Basement development and renovation permits in Calgary

When a building permit is required

A basement development or other interior home renovation, including main floor renovations, requires a building permit if any of the following is true.

• The basement is being developed for the first time.
• You are making structural changes, such as moving or removing walls on any floor of the house.
• You are creating new openings in interior or exterior walls — new or relocated windows, or new doors.
• The work is an exterior renovation that does not add new square footage or structures. Work that adds new space is an addition instead.

Typically no permit is needed when the work is minor cosmetic upgrading: finishes, painting and furniture. In most situations a basement development needs only the building permit; a development permit is added when the design or location does not meet Land Use Bylaw specifications.

City of Calgary: home renovations and basements

What the checklist requires

The City’s home renovation and basement checklist asks for a completed asbestos abatement form where the house was constructed before 1990, the building permit fee, and one copy of floor plans carrying all ten of the following.

• The address, and room designations.
• Window locations, sizes and types, each marked as existing or new.
• Window well locations and sizes, each marked as existing or new.
• Door locations and sizes.
• Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Bathroom fan locations.
• The area of the basement.
• A description of structural changes, such as adding new exterior doors or windows, altering load bearing walls, or adding a beam.

City of Calgary: home renovation and basement permit checklist (PDF)

Two answers that change the whole application

The checklist asks three screening questions, and two of the answers move you onto a different path entirely.

• Adding a new window well or enlarging an existing one, or adding or resizing a window, adds a further set of documents for planning approval.
• Adding a second kitchen and bathroom to the basement makes it a secondary suite, and the secondary suite checklist applies instead of this one.
• Where a development permit is required, the City’s own checklist recommends receiving development permit approval before applying for the building permit.

Electrical and plumbing are separate permits, for all new installations and for extending or altering existing systems. A basement development normally involves both.

City of Calgary: home renovation and basement permit checklist (PDF)

Fees and timelines

Permit fee plus the 4 per cent Safety Codes Council fee, as published on the City’s page: a new basement is $321 plus $12.84, for $333.84. Renovations to an existing house or an already developed basement are $198 plus $7.92, for $205.92. A homeowner electrical or plumbing permit is $112 plus $4.50, for $116.50.

The City states that a new basement or a renovation to an existing house or developed basement is reviewed for bylaw and safety code compliance in approximately 7 days. Where the work also needs a development permit because it does not meet Land Use Bylaw rules, that adds 60 days to decision plus a 21-day advertisement and appeal period, for a total of 10 to 12 weeks. A building permit expires 180 days from issuance.

Against those figures, the City’s measured results for April 1 to June 30, 2026 put residential improvements at a 7-day target met 66 per cent of the time, averaging 10 days at low complexity — one of only three published rows where the City’s own average is worse than its own target. Quoting a client seven days on this work is quoting the target, not the measured result.

City of Calgary: home renovations and basements

City of Calgary: building safety approval timelines

What stalls a basement permit

The failures here are almost never code failures. They are missing documents, and the City’s 90-day rule is what turns a missing document into a refusal: an application may be refused if adequate information is not supplied within ninety days of receipt, with written notice and 30 days to resubmit. The pre-1990 asbestos form, the window and window-well marking of existing versus new, and the structural change description are the three items most often incomplete on a first submission of this checklist.

City of Calgary: building advisory A19-002, building permit complete application