work than you had originally planned or budgeted for, such as additional structural, mechanical, plumbing, and septic work.
- Possible legal and/or financial issues down the road, such as impacts on selling your property or making an insurance claim.
NOTE: As the property owner, you are responsible for paying these fees or penalties, even if you have hired a contractor who assured you that permits were not needed.
Legal Procedure Manual
Building Services has developed a manual that provides clear direction to staff when investigating complaints around building code violations and initiating legal action.
The County of Dufferin Building Services Division is a regulatory service department governed by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Our job is to ensure all buildings defined under the Ontario Building Code comply with the minimum standards set out by the Province of Ontario to protect the public’s health, safety and general welfare, as related to the construction and occupancy of buildings and structures. Building Inspectors are tasked with investigating complaints around building code violations. This manual is a tool that provides clear direction to staff when initiating legal action, to ensure that enforcement is applied fairly and equally to all people and corporations involved.
Orders
Orders are issued by Dufferin County as outlined in the Ontario Building Code Act to ensure that all buildings are constructed safely, to Code standards, and have inspections completed at each phase of construction.
Types of Orders that are used to enforce compliance are:
- Order Requiring Tests and Samples
- Stop Work Order
- Order to Uncover
- Order Not to Cover or Enclose
- Order to Comply
- Order to Prohibit Occupancy
- Unsafe Order
When a Stop Work Order is issued, no person shall perform any act in the construction or demolition of the building in respect to which the Order is made other than work necessary to carry out the Order to Comply, the Order Not to Cover or Enclose, or the Order to Uncover (Building Code Act, 1992, s. 14).
Failure to comply with an Order is an offence which could result in a fine (Building Code Act, 1992, s. 36).
Orders may also be registered with the proper land registry office or viewed by the public by contacting Building Services.
Complaints
If you believe that any construction work had begun prior to obtaining a building permit or wish to report an unsafe building, you can reach out to a Building Services team member at 519-941-2816 ext. 2700, email building@dufferincounty.ca or complete the form below.
All complaints received are confidential, however, anonymous complaints will not be investigated. Please provide a description of the complaint, including the property address, to ensure that Building Services staff have sufficient information to investigate the issue.
Building Without a Permit Complaint Form
All complaints received are confidential, however, anonymous complaints will not be investigated. Please provide a description of the complaint, including the property address, to ensure that Building Services staff have sufficient information to investigate the issue.