How does Ottawa calculate the building permit fee for a deck?

The City of Ottawa uses a value-based formula for deck building permits. The fee is $12.75 per $1,000 or part thereof of the assessed valuation of the work, with a minimum fee of $117.00, based on the January 1, 2026 fee schedule.

Valuation covers the total value of all materials, labour, overhead and professional fees for the project. To illustrate how the formula works: a $15,000 deck produces a fee of $191.25, and a $40,000 deck produces a fee of $510. Your actual fee will sit somewhere on that scale depending on what your project is worth in total.

A few things are worth knowing before you apply. Applications go through the My ServiceOttawa portal, and payment must accompany the application. The City lists a first review period of 5 business days. The permit application needs a completed digital form, a full set of scaled and dimensioned drawings, and a Schedule 1 naming who is taking design responsibility, which can be a BCIN designer, an architect, an engineer, or you as the homeowner under the homeowner design exemption. If your decking is anything other than conventional lumber, you also need a material testing report (CCMC or BMEC). If your guards are a pre-engineered or manufactured system outside the Code's prescriptive rules, the manufacturer's information and attachment details go in as well.

The drawings the City asks for cover three areas: a site plan showing the deck dimensioned to the house, property lines and any septic system; a foundation and framing plan showing footing type, size and location, joists, beams, posts, decking direction and span, the deck-to-house connection, and stair construction; and elevations showing the height above grade, footing depth where applicable, stair rise and run, and guard and handrail information.

Three inspections are required once the permit is issued: an excavation and foundations inspection before backfill for in-situ piers and pads, a framing inspection at completion of structural framing and guards, and a final inspection at completion of framing, stairs and guards. The homeowner or builder books each one at least 48 hours in advance.

If your project is a pool enclosure rather than a deck, the permit fee is a flat $257 instead of the formula above.

Ask each builder whether their quote includes the permit fee and drawings, and check that each one spells out what the foundation type and depth will be, which board material is included, how the guards and stairs are specified, and whether removal of an existing deck is part of the price or an add-on.