Damaged buildings, open foundations, fortified homes: what Ormstown's construction bylaw requires of owners

Bylaw 150-2023 sets minimum construction standards in Ormstown, from deadlines for damaged buildings to a ban on fortifying buildings. Fines run from $500 to $4,000.

The copy the town has posted is an administrative consolidation that says it has no official value. It prints no adoption or in-force date.

Why this bylaw exists

Bylaw 150-2023 is adopted under Québec's land-use planning law, the Loi sur l'aménagement et l'urbanisme, to set minimum standards of safety and quality for the design, construction and alteration of buildings (art. 1.2). It replaces Bylaw 22-2006 (art. 1.3). Complying with it does not release anyone from complying with any other law, rule or obligation that applies, such as the Code de construction du Québec (art. 1.4).

The posted copy's opening page says it “has no official value,” and that for all legal purposes the official version of the bylaw and each of its amendments must be consulted. Its update-date field is blank and its amendments table is empty. It prints no notice of motion, adoption or in-force date: article 4.1 says the bylaw takes effect “in accordance with the Act.” No mover or seconder is printed.

Damaged, burned and unsafe buildings

• Any unoccupied, unfinished, burned or damaged construction must be closed or barricaded (art. 3.14).
• After a disaster, accidental or deliberate, the owner must secure the site within 24 hours. The building may be rebuilt; rebuilding must begin within six months of the disaster, and proof that the structure is sound and safe must be provided with a request to rebuild (art. 3.14).
• A building that is damaged, dilapidated, partly destroyed, or has lost at least half its assessed value must be repaired, demolished, or closed and barricaded, and the site cleaned up, within three months of a notice from the designated officer (art. 3.14).

Unfinished construction and open foundations

• The owner, creditor or buyer of an unfinished construction must complete the work within the deadlines of the permits and certificates bylaw in force (art. 3.14).
• An open foundation for which no construction permit was issued requires a construction or demolition permit application within 3 months of the building's destruction or the complete stop of work (art. 3.14).
• An open excavation or unused foundation left by a burned, demolished, moved or unfinished construction must be filled in or built on within 30 days of a notice (art. 3.19).
• An excavation or open foundation with a permit must be fenced at least 1.8 metres high (art. 3.19). A disused foundation must be removed and the land backfilled (art. 3.15).

Foundations, floor levels and dwelling size

• Continuous frost-protected foundations are required for every principal building, garage and four-season veranda, and for commercial, industrial, institutional or public accessory buildings over 30 square metres. Mobile homes, rural or agricultural buildings and temporary buildings are exempt (art. 3.9).
• Piles are allowed for three-season verandas, and for a four-season veranda or an addition of 25 square metres or less with an engineer's report (art. 3.9).
• Materials: monolithic concrete poured in place, or steel. (art. 3.10).
• Height: the top of the foundation wall must be 0.3 metre to 1.5 metres above the street in front, unless the land has a natural drop of at least 1.5 metres, and no more than 1 metre above average ground on the street-facing façade. The finished floor may not differ by more than 0.6 metre from neighbouring homes (art. 3.11).
• Basements: allowed where the floor is at least 30 centimetres above the crown of the sewer pipes, when the sewer connections are by gravity. A basement floor may never be below the high-water mark (art. 3.8).
• Minimum dwelling size: article 3.6 writes it as “trente-sept mètres carrés (40 m²)”, 37 in words and 40 in figures; it is 28 m² in buildings for seniors (art. 3.6).

Backwater valves and sump pumps

• Backwater valves must protect every storm or sanitary connection, including basement floor drains. They go on a secondary line, never on the building drain, and must be kept working and accessible; a threaded plug doesn't count (art. 3.12).
• Sump pumps: where one is needed, its pressurized discharge pipe must sit at least 300 millimetres above the centre of the street and go to the storm sewer or outside the building (art. 3.13).

On the job site

• Permits: installing, building, rebuilding, enlarging, altering or repairing a construction, in-ground pools and wastewater treatment systems included, requires a construction permit first; moving or demolishing one requires a certificate of authorization (art. 2.3).
• Dumpster: every permit site, renovations and repairs included, needs a container of at least 5.6 cubic metres or big enough for all debris, with proof filed with the planning department within seven days of starting (art. 3.20).
• The street: occupying a public road needs written authorization and may never take more than one-third of its width (art. 3.17).
• Equipment must be removed within 35 days after the work ends (art. 3.18). The permit must be posted on site (art. 3.21).

No fortified buildings

Article 3.22 bans using or maintaining materials that armour a building against gunfire, explosives or vehicle impact. It names steel protection plates, bulletproof shutters, armoured doors, metal bars at entrances, doors or windows (basement and cellar excepted), “verre de type laminé” (laminated-type glass) or other bullet-resistant glass, and walls or observation towers of concrete, reinforced or not, or specially reinforced against gunfire.

Smoke detectors and tanks

• Smoke detectors: the owner of a new dwelling must install a CSA-approved detector for each unit, each floor and every common area of a new construction. Where several are required in a building, they must be electrically linked so that all sound at once (art. 3.16).
• Tanks: every oil tank, gasoline tank and other tank must be underground, and a disused tank must be removed and the land backfilled. The same article says no outdoor tank may be installed on the façade of a building, except at service stations and similar businesses (art. 3.38).
• A mobile home may have only one oil tank, and barrels or similar containers may not serve as one. Its oil tank and gas cylinders “devraient” (should) be underground; if that is impossible, they must be in the backyard and enclosed (art. 3.37).

Penalties

The designated officer must first serve a written notice and may suspend the work (art. 2.4). If the notice is not followed within the time it gives, council may take proceedings in municipal court (art. 2.5). Fines, plus costs (art. 2.7):

Offender	First offence	Repeat offence
Individual (personne physique)	from $500 to $1,000	from $600 to $2,000
Company (personne morale)	from $500 to $2,000	from $600 to $4,000

A continuing offence counts as a separate offence each day, “s'il n'y a pas bonne foi” (absent good faith) (art. 2.7).

What this means for residents

After a disaster, the owner must secure the site within 24 hours, and any rebuilding must begin within six months (art. 3.14). Foundations must be of concrete poured in place or steel (art. 3.10).