Building Permits & Inspections
Below are resources and information on how to apply for a building permit and inspection with the Municipality of East Hants.
To apply for a building permit, contact our Planning Department to discuss your project:
inspections@easthants.ca
902-883-3387
Required Information:
- 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
Once all the appropriate information is collected, plans will be reviewed by a Building Official and applicants will be contacted regarding fee payment and next steps. As an alternative, paper copy submissions may be dropped off to the municipal building.
- 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 *
- *A Development Permit is required for any accessory structure over 9 sq.m (100 sq. ft)
- 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
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 fee charged per occasion.
Driveway access must be approved by 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, download the Permit Application Form.
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.
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.
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).
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.
