Property maintenance in Bradford West Gwillimbury, from 21.1 C heat to ADU fees

Section 7.10.1 of the Town's Property Standards By-law 1998-065 requires a heating system able to hold 21.1 C (70 F) five feet above the floor in habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms with the windows and doors closed. It names no heating season, and section 7.10.2 bars auxiliary heaters as the main source of heat. Hot water has its own floor: 46.1 C (115 F) under section 7.4.3.

On a no heat call the technician reads the room temperature at five feet in the coldest habitable room and in the bathroom before touching the furnace, then photographs the thermometer and the equipment data plate. The report you receive carries the by-law reading, not a description. Heating failures sit on the emergency list: Plumbing, electrical, major appliance and heating or cooling failures, lockouts, and a door that will not lock. See heating season repairs.

Winter adds an access rule. From December 1 to April 1 the Town prohibits on-street parking from 2 to 6 a.m., and from 3 to 6 a.m. on the downtown streets it lists. A technician sent to a 3 a.m. call needs a driveway or visitor space, so the dispatcher asks you for one before the van leaves. Section 6.3.3 requires steps, walks, driveways and parking spaces to be cleared of snow promptly, and the arrival photos show whether they were.

If the Town opens a file, its 2026 fee schedule charges $50 for an inspection that confirms a breach, $100 when an Order is issued and $500 when the Order is registered on title. Dated before and after photos are what you hand the Property Standards Officer.

Section 6.6.1 keeps a building free of rodents, vermin and insects at all times, and 6.6.2 wants basement windows and openings such as floor drains screened against rodents. Section 6.7.1 asks that floors, ceilings and walls be kept free from dampness, and 6.2.4 asks that storm water drain so it does not pond or enter a basement. The by-law's word is dampness, not mould, so the report records where the water comes from before anything is painted: the downspout, the window well, the grading or the drain. Section 7.11.7 bars an owner from cutting off light, heat, refrigeration, water or cooking facilities in a tenanted home beyond the time a repair needs, so a planned shutoff gets a start and a finish time, and entry follows the 24 hour notice rules.

The Town says the owner or the property manager maintains the backwater valve, and that a neglected valve can itself cause a backup. Its service line page puts repairs to the private part of the water and sewer line on the owner. For a wastewater emergency its Wastewater Division takes calls in office hours and the Town directs after hours calls to an alarm company, Huronia Alarms (Town wastewater page). So a basement backup goes first to a drain contractor on the private side, who photographs the valve, the cleanout and what came out of the line, and you can tell the Town whether the blockage is on its side.

Rural rentals run on septic and a separate clock. The Town's Mandatory Sewage System Maintenance Inspection Program inspects systems inside the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority areas every five years, and the owner's letter gives 21 business days to book the Town or return a certificate signed by a qualified person. A plumbing or drain call at a country unit starts with one question to you: is a letter outstanding? The photos of fixtures and cleanouts then sit in the same report you keep for the Town.

The Town registers accessory dwelling units. The registration fee is $500 in 2026, up from $160 in 2025 (Schedule A, By-law 2026-001). A unit that existed on or before July 14, 1994 is registered after proof of existence and three inspections, from Fire and Emergency Services, the Electrical Safety Authority and the property standards officer (Town ADU page). A newer unit needs a building permit at $12.80 per square metre in 2026, three parking spaces of 2.7 by 6 metres on the lot, and a floor area no more than 45 percent of the main building (Town homeowner guide). The Town publishes a master list of registered units, 497 addresses as of September 22, 2025.

Before work starts in a basement suite we check that list, because the Electrical Safety Authority inspection is one of the registration steps: electrical repairs in the suite go to a licensed electrical contractor and the contractor's notes stay on the job. See basement and secondary suites and basement apartment waterproofing.

The valley adds a second gate. In an area the Conservation Authority regulates, the Lake Simcoe Region guidelines require written permission for work that adds a dwelling unit to a building and do not support adding one inside the floodplain; the Holland Marsh sits partly in this Town. A flood repair in a regulated basement suite restores what was there, and the report says no unit was added.

Bond Head sits west of Highway 400 where County Roads 27 and 88 cross, and the Town counts more than 40 buildings there over a century old. Its Heritage Conservation District Plan, revised in February 2026, sorts exterior work on a contributing building into exempt, minor and major. Repair in kind of shingles, cladding, windows, doors, eavestroughs, caulking and repainting is exempt, and a shingle roof replaced with a shingle roof is exempt while the style and pitch do not change. Replacing a heritage attribute listed for the building, such as window openings or roof style, is major and needs Council approval. Interior work is outside the permit process.

So a Bond Head repair is quoted like for like, and the before photos fix the profile, material and finish that stay. A job that would change a window opening or a roof line stops and comes back to you before anything is ordered.

Plumbing is done by licensed plumbers and drain work by licensed drain contractors. Gas work is done by TSSA registered contractors. We only use ECRA/ESA-Licensed Electrical Contractors. Pest control is done by licensed exterminators.

To send a Bradford West Gwillimbury job, request work.