Building Permits & Inspections
On this page:
- How to Apply
- General Booking Information
- Building Permit Requirements
- Connecting to Municipal Services
- Arranging Inspections
- Sewage Disposal Where There Are No Municipal Piped Services
- Public Street / Road Access
- Water Where There Are No Municipal Piped Services
Other Resources:
How to Apply
To apply for a building permit, information can be sent to inspections@easthants.ca
Information required when applying for a building permit:
- Floor Plans
- Building Elevations
- Plot Plan
- Cross Section
- Lot Grading Plan (where applicable)
- NSE On-Site Septic Approval (where applicable)
- NSPW or Municipal Driveway Approval (where applicable)
- Estimated Cost of Construction
- Applicant Contact Information
Plans will be reviewed by Building Officials and will reach out to the applicant regarding fee payment and next steps. As an alternative, paper copy submissions may be dropped off to the municipal building.
General Information
| Phone | ||
|---|---|---|
| Building Permit Queries | 902-883-7098 ext 400 | inspections@easthants.ca |
| Inspection | 902-883-7098 ext 400 | inspections@easthants.ca |
Please note: For information about building permit fees visit Planning & Development Fees
Building Permit Requirements
Building permits are required for the following:
- New construction (i.e. dwellings, commercial, industrial, etc)
- New mini-homes
- Relocating a dwelling or mobile/mini home
- Constructing an addition onto any home or building
- Constructing a garage or storage shed greater than 20 sq. m (215 sq. ft), including pre-fabricated buildings *
- Any structural renovations to an existing dwelling or building
- Any non-structural renovations that exceed $10,000 in monetary value
- Any change of use in an existing building. (ie. single unit dwelling to a two unit dwelling, or a dwelling to a commercial use)
- Decks
For more details please see the Building Permit Requirements Brochure.
Arranging Inspections
New construction requires seven mandatory inspections. It is the responsibility of the property owner, contractor or consultant to arrange for the mandatory inspections. If you are not ready, or the building is locked, there is a $50.00 fee charged per occasion.
For details on the required inspections, please see the Required Inspections Brochure
Public Street Access
Driveway access must be approved by the traffic authority. In East Hants, the traffic authority is either the Municipal Department of Infrastructure and Operations (902-883-2299 ask for ROADS / roads@easthants.ca) or Nova Scotia Public Works (NSPW) (1-844-696-7737 / hantspermits@novascotia.ca). To determine if your street is municipally or provincially owned please see our East Hants Residential Road Ownership Directory. If your street is owned by the Municipality, our Road Access Standards and Permit Application Form can be found here.
Connecting To Municipal Services
The Building Code requires that the plumbing system of the house is connected to a sewage disposal system. If your proposed building site is in the serviced area of the Municipality’s water or sanitary sewer services you will be required to connect the plumbing system of your house with municipal piped services. To verify the existence of these services and their location contact 902-883-2299 ask for WATER, and to schedule a Water & Wastewater Connection Inspection (a minimum of 48 business hours in advance) contact 902-883-2299 ask for WASTEWATER, or email water@easthants.ca.
Sewage Disposal Where There Are No Municipal Piped Services
Municipal piped services are not available throughout all of East Hants. The majority of East Hants is outside of a serviced area. If your construction project is not at a site serviced with municipal piped sanitary sewer mains you must install an on-site sewage disposal system designed and installed in compliance with regulations of the Nova Scotia Environment (NSE).
Water Where There Are No Municipal Piped Services
Where there is no municipal piped water system, the property owner is obliged to find a source of water on-site (e.g. well). You should consult with Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) to ensure compliance with any Provincial regulations in effect.