Toronto Building requires mandatory electronic submission of all documents, including all forms, drawings, documents, reports, specifications, calculations and plans (Chapter 363-5 of the Municipal Code).

All Documents must be submitted at a Toronto Building Customer Experience by email.

Re-submissions of documents, plans and drawings must be submitted by email, or via SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) where the file(s) size range is between 25 MB and 300 MB (10 files maximum). Details of the SFTP process are provided below. Submission by fax is not permitted. Re-submission drawings will not be accepted on a USB drive.

  • All electronic documents, plans and drawings must be submitted in PDF format, version 7 or later.
  • Files must be unsecured and not password protected.
  • Forms should be completed and signed electronically. All Toronto Building forms are available online in fillable format. Please refer to instructions on how to create an electronic signature. Acrobat Reader X (10) is required to add multiple signatures to forms.
  • Plans/Drawings with multiple pages and sets must be combined into a single Electronic Document (PDF format) in the same order as the submitted paper document.
  • Documents/Drawings containing multiple layers must be flattened to a single layer prior to submission.
  • Documents/Drawings must have no comments. Text placed on the PDF as a comment must be flattened or removed. When rendering drawings to PDF, options for saving text as comments must not be selected.
  • Submitted PDF files must be a single layer.
  • Drawings and Specifications must be in black and white only. Full-colour renderings and photos may be submitted, but only as supplements to a sufficient set of plans.
  • Electronically-produced documents, plans and drawings (i.e. dwg, docx) must be converted into PDF format for submission. Printing to paper and scanning it to create a PDF should be avoided.
  • The maximum page size is an ARCH E (36″x48″ or 914.4mm x 1219.2mm).
  • The scale and page size of the plans/drawings on the PDF must match the scale and page size of the full-sized plans/drawings on paper.
  • Documents must be properly labelled. PDF file names for electronic documents should have an abbreviated description of the documents.
  • All plans/drawings must include all the information required in Schedule D of Municipal Code Chapter 363 for Building Permit applications, and the Sign Permit and Building Permit Plan Requirements for sign permit applications.
  • HVAC and plumbing plans/drawings must be submitted as separate Electronic Documents (PDF format) for each mechanical permit application and plumbing permit application.
  • Electrical / Emergency Lighting / Fire Alarm, Sprinkler and other Fire Safety Systems must be submitted as part of the Building Permit set.
  • Shoring, foundation and other structural plans/drawings must be included in the Building Permit set, and able to be extracted by the Examiner for issuance of part permits, if necessary.
  • Fire Schematic Layout, which includes floor plans and cross-section(s) indicating all fire resistance ratings and fire separations as required by the Ontario Building Code, shall be included as part of the submission.
  • Where a submission is being made to address a deficiency identified by an Examiner, an electronic copy of the revised plans, along with a paper copy, must be submitted to the Examiner with the changes clearly labelled and red-lined.

All scanned documents must meet the following requirements:

  • Plans/drawings must be at a resolution that is easily legible on screen, and the pages must not be skewed.
  • Scanned resolutions of 1-bit black and white 300 dpi is usually acceptable. For plans/drawings containing fine lines and detail, 600 dpi resolution is required.
  • Do not reduce the scanned document size.
  • Scanning documents in full colour is only necessary if it contains photographs.

Please follow the steps for creating an application email message described in the Detailed Email Submission Process.