Toronto Renovation Contractor · Reformity Inc.Basement & Home Renovations in Toronto
Many Toronto renovations happen inside old bones: century semis with narrow floor plates, plaster walls and kitchens tucked into the back of the house. The City draws a clear permit line. New cabinets and replacement sinks, toilets or tubs in their existing spots don't need a permit; removing a wall, moving or adding plumbing, or modifying the heating system does. We tell you which side of that line your plan is on before design starts, and draw the permit set when it needs one.
Renovations · real projects
Recent renovations jobs across the GTA.
Real Reformity jobs from our project files. Customer addresses are never published.
Basement finish floor plan — Rooms, egress window, alarms and wall section. Click to enlarge.
Drawn before we build
Drawn before we build in Toronto.
A floor plan of the finished space: rooms, the bedroom egress window, bathroom, smoke and CO alarms, and the wall build-up. Finishing a basement usually needs a building permit, and this is the drawing the application is built on.
Renovations permits in Toronto
Removing walls, moving plumbing or modifying heating needs a Toronto building permit. So does a basement finish with structural work, new plumbing, underpinning, a new entrance or a second suite, and a second-suite application needs a site plan, floor plans, sections and construction details. Reformity prepares those drawings and handles the application.
- Dimensions to your lot lines
- Materials, sizes and spacing
- Footing and base sections
- Code notes for the inspector
Where Ontario's Building Code requires a BCIN-qualified designer or a professional engineer for permit drawings, that sign-off is part of the drawing set.
How our drawings workCity of Toronto rules
Renovations rules in Toronto.
Checked against official municipal and provincial sources. Lots differ, so we confirm the rules for your address at the quote visit.
Renovation & basement permits
Finishing a basement needs a building permit if it involves structural changes, installing or modifying plumbing or heating, new foundations or underpinning, a basement entrance or a second suite. Adding or removing walls and rebuilding a chimney or fireplace need one too; new cabinetry, replacement plumbing fixtures and a furnace or boiler swap don't.
City of Toronto: when you need a permitUnderpinning
Underpinning needs a building permit, and every job needs a Professional Engineer's testing and reports at the first and last stages to pass inspection. Professional design and field review are required when it goes below a neighbouring footing within the soil's angle of repose, exceeds 1,200 mm of laterally unsupported height, or the soil is clay or silt.
City of Toronto: underpinning permitsSecond & third units
Ontario's Planning Act allows up to three units on a serviced urban residential lot with a detached, semi or townhouse: three in the house, or two in the house plus one in an ancillary building like a garage. Each new unit needs a building permit.
Ontario: additional residential units
What we build in Toronto
Interiors finished to impress.
- Kitchen Renovations
- Bathroom Renovations
- Basement Finishing
- Epoxy & Tile Floors
Neighbourhoods
Renovations across Toronto.
- Leaside
- The Beaches
- High Park
- Leslieville
- Riverdale
- The Annex
- Forest Hill
- Lawrence Park
- Roncesvalles
- Danforth
- Davisville
- Scarborough
Toronto Renovations FAQ
Quick answers.
Not for a simple finish with no structural changes, no new plumbing and no added unit. You need a building permit if the work installs or modifies plumbing or heating, changes the structure, excavates or builds foundations, underpins, adds a basement entrance or creates a second suite.
Send the form on this page or call 437-241-6287. We reply within one business day, visit your Toronto property to measure and check the City of Toronto rules for your lot, and give you a fixed written price.
Free on-site quote
Planning renovations in Toronto?
We'll measure, check the City of Toronto rules for your lot, draw it up and give you a fixed written price. One business-day reply.