TRANSPARENCY MATTERS

Sources

Where permit guidance comes from

Each covered city, town or county has a policy file built from that authority’s own public web pages: its “do I need a permit?” pages, building and development permit guides, trade-permit pages and by-law or ordinance summaries. Facts are written in our own words and every rule links to the page it came from, with the date it was checked. No third-party summaries are used.

How rules are applied

A rule applies only when every condition it lists matches your answers, such as project type, height, floor area, attachment or structural changes. An unanswered question never matches, so it can never create an exemption. When an authority says requirements depend on the site, the result is “confirm with authority”. Rules past their review date are excluded until they are checked again.

What is not covered

Places without a policy file show “not reviewed”. Zoning overlays, heritage districts, floodplains, easements, HOA or condominium rules, utility and right-of-way permits and provincial or state approvals can add requirements. This is an independent planning aid, not legal advice or a government service. Confirm with the responsible authority before work starts.

Place search

Optional bulk place-name datasets (GeoNames, CC BY 4.0; U.S. Census Gazetteer; Statistics Canada) can be imported by the operator to widen search. Listing a place does not mean its rules were reviewed.