The links we’d send you anyway.
Permit portals and zoning maps for every Grey-Bruce municipality, the rebate programs that are actually open, the products we build with, and the building-science reading behind how we work. Collected in one place so you don’t have to dig. Bookmark it.
Find your municipality.
Building permits and septic permits are issued by your local municipality’s building department — every one below now takes applications through the Cloudpermit portal. Zoning (setbacks, lot coverage, what you’re allowed to build) is a separate by-law, and for most of Grey-Bruce the fastest way to check your zone is the county’s interactive map. When you hire us, we handle the permit as part of the job.
Owen Sound
Cloudpermit applications; the zoning page links the City’s own interactive GIS zoning map. Properties near the river or bay may also need a GSCA permit.
Georgian Bluffs
Building and septic applications go through the Township building department. Zoning By-law 2020-020 text and schedules are on the planning page.
Chatsworth
Cloudpermit applications. A new Comprehensive Zoning By-law (2025-12) was adopted in 2025 — check the planning page rather than an older PDF you may have saved.
Meaford
New builds, additions, accessory structures, and septic systems all through the Meaford building department. Zoning By-law 60-2009 with PDF maps and an online zoning map.
The Blue Mountains
Cloudpermit, residential permit guides, and septic permits. Escarpment properties often need Niagara Escarpment Commission approval before the Town will issue a permit.
Grey Highlands
Building, demolition, and septic permits via Cloudpermit, plus septic-maintenance and radon resources. No interactive map on the zoning page — email Planning to confirm your zone.
West Grey
Cloudpermit portal; septic permits use a Schedule 2A sewage form through the building department. Zoning By-law 37-2006, with instructions for finding your zone on Grey County Maps.
Hanover
Permit requirements and the Cloudpermit application system. Comprehensive Zoning By-law with a Schedule A map on the planning page — no interactive viewer.
Southgate
Cloudpermit applications; septic permits need a Schedule 2A form and a licensed installer. The planning page links the consolidated zoning by-law and points to Grey County Maps.
South Bruce Peninsula
Cloudpermit; sewage system permits are issued by the Town’s Building Division. Consolidated Zoning By-law 122-2009 — check your zone on Bruce County Maps under the Land Use Planning layers.
Northern Bruce Peninsula
Cloudpermit; the municipal Building Department issues septic permits and publishes its own Septic System Guidelines. Zoning By-law 2002-54 as amended, with a link to Bruce County mapping.
Saugeen Shores
Cloudpermit; a septic design and permit is part of the required documents for unserviced lots. The zoning page links the by-law and Bruce County’s interactive zoning map, searchable by address or roll number.
Kincardine
Cloudpermit; septic permits through the building department. A new Comprehensive Zoning By-law (2025-052) is in effect — the page links it and Bruce County’s zoning map viewer.
Brockton
Cloudpermit e-permitting (or by mail, email, or in person); a new septic system needs a building permit from the municipality. New Comprehensive Zoning By-law 2026-056, with Bruce County mapping.
Arran-Elderslie
Permit requirements and Cloudpermit tracking. Zoning By-law 36-09; planning services are provided by Bruce County planners out of the Chesley office.
A building permit is only the last step. Depending on where the property sits you may first need a conservation authority permit (near water, wetlands, slopes, or floodplain), a Niagara Escarpment Commission development permit (inside the Escarpment Plan area), or a county planning approval (severance, minor variance). Every agency below publishes a map — check your address on each before you fall in love with a design.
The code, your rights, and who’s allowed to do what.
The Ontario Building Code sets the floor for every project. Electrical and fuel work are licensed trades with their own regulators, and anyone can verify a contractor’s coverage in a few minutes. We’d rather you check us than take our word for it.
What’s actually open right now.
Rebate programs open, close, and get renamed faster than most websites update. This list was checked in August 2026 — each card says whether the program is taking applications. If you’re planning insulation, air-sealing, or a heat pump, read the assessment card first: most of the money requires an energy assessment before the work starts.
Most envelope and heat-pump rebates are void if the work starts before the pre-assessment. If a rebate matters to your budget, tell us at the first meeting — we’ll sequence the job around the assessment rather than the other way round. Program terms are the program’s, not ours; confirm eligibility on their site before you count on a number.
Why we build the way we build.
Everything on our Air / Water / Thermal page traces back to a handful of sources. If you want to understand what your builder should be doing — or catch one who isn’t — start here. None of it requires an engineering degree.
Buried in the wall for decades. Chosen accordingly.
Membranes, tapes, insulation, and forms disappear into the assembly and have to perform there unseen for the life of the building. These are the systems we love to use on our projects. Nobody pays us to list them, and we’ll happily explain why we’d pick one over the cheaper thing at the box store.
Look it up yourself.
Calculators and public records that answer the questions we get asked most — what’s your wall actually worth in R-value, how deep is the well, how much snow does the roof have to carry. Design decisions still need a professional; these get you to the conversation informed.
Written for Grey-Bruce. Free.
Planning guides we wrote for the projects we get asked about most.
Deck & outdoor living and renovation & addition planning guides are being written now. If there’s a topic you’d want covered, tell us — the questions we get asked shape what we write next.
Nothing matched that.
Try a municipality name, a product, or a plainer word — or ask us directly.
Still have a question
the links didn’t answer?
Book a free, no-pressure assessment and get a straight answer on scope, permits, budget, and timing — and if your project isn’t a fit for us, we’ll tell you that too.
OR CALL (519) 387-1597
