Does a home inspection tell me if the Kanata basement was permitted?

A home inspection does not check whether any work in a home was permitted. Ontario.ca is clear that a home inspection "doesn't assess if a home meets zoning or building codes," and a home inspector is a private service, not the City's building inspector. The City's building inspectors check permit work against the Building Code; that is a separate function entirely.

What a home inspector will do is carry out a visual examination of the basement's major elements: the foundation, visible insulation, ceilings, walls, floors, visible plumbing and electrical, and ventilation where accessible. If something looks incomplete, inconsistent or raises a concern, the inspector can note it in the report. But whether a finished basement was built with a permit, inspected by the City, or meets the Building Code is not something the report will tell you.

If you want to know whether a permit was pulled for basement work in a Kanata home, that question goes to the City of Ottawa directly. The City's building permit records are searchable, and your real estate agent or lawyer can help you find out what was filed and whether inspections were signed off. Permit questions go to ottawa.ca.

One thing worth knowing: the federal Office of Consumer Affairs advises making sure the seller or agent makes all areas of the home accessible before the inspection, so the inspector can see as much of the basement as possible. If storage or finishes block access to parts of the space, the report will be limited to what was visible.

Before you book, ask the inspector to describe exactly what they will examine in the basement and what they will note in the report if something looks like it may not have been done to a standard they recognise.