Mechanical & Electrical in Toronto

Yes, whenever the permit includes HVAC work. Toronto Building asks for heat loss and heat gain calculations, duct design calculations and mechanical ventilation calculations and design with a mechanical (HVAC) permit application. We prepare all three from the plans the rest of the set is drawn on, and our BCIN HVAC and P.Eng team signs them.

Not for work inside the house. A TRCA permit covers filling, changing grade and building in its Regulated Area, and on a Toronto lot inside that area it has to be issued before the building permit. So when the HVAC or electrical design rides on an addition or a new unit there, the TRCA approval sets the footprint we design to and the date the permit can follow.

Yes. We take on mechanical & electrical across Toronto, including North York and Scarborough, about half an hour from our Richmond Hill office. The first consultation is free, by phone or on site.

Three things to start: architectural drawings, or our own permit set if we are preparing it; insulation, window and door specifications, if known; and photos of the mechanical room, existing ducts and the electrical panel. Send those and we tell you what Toronto Building will ask for before we quote.

No. Toronto Building reviews the heating, ventilation and plumbing with the building permit, but almost all electrical work in Ontario needs a separate permit from the Electrical Safety Authority, which also inspects it. For a secondary suite, a laneway suite or a fourplex we prepare the load calculation and panel schedule from the same plans as the mechanical sheets, so both reviewers see matching layouts.

On a house-stream project of two units or fewer, it can. Toronto Building widened its reliance program in July 2025 to include mechanical design, so a sealed HVAC design filed with an Assumption of Responsibility for Engineering Content form can settle part of the code review, while the zoning is still reviewed in full. Our P.Eng seals the heat-loss, duct and ventilation design, and we file it with the rest of the set through the Online Services Portal.

Yes. We work up the heat loss and heat gain, the duct design and the ventilation design from the architectural drawings already on file, then submit them to that same application through the Online Services Portal with a reply to each comment. The application’s progress shows on the City’s Building Permit Application & Inspection Status site while we work.

A drain, waste and vent layout and a water supply layout for the suite, with the route its sewer and water lines take to the existing services. On a narrow Toronto lot there is little room for that run between the house and the lot line, so we draw it with the grading and any protected tree in view. The plumbing goes to Toronto Building with the suite’s permit set, alongside its heat-loss and ventilation design.

Yes, with the ductwork and the plumbing for the kitchen fixtures. Toronto Building reviews that design as part of the change of use permit, and the eating establishment has to be a permitted use under By-law 569-2013, or the property’s former by-law, before any of it is drawn. Toronto Public Health’s inspection of the premises is a separate approval.

Yes. A private tree 30 centimetres or more across and every City street tree are protected from injury under Chapter 813, and a trench for a water service, a gas line or the feed to a laneway suite can cut through the roots, as can the pad for a heat pump. We route the lines and place the outdoor units with the surveyed trees on the drawing, and if a run has to pass a protected tree we raise the permit before the mechanical sheets go to Toronto Building.