Coach House and Garage Removal on a Rebuild Lot

Does it need a permit?

Under the Ontario Building Code, demolishing any building larger than 10 square metres needs a permit. Nearly every garage and coach house is well over that. If the property has heritage status, outbuildings can need heritage approval too, so it's worth checking first.

The permit is issued by the Town of Oakville's Building Services, the same office that handles the demolition permit for the main house. If both are coming down, they can often be handled together, which keeps the paperwork simpler and means one set of utility clearances covers the whole property.

Check the services

Outbuildings often have more running to them than people remember:

Disconnecting these properly matters. A live electrical feed buried in the yard, or a gas line that was never capped, is a real hazard for the demolition crew and for anyone who digs there later. An electrician and a licensed gas fitter should deal with them before anything comes down, and the locations should be noted for your builder.

• An electrical feed from the house panel.
• A gas line for a heater.
• Water, and sometimes a floor drain.
• In a coach house, full plumbing and heating.

Timing with the main teardown

If everything's coming down, it's usually simplest to take the outbuildings down in the same mobilisation as the house. If the garage is staying for storage during construction, or it's being replaced by a new coach house, it may go at a different time. Talk it over with your builder.

If a new coach house or garden suite is planned, have the new drawings in hand before the old building is removed. Zoning rules control where accessory buildings can sit, and the new one may use the same footprint or a different one. Knowing that first tells your contractor whether to keep the old slab, remove it, or grade the area for new footings.

Trees and lot lines

Garages tend to sit near the back and sides of the lot, right where the mature trees and shared fences are. Oakville protects private trees of 15 centimetres or more in diameter at breast height, so machine access may need to be planned around them. Where a garage wall is close to the line, the neighbour's fence needs protecting as well.

Overhead wires are the other thing to look for. Many garages have a hydro or cable line running to them, or sit under the service drop to the house. Those need to be disconnected or clearly marked before an excavator reaches up.

When it makes sense to bring in a professional

If the structure has power, gas or plumbing, or sits close to trees and fences, a contractor should look at it. Older outbuildings can also have asbestos in siding or roofing, which the designated substance survey under OHSA section 30 should pick up.

Our garage demolition crews handle garages, sheds and barns, and our junk and debris removal service can clear them out first.

A quick site visit is usually enough to spot these, and to tell you whether the outbuilding can come down with the house or needs its own day.

In short

Check the permit, find the services, decide the timing with your builder and plan around trees and fences. Bolan Group Demolition Oakville can include the outbuildings in your site visit. Request a free estimate.