Documents and Forms for CityView

Documents and forms that you may need for some CityView applications. See below for additional guidelines and naming conventions.

General Building Specifications

  • All beams and floor joists size and spacing must comply with span tables in National Building Code(Alberta Edition)2023 (NBC(AE)2023)
  • All wood is required to be pressure-treated when 6” (150mm) or less above the ground
  • The width or diameter of the column must be at least the width of the beam it’s supporting(wood columns are required to be a minimum of 6”x6”)
  • When the span of the joists exceed 7’-” (2100mm), solid mid-point blocking or continuous strapping must be installed
  • Both beam and joist cantilevers can be a maximum of 2’-0” (600mm)
  • Where a beam is continuous over more than once span, individual members are permitted to be butted together to form a joint (refer to quarter pointing a beam)
  • Guards are required and must be a minimum of 42” (1070mm) on decks over 1.8 m. Guards for decks less than 1.8m above grade must be a minimum of 900mm
  • Other foundation systems may be used only in consultation with a Safety Codes Officer and additional requirements may be imposed
  • For covered decks only, either a rafter plan (if using dimensional lumber for roof) or a truss layout from supplier (if using trusses) must be provided along with a truss design
  • For covered decks only, information on columns and beams supporting the roof must be provided

Decks Over 6'-0"

  • Handrails required on stairs
  • If using screw piles, professionally-designed shop drawings from supplier are required
  • If using concrete piles, site-specific engineer-design is required

Stairs, Guards and Handrails

  • Minimum width for a stair is 34” (860mm)
  • Minimum height for stair risers are 5” (125mm), maximum height is 8” (200mm)
  • Minimum depth for stair treads are 10” (255mm), maximum 14” (355mm)
  • Guards are required on each side of a deck where the deck is 24” (600mm) or higher off the ground; OR when the ground beside has a steep slope within 4’-0” (1200mm) of the deck
  • Minimum height for guards is 3’-0” (900mm) for decks up to 6’-0”
  • Openings in the guards must be small enough that a 4” diameter ball would not fit through
  • Handrails are required on stairs over three risers
  • Guards required on stairs over 2’-0” (600mm)
  • Guards shall be designed to resist 1.0 kN (approx. 225 lbs at any point)
  • Metal, vinyl and/or glass guard product design must demonstrate compliance with NBC(AE) or NBC 2015, in the form of a Canadian Construction Materials Centre Evaluation Report (listing product uses and limitations)

 

Detached garages are separate from the principal building and therefore must comply with the following regulations.

  • Located a minimum of 1 m or 2 m from the dwelling. Please contact Development Officer to determine what setback is required for your district.
  • Not closer than 1 m (3.3 ft.) to the rear property line.
  • Not closer than 1 m (3.3 ft.) to the side property line.
  • Where vehicle doors of the garage face a side yard, the garage shall be no closer than 6 m (19.7 ft.) from the opposite side property line.
  • Where zero side yard setbacks are permitted, the Development Officer may consider a zero side yard setback for a garage if it is located on the same property line as an existing principal building at a zero side yard setback.
  • No encroachment of any part of a building onto public utility lots, easements or road rights-of-way.
  • Garage height shall not exceed 4.5 m (14.8 ft.) from final grade to the peak.

 

Wall Construction

  • 2” X 4” or 2” X 6” wall studs @ 400 mm (16”) or @ 600 mm (24”) on centre
  • The bottom wall framing plates shall be pressure treated wood (PTW) and shall be anchored to the foundation by a wood treated ladder system or by using 12.7 mm (1/2”) diameter anchor bolts spaced at a max. 2.4 m (8’) spacing
  • Location of doors and windows required on plans (man door, vertical swing are required)
  • Note: You are not permitted any window or door openings in the side yard where the side yard setbacks
  • Are less than 1.2 m (4’) from property line
  • If finishing the interior then indicate the use of insulation & vapour barrier & drywall or plywood finish
  • Attic access required if interior is finished or install rough opening for attic access
  • If structure is less than 0.6m (2') to the property line, fire rating on the assembly will be required and if combustible cladding, a thermal protection under the cladding will be required.

Roof Construction

  • Manufactured engineered roof trusses to be submitted with application or truss layout and truss profile specification sheets from the roof truss supplier
  • Type of roof finish
  • Type of roof sheathing
  • Note: all sheathing to be certified
  • If so

Foundation Construction

  • The Foundation system for a Garage may be 100 mm (4”) Concrete Slab with Minimum 32 MPa strength concrete c/w 10M Bars @ 400 mm (16”) o/c both ways
  • Grade beam and concrete piles require sealed engineered drawings
  • Frost wall on footings at a minimum 1.2 m (4 ft) below grade (top of footing)
  • If the building exceeds 55 m2 (592 ft2) then the foundation design will require to be stamped by an approved engineer in the province of Alberta
  • The foundation shall be constructed so that the top of the finished concrete slab to top of the finished grade around the entire garage foundation is not less than 150 mm (6”) and shall be placed on 150 mm (6”) compacted gravel resting on undisturbed clay, compacted clay, or crushed gravel
  • A positive slope all the way around the garage is required for surface drainage

Lighting

  • Indicated on floor plan (exterior and interior)

Document Guidelines

Additional guidelines regarding documents you may need for CityView applications.

