"We can start next week"
Drawings and permits take time. A start date that beats the permit means the work is starting without one.
Guide
Permits and engineering
Underpinning is structural work on the part of your house that holds up everything else. In Ontario that means drawings prepared by a qualified designer and a building permit before anyone opens the floor. This is the part of the process worth understanding, because it is also where corners get cut.
What the drawings actually decide
People picture the permit as paperwork attached to a job that has already been designed on site. It is the other way round. The drawings decide the job:
- How wide each section is, and the order they are opened in
- How deep the new bearing level is, and what the concrete has to reach
- Where reinforcement goes and how much of it
- Which walls are underpinned and which are benched, and how the two meet
- The lintel over every new opening, sized for the load above it
- What temporary support is needed and where
A contractor working without them is deciding all of that with a shovel in their hand.
Inspections
The City inspects at stages set by the permit, and the sequence of the work is built around them. That is a feature rather than an obstacle: an inspection at the right moment is the one point where someone independent of the contractor looks at what is under your house before it gets covered up.
Who prepares them
Structural drawings for this kind of work are prepared by a professional engineer or a qualified designer, depending on the project. They are not something a contractor produces for themselves, and the fee for them is a normal, expected line on a project of this type.
The version of this that goes wrong
"You do not need a permit for this"
Excavating below a footing and pouring new foundation is structural work on a house. Any quote built on the idea that it is not is a quote for a different, undocumented project.
"We will sort the paperwork after"
Inspections happen at stages that are covered up as the job proceeds. There is no meaningful way to inspect a poured section afterwards.
The cost of not having it
Unpermitted structural work surfaces at the worst possible moments: when the house is sold and a lawyer asks for the permit, when a second unit is registered and the City asks for the inspector sign-offs, and when there is an insurance claim involving the foundation. None of those are moments where the money saved at the start comes back.
What it buys you
A closed-out permit is what makes a future sale, a second-unit registration and an insurance claim simple.
Common follow-up questions
Who pulls the permit — me or the contractor?
Either arrangement is normal, and the important thing is that it is written down in the contract along with who pays for it and who is responsible for scheduling inspections. Ambiguity here is a common source of delay.
How long does the permit take?
It varies with the completeness of the submission more than anything else. Complete drawings from an experienced designer move faster than an application that comes back for more information. Build the timeline around getting the drawings right rather than around submitting early.
Do I need an engineer, or is a designer enough?
That depends on the scope and how the work is classified, and your designer will tell you honestly where the line falls on your project. For work below an existing footing, expect engineering involvement.
What do I actually end up with at the end?
A permit that has been closed out with the inspections signed off. Keep that record. It is what makes a future sale, a second-unit registration and an insurance conversation straightforward instead of difficult.
Still not sure which way to go?
Tell us the height you have, the height you want and what the room is for. That is usually enough for a clear recommendation before anybody measures anything.