Street occupancy permits

A street occupancy permit is required for any use within the City’s right-of-way unless you are working under contract with the City of Guelph. You must obtain a street occupancy permit before you occupy any part of the City right-of-way. The right-of-way includes the paved area of the road, the boulevard and the sidewalk/multi-use trail. There are three (3) types of permits:

For utility works

  • Required when a regulated utility company plans to do work on the City right-of-way to install, repair, or access their infrastructure

For site servicing works

  • Required when a contractor who is working for a developer, builder or consultant plans to do work on the City right-of-way
  • This work must be already approved through a site plan, building permit, mechanical permit, or other process
  • If a deposit is already part of the existing approval process, a damage deposit is not required with this application
  • If a Water Commissioning Plan is required, please use the Watermain Commissioning Plan Template for Contractors (MS Word .docx)

For miscellaneous works

  • Required when anyone plans to occupy the City right-of-way in any way other than those described under the two types of permits mentioned above
  • Examples: temporary material storage (e.g. gravel), operation of construction equipment, cranes, disposal bins or mobile storage units, hydro excavation work, landscape work, driveway apron work, facade work, etc.
  • A damage deposit may be required

Fees

The permit fee for site serving works is $110, this amount is typically taken from the existing project deposit, for example, from the building permit or site plan approval. There is no permit fee for utility works. The permit fee for miscellaneous work is $110, in addition, some types of miscellaneous works require a damage deposit. The following table explains what amount will be required with your application:

Type of work (Street occupancy permit for miscellaneous works) Deposit
  • Temporary construction fencing
  • Placement of containers, disposal bins and mobile storage units
  • Operation of cherry picker, backhoe, forklift, scissor lift, zoom boom or roof hoist
  • Hoisting with mobile or tower crane
  • Temporary storage of scaffolding, plywood hoarding or covered walkway
None
  • Temporary material placement
  • Receiving deliveries
$500
  • Landscaping projects
  • Driveways (new, or resurfacing existing)
  • Digging (including hydro excavation)
$1,000
  • Operating construction equipment, vehicles and trailers on or across the City’s curbs, sidewalk or boulevards
  • Working close to a City-owned tree
By special assessment

Timelines

The timelines are based on how long it will take for us to inform the public about your impact to the neighbourhood. When you submit your application, be sure that the start date you include allows for these turn-around times, or we won’t be able to issue a permit. The following are general timelines:

  • 4 days for work not involving traffic impacts
  • 2 weeks for work involving traffic impacts to a local or collector road
  • 4 weeks for work involving traffic impacts to an arterial road

Traffic Control Plan

Your submission must include a proposed traffic control plan, which must be compliant with OTM Book 7 for Temporary Conditions. For reference, please see the following sample traffic control plans.

Boulevard or shoulder work

Road closed

Lane closed

Apply for a permit

There are three types of street occupancy permits and related submission requirements for utility, site service or miscellaneous work. Please refer to the appropriate permit application form to see what is required for your particular submission.

These application forms work best if downloaded, saved and then opened in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Street Occupancy Permit: Utility WorksStreet Occupancy Permit: Site ServicingStreet Occupancy Permit: Miscellaneous

Please email your complete application submission package to [email protected] for staff to review.