Residential accessory building permits

Check whether you need a permit

• A residential accessory building is a detached structure with a separate or secondary use to your house. It must be located on the same lot as your dwelling and cannot be used for commercial purposes or for habitation.
• Some examples of accessory buildings include garden sheds, gazebos, garages, pergolas, greenhouses, and shipping containers. Prefabricated structures are include.
• A building permit is required for a detached accessory structure (shed, garage, gazebo, carport) greater than 15 square metres (≈ 161 sq ft) where accessory to a detached house, semi-detached house or row house.
• A building permit is required for a detached structure less than or equal to 10 square metres (≈ 108 sq ft) containing plumbing.
• Note: the structure can only be used for storage purposes ancillary to a dwelling on the lot.

Prepare your plans0 of 12

You will need to submit:

• Site Plan7A Site Plan that shows your existing house and the size and location of the proposed accessory building. The Site Plan must also include:
• Detailed construction drawings5Detailed construction drawings, usually in the form of floor plans and elevations, including:

You need an account to see these 12 items.It’s free. Use Sign in at the top of the page to create one, then tick the items off on any device and print them as a checklist.

Complete the forms3Download the set5 forms

Complete and sign all required forms electronically. Fillable forms are available online.

• Accessory Building ChecklistChecklist
• Common Building Permit Application FormForm
• Applicable Law Checklistrequired for all applications starting July 1, 2023Checklist

Submit your application

• Step 1: Create a City of Hamilton Account (my.hamilton.ca)
• You will need to create an account at my.hamilton.ca/
• Step 2: Access the Customer Portal
• After signing in to my.hamilton.ca, select the Building Permits category to create your Customer Portal account.
• Once you are setup on the Customer Portal, navigate to Getting Started and select Permitting & Inspections to apply, for a Building Permit and follow the steps.
• Visit my.hamilton.ca/ and select the Building Permits category. Navigate to Getting Started and select Permitting & Inspections. Select an action and follow the steps.
• Submit all documents in PDF format. Plans and drawings must be submitted as vector-based PDFs (not scanned copies).
• PDF files must not be password protected or secured.
• Complete and sign all required forms electronically. Fillable forms are available online.
• Combine related plans or drawings into a single PDF (for example, all architectural drawings in one file and all structural drawings in another).
• If your drawings contain multiple layers, flatten them into a single layer before submitting.
• All drawings must be drawn to scale.
• Remove all comments, markups, and annotations from your PDFs before submitting. Any text added as a PDF comment must be flattened into the document or removed.
• Submit drawings and specifications in black and white. Colour renderings or photographs may be included as supporting information but cannot replace the required plans.
• Convert electronic files (such as DWG or DOCX) directly to PDF. Please avoid printing documents and scanning them back into PDF format, as this can reduce quality.
• Ensure all plans and drawings include the information required by the City of Hamilton Building By-law 15-058, as amended.
• If you are resubmitting documents in response to review comments, include a version number in the file name (for example, Site Plan v2 orFloor Plan v3).
• If you are applying for a Residential (one-2 dwelling units) or Other permit applications, you can combine all of your drawings into a single PDF for submission.

Pay the fee

Permit Fee = SI x A, where SI is the Service Index for the classification of the work proposed and A is the floor area in m2 of work involved.

• You must pay permit fees when you submit your Building Permit application.
• Building permit fees are payable online through the City’s application portal.
• A building permit application is not considered accepted until full payment has been received by the City of Hamilton.
• Permit fees shall be rounded off to the nearest full dollar.
• Fees noted in the Schedule are subject to Harmonized Sales Tax (H.S.T.) where applicable
• Minimum permit fee of $291 for processing and issuance of permits, except where specifically noted otherwise in this By-law.
• Garage, storage shed: $6.58 per m2 (≈ $0.61 per sq ft)
• Residential greenhouse, open carport: $5.36 per m2 (≈ $0.50 per sq ft)
• Accessory structures, garage, storage shed, new basement, cold cellar, unenclosed canopies, air supported structures: $6.58 per m2 (≈ $0.61 per sq ft)