Are you a homeowner planning to renovate your home? Are you a property owner planning to build a new structure? Below is some information to help you meet the City of Cambridge's rules and regulations related to building and renovation.

Buying a home

When buying a new home, you should confirm with the City that they approved and issued proper permits for all additions and renovations to the building. Use our online portal or contact the Building Division to access this information.

You should also confirm that the Planning department recognizes the use on the property as a legal use either permitted by the Zoning By-law or recognized as legal non-conforming.
Building and renovating

You need to apply for a building permit for most construction, renovations and additions, as well as some repairs or plumbing work.

You also need to apply for a building permit to demolish existing buildings and for rebuilding demolished structures.

Don't forget to arrange for building inspections! Your permit card, issued by the City, lists the required inspections for your project. When in doubt, call the inspector on the card for help.
Fences

View our Fencing By-law for information about putting up fences on your property including around pools and hot tubs.
Digging

Before you do any digging on your property you must contact Ontario 1 Call (ON1Call) at 1 (800) 400-2255 to request a free locate. The City of Cambridge located its water and sewer infrastructure as a service to homeowners and contractors performing underground work.

ON1Call distributes locate requests to utilities with infrastructure in the area. The City of Cambridge will either clear the locate request, meaning that your work will not impact any buried infrastructure, or mark it onsite with paint. When complete, you will receive a locate notice through email or fax with the results.

Standard terms that apply to all locates from the City of Cambridge, include:

  • Underground plants must be supported at all times
  • Stakes or markings may disappear or be displaced
  • If any delays should occur on the locate information, a new locate must be obtained
  • No person shall dig, bore, trench, grade, excavate or break ground with mechanical equipment or explosives without first ascertaining the location of any pipeline that may be interfered with
  • No person shall interfere with or damage any pipeline without authority to do so
  • Excavators must not work outside the area originally located without a further locate
  • If excavation is necessary over, under, near or parallel to underground utilities, extreme caution must be observed, and the underground utilities shall be exposed by hand digging within one meter of the location given
  • Mechanical excavation equipment should not be used in the vicinity of utilities and the actual location of the utility plant must be determined in advance by exposing it by hand
  • If the underground plant is exposed over a distance of more than 1.25 metres, the City of Cambridge must be notified
  • Locates are valid for 60 days