Certificate of title

Applicants can obtain a land title from any registries office or the Alberta Land Titles website.

When submitting a land title to CityView, it must be no more than three (3) weeks old.

Construction drawings

Construction drawings must be drawn to scale (use a ruler).

Depending on your project, your construction plans may include any of the following:

  • Material used
  • Location of windows
  • Location of doors
  • Wall measurements
  • Labels indicating the use of all rooms
  • Smoke alarm locations
  • Location of stairs and utility room

Exterior elevation drawings

Exterior elevation drawings for building construction projects should show:

  • Height
  • Horizontal dimensions
  • Finishing materials of all buildings, existing and proposed
  • Exterior elevation drawings for signs should show the sign location on the building

Site plan

To update a site plan, add the project proposal to a copy of the real property report (RPR) or survey. A copy of the RPR may have been provided when the home was purchased. If not, a copy can be requested by contacting the City.

Depending on your project, a site plan may include any of the following:

  • Location
  • Dimensions
  • Maximum height
  • Distance to property line
  • Parking
  • Setbacks
  • Locations of easements and right of ways
  • An outline of the proposed development

File Naming Conventions

When building permit applications are submitted through the CityView Portal, all files should have corresponding names that describe the attached documents. Using a consistent file naming convention helps make the review process more efficient by reducing internal review times spent on renaming or moving documents in our system. Streamlining the review process in turn decreases the permit issuance time.

Best practices for creating file names can be found below.  ​

Construction drawings
  • “Construction Dwgs”
Roof truss layout or rafter plan
  • “Roof Truss Layout(s)”
  • “Truss Engineer Pkg” - (Truss package from the supplier)
 Floor joist layout(s)
  • “Floor Joist Layout(s)”
Structural engineering package (consisting of, if applicable)
  • “Engineering Pkg”
    • Lateral bracing details
    • Foundation reinforcements
      • Window openings greater than 1200 millimetre
      • Stairwell openings next to foundations that exceed 1200 millimetre
    • Adhered culture stone/masonry veneer that exceeds 3.05 metre above local grade - (Standata 19-BCV-018(Rev2))
    • Tall wall engineering
    • Concrete piles
    • Steel screw piles (from supplier – pre-engineered letter on manufacturing specifications)
    • Steel angle brackets (from supplier – pre-engineered letter on manufacturing specifications)

New Home Buyers Protection Program approved registration – (Approved New Home Warranty Program)

  • “Approved NHWP”
Energy modelling reports with summary – performance modelling (three separate files)
  • “Reference House”
  • “Proposed House”
  • “Summary Report”
    • Prescriptive method: make sure all calculations and details are on submitted construction drawings.
Hydronic heating design and layouts (stamped by a professional engineer or certified hydronics designer or technician) (Standata 19-BCI-011)
  • “Hydronic heating layout(s)”
Construction drawings
  • “Architectural Dwgs”
  • “Structural Dwgs”
  • “Mechanical Dwgs”
  • “Electrical Dwgs”
 Compliance information NECB 2017 reports (for performance path)
  • “Energy modelling reports w/ Summary” - (Part 8 of NECB)
    • Prescriptive method: make sure all calculations and details are on submitted construction drawings.
Schedules (from professionals involved)

(Add “C” to the file name for the schedules submitted prior to final inspection)

  • “Schedules – Arch”
  • “Schedules – Struct”
  • “Schedules – Mech”
  • “Schedules – Elect”
  • “Schedules – Geo”
Fire suppression system plan (if applicable)
  • “Sprinkler System Layout”
Other/miscellaneous - testing verification(s)
  • “Fire Alarm Testing Verification”
  • “Sprinkler System Testing Verification”
 Alternative solution proposal/variance form (if applicable)
  • “Request for a Specific Variance”

    • When using a fire-resistant coating sheathing for a thermal barrier under combustible cladding as a requirement for compliance with HIRF (high intensity residential fires) and articles 9.10.14.5. or 9.10.15.5., a “Request for a Specific Variance” is required. When submitting this document in the portal use the file name “Request for a Specific Variance”. Once administration staff review the submittal, a fee will be requested as per our “Development Fees and Fines Bylaw”. This is not required when using exterior gypsum sheathing, as it is tested material in accordance with CAN/ULC-S101, unless a city wide “Request for a Specific Variance” has been accepted by the Authority Having Jurisdiction.

Commercial/industrial checklist
  • “Checklist”
Construction drawings
  • “Structural Dwgs”
Other/miscellaneous geotechnical reports (stamped by engineer)
  • “Geo Reports”
Schedules (from professionals involved)

(Add “C” to the file name for the schedules submitted prior to final inspection)

  • “Schedules – Struct”
  • “Schedules – Geo”

If uploading revised drawings, indicate on the revised drawings what is revised with either highlights or cloud indicators (red line drawings). Refer to sample below.

Add “revised” to the file name, for example, Construction Dwgs – revised.  When uploading new revised drawings to existing drawings/plans, please use the “new version” button instead of the “browse” button on portal.

 

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