Grading plan needed for a building permit in Fredericton?

Grading Plan and Fredericton Building Permits

The City of Fredericton requires a building permit before a new building, an addition or significant alterations, and its Engineering Division reviews lot grading as part of that permit process. Whether your specific project needs a formal grading plan submitted with the application is something to confirm directly with the City, because the requirement depends on the scope of work. Ask the building department what grading documentation they need before you draw anything up.

What the City's Engineering Division looks at on the grading side includes lot grading alongside water and sewer services and well field protection. That review happens at the permit stage, so the grading information needs to be in order before work starts, not after. If your project involves a new water or sewer service, the City's Water and Sewer Division installs those services, and a site servicing plan goes in with the building permit application. The City bills the customer once the work is completed.

A few rules shape the excavation side of any graded lot. Under Regulation 2021-2 of the Building Code Administration Act, at least one inspection must happen on completion of the footings and foundations before any backfilling begins. That inspection is booked through the local building department. Do not let a contractor backfill against a new foundation until that inspection is done. Regulation 2021-2 also requires the owner or their agent to give the City written notice of the start date and the names of the constructors, engineers, designers and inspection or testing agencies before work begins.

Before any machine touches the ground, two separate locate requests are needed. Info-Excavation, reached through Click Before You Dig, requires at least three working days' notice and the locate is valid until the end date written on the request. NB Power runs its own separate underground locate service, which requires at least five business days' notice and is valid for 60 days from the date on the locate form. NB Power's service only checks for NB Power-owned lines, and NB Power notes its lines can be buried as little as one foot underground. Any private lines, drains or tanks installed by the owner or a past owner are the owner's responsibility to find and mark before the machine arrives.

If your lot is within 30 metres of a watercourse or wetland, measured horizontally from the top of the bank, grading or machine work in that zone requires a Watercourse and Wetland Alteration permit from the province before anything starts. The application fee is $25 for a single alteration.

Before you sign a contract with an excavation contractor, ask them to explain in plain terms who is responsible for marking private lines on your lot, and what their process is if the machine strikes something that was not on any locate ticket